Five ways to decorate charismatic bathrooms that wash you with colour

These sanitary spaces play it far from safe with broad strokes, confident splashes and bursting pops of bold colour, but come away feeling fresh and fabulous.

By Fantini, YSG Studio, WOWOWA and

May 16, 2023 | 10:00 pm CUT

White grout is a safe bet to contrast well with any tile colour, but works especially well when set against bold shades like the plum or aubergine tiles of the Puce apartment. Photo: Mikhail Loskutov

We’ve had a good understanding of bacteriology for a long time now, and yet our predilection for white sanitary ware – stemming from a belief that ‘visible’ germs were easier to spot – remains. If you look back to the notorious bathroom suites of the 60s and 70s, however – and here the infamous avocado range comes nauseously to mind, it hasn’t always been the case. Go back even further, and you’ll find darker, bolder and richer tiled surfaces in bathrooms of the 20s and 30s, mixed with luxurious materials and finishes in accompanying fittings.

By filling surfaces with bold, contrasting and complementary colour combinations we add warmth, personality and the comfort of choice

Recent bathroom trends of wellness and relaxation are often translated into neutrality, with colour palettes rarely straying further than blues and greens, but by filling surfaces and suites with bold, contrasting and complementary colour combinations we add warmth, personality and the comfort of choice, for those who want it. These colourful bathrooms dress with confidence, and they don’t care who knows it.

Pink cloakroom at the Colours of My Life Apartment (top) and the yellow (middle) and blue (bottom) bathrooms at the Rocha apartment. Photos: Frank Pinckers (top), Roberto Ruiz (middle, bottom)

Single-colour bathroom surfaces

With sustainability – and therefore durability – some of the hottest words on manufacturer’s lips, consumers are being encouraged to make longer-term design decisions. At the Colours of My Life Apartment in Singapore, for example, a small ground floor cloakroom is encased in tiles of various hues of blush pink, ‘giving a touch of softness’ to the space when combined with the bold colour palette in play elsewhere in the home, explain WY-TO architects.

The four separate bathrooms of the Rocha apartment in Barcelona, Spain, meanwhile, use blocks of identifying coloured surfaces in pink, yellow, blue and green, together with transparent glass panels and white tubular framing which open the en-suites out to the rest of the room.

Plum tiles and white grout at Puce (top) and separating bathroom functions with colour contrasts at the Baugruppe (middle, bottom). Photos: Mikhail Loskutov (top), Thomas Straub (middle, bottom)

Cut through with contrasting colour

When used in high-contrast combinations, glazed ceramics in bold shades – such as the deep plum-coloured tiles in the Puce Apartment joined by white grout – are given an extra depth when compared with more neutral shades. But then, whether it’s in the grout, adjacent tiles or any other accompanying surface, white contrasts well with any other colour. Here in this Baugruppe apartment, for example, white and blue tiles together help a conventional bathtub to become a stand-out feature.

Teal and pink 70/30 split at Home for Readers (top) and the wild colour blocking of the Modernist Wonderland Renovation (middle, bottom). Photos: Alberto Strada (top), Martina Gemmola (middle, bottom)

Teal and dusty pink were selected from opposing ends of the colour wheel in a luxurious display of colour blocking in A Home for Readers’ shared bathroom/en-suite. And even bolder colour choices of bright orange, hot pink and forest green – chosen seemingly at random – cut through the Modernist Wonderland Renovation bathroom with sharp confidence.

Orange timber and blue subway tiles at Polychrome (top) and turquoise porthole windows with lemon yellow penny tiles at Magic Wall Reform (bottom). Photos: Prue Ruscoe (top), Imagen Subliminal (bottom)

Bold accents talk a colourful language

Colourful tiles and surfaces aren’t the only ways to create memorable bathroom aesthetics, of course. Sometimes it’s the very smallest items that have the biggest impact. Bright orange-painted timber dowels and mouldings frame and complement the rich blue subway tiles of Polychrome House’s en-suite, for example, while the intense turquoise and lemon yellow colours of the Magic Wall Reform house’s porthole window frames and penny tile mosaics are part of a contrasting colour palette that runs through the rest of the home, too. Here in the bathroom, the two competing colours are joined by stark white fittings which ensure the bolder colours take centre stage.

White Balocchi tapware from Fantini (top), countertop washbasin at OLG50 (middle) and the pigmented concrete bathhouse at Recast (bottom). Photos: Biderbost Photo (middle), French + Tye (bottom)

Fantini

I Balocchi | Wall-mount washbasin mixer

Continue the colour revolution with toned-up fixtures and fittings

The provision of high-quality tapware and control fittings in bold colours allows designers to take one of three routes through bathroom decor. Either to contrast a colourful backdrop with white fittings like these from Fantini’s Balocchi range, to flip them round and contrast a subdued backdrop with colourful features like at the OLG50 House, where a touch of colour in the guest en-suite bathroom is ‘provided unmistakably by the pink countertop washbasin,’ explains architect Sara Elizagarte, or the third option is to colour match the rest of the space. For example, the continuation of green in the Recast House bathroom is provided by pigmented cast concrete, which, combined with its oversized fittings and arched ceiling, gives the sanitary space the unmistakable feel of a Roman bathhouse.

Fresh, coloured towels at Dolores Heights (top), and contrasting colours on every surface, fixture and fitting at Mo-Tel (middle, bottom). Photos: Matthew Millman (top), French + Tye (middle, bottom)

Nice threads: add changeable style with textiles old and new

Bold colour is a bold choice, and it’s not for everyone. Only the most committed, unwavering decision-makers take the leap. It’s possible, however, to liven up sanitary spaces in the short-term too, with colourful and, importantly, changeable textiles.

Bright yellow towels give the owners the ability to change their minds with every wash

The bright yellow towels added to this Dolores Heights Residence’s stone-grey bathroom in San Francisco, US, for example, give the owners the ability to change their minds with every wash. With more splashes of vibrant colour than an artist’s studio, meanwhile, the unapologetically colourful Mo-Tel House in London, UK colour blocks everywhere with painted steel support beams, individually coloured hardware and door edges to name only a few, but the high impact provided by its yellow shower curtain is removable and washable, for everlasting impact.

Head to the Architonic Magazine for more insights on the latest products, trends and practices in architecture and design, or find inspiration in a whole world of projects from around the globe through ArchDaily’s architecture catalogue.

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