Embarking on a bathroom remodel is an exciting, if somewhat daunting process. Bathrooms are an ever-popular space in a home to renovate. This is because they are used daily and therefore undergo a lot of wear and tear, and because they impact everyday lifestyle and home resale value.
Working with an experienced bathroom design professional takes the stress out of remodeling, as they can expertly guide you through the process from concept to completion. Drawing on their experience and access to trusted suppliers, your chosen professional will help you find the perfect products to meet your functionality and style needs. Once you have decided on a design aesthetic and chosen the key elements of your design, you can start picking out the accessories that give your room a personal edge.
Here are our top 10 tips to help you figure out which accessories fit your design goals.
Before you Start, Declutter!
If your bathroom design is a cluttered mess, it is difficult to envision a cohesive style and to picture which accessories will work best. Before you do anything else, take this opportunity to fully declutter your space. For a full bathroom remodel, you will need to do this anyway. Clear everything out of your room and give yourself a blank slate to start planning your accessories.
View this task as an opportunity rather than a chore! Get rid of out-of-date medications and first aid supplies (and take note of which ones you need to replace). Recycle or throw away anything you no longer use like old make up or toiletries. Decide what you still need to store in your bathroom and find suitable storage for everything. If you are getting ready to remodel, figure out what storage you need to create in your new bath design.
In your newly remodeled bathroom, what will you store in a closed vanity cabinet vs. in a niche or open shelf, and what can you move to another location like a hall linen closet? Only keep those items you need in your bath storage and limit items left out on the counter to a select group of essentials or decorative features. Do not create any open displays you are not happy to keep clean as they will only become a haven for dust!
Find Your Inspiration or Select a Theme
Do you have a much-loved item that inspired your bathroom design style? Whether this is a unique tile pattern, piece of wall art, or a vintage cocktail table for holding a drink next to the tub, figure out what inspired your bathroom vibe. Use this as inspiration for not only the core elements of your bath design but also your accessories. Find soap holders, countertop storage containers, or textiles that go with this focal point of your design inspiration.
Another way to approach your bathroom design elements is to select a theme for your aesthetic. Choose accessories that bring in the colors, textures, and mood of your bathroom’s theme to complete your look. Is this a coastal style bath remodel with a distinct beachy vibe? Find accessories that fit this theme, like vibrant blue or green glass storage containers, shells, rope, baskets for storing towels, or brass hardware. Don’t overdo it but select a few favorites that evoke your chosen style vibe for your bathroom remodel.
Select a Color Scheme
One of the first steps in creating a new bathroom design is to pick a color scheme. Do you prefer crisp white, cool gray, dark tones, or warm wood neutrals? Finding your base color palette will guide your choices when selecting everything from a vanity cabinet to tile, plumbing fixtures, and more.
You may also decide to include an accent shade that brings a pop of color to your space. If you love turquoise but want to stick to a classic neutral backdrop, use this favorite color when accessorizing. You can incorporate it in a more permanent way, for example by including a tile feature. Or, you could go for towels, mats, and more easily swapped accessories in case you decide next year that your favorite color is yellow. The key principle here is to pick a single accent color so your relaxing bathroom design does not become overwhelmed.
Layer Textures
A well-designed space should appeal to all the senses, including touch. In a bathroom design this is accomplished by incorporating different textures in your space with everything from tiles to towels. Accessories are an excellent opportunity to give your bath remodel depth, as you can layer and juxtapose different textures (even in the same color) to create a more appealing design. For example, you could place a fluffy bathmat over the river rock tile floor surrounding your tub or shower. Or select textured cabinet hardware like hammered metal, leather or rope pulls, or etched crystal knobs to sit against your sleek painted cabinets.
Accent with Lighting and Mirrors
Layered lighting and mirrors are essentials in a bathroom design, but they also form part of your room’s accessories. Mirrors help your bathroom appear larger, especially if you place a single large mirror in a smaller bath remodel. A framed mirror can also become a design accessory, as you can select a mirror shape and frame material to fit your room’s vibe, ranging form wood-framed to custom tile, and more. Light fixtures like sconces or even chandeliers in a bathroom bring in accent lighting as well as a design accessory. Select fixtures in a complementary material to other design elements, or in a contrasting tone to stand out as a design focal point.
Make Your Cabinetry Pop with Hardware
Unless you go for handless cabinetry, then your vanity cabinet will require hardware in the form of knobs or pulls. These functional items can become a fun accessory when you consider the material and finish and how it works together with your cabinetry and other design accessories. Like jewelry for a favorite outfit, cabinet hardware is not meant to overwhelm but to complement other design elements. You could select hardware that matches other fixtures like your faucet and lighting or choose a contrasting tone that makes your vanity façade a standalone design focal point.
Bring Your Room to Life with Open Storage
In a busy bathroom design, closed storage in the form of a vanity cabinet, recessed cabinet, or even a linen closet is essential to store toiletries, towels, and medicines that you don’t want to be visible to everyone who walks into the room. This keeps your bathroom clutter free and organized and maintains a more peaceful environment. It’s perfect for any bath but especially if you are trying to achieve a spa-like vibe!
Balance this closed storage by including a select area of open storage in the form of floating shelves or a recessed niche. Recessed storage is especially useful in a shower or next to a bathtub, where you can keep toiletries you need to hand without impacting your room’s available space. Use other open storage areas to place curated items that bring your room to life. Keep essentials like cotton buds in beautiful containers and make room for fun pieces like a small, framed picture or ornamental objects. Stick to a few items in an eye-catching arrangement with smaller pieces toward the front or a grouping arranged by color.
Soften Your Space with Luxe Textiles
From towels to bathmats to window treatments, textiles are essential to a bathroom design. Choose textiles in a color or pattern that complements your space, for example in your chosen accent color. This is also an ideal opportunity to bring different textures into your room, for example with fluffy white towels and bathrobes to soften a fully tiled wet room or billowing curtains in an alcove window to serve as a romantic backdrop to your freestanding bathtub. Bathmats prevent slipping in a busy bathroom design but also soften your landing on a hard tiled floor near the sink, shower, or tub.
Add a Dash of Your Personal Style
Even if you are going for a classic color scheme and style for your bathroom design, don’t forget to add a bit of your personality to the space. Accessories are a prime opportunity to do this. Include personal items on an open shelf, a favorite color in easily changed accessories, or even a tile pattern that reminds you of a cherished family vacation in Spain. For a kids’ bath design, you could add fun framed photos of their very first bath. Select accessories that transform your functional bath remodel into a space that makes you smile every time you walk in.
Keep it Simple
When it comes to accessorizing, the key is to not overdo it. Adding too many accessories to an open shelf or countertop will just make it look cluttered. Picking an overabundance of textures, patterns, or colors will overwhelm your brand-new bathroom design. Taking your chosen theme too far by arranging every shell you’ve ever collected on the beach will detract from the appeal of these personal items. It’s also important to remember that anything you place in your bath design must be cleaned on a regular basis or removed easily so you can clean every surface. Simple accessories contribute to an easy to maintain bathroom design, which makes life so much simpler!
Choose accessories that accent your bathroom style without overwhelming it and you will create a space that is as beautiful as it is functional. Get more bathroom design ideas and inspiration in our project gallery. Then contact us to discuss your bath remodeling plans and get the bathroom style you always wanted.