Elements of a Stylish Bathroom

After you've decided on a floor plan, you can begin to develop a decorating scheme. To give your design coherence, it helps to focus on a particular historical era, geographical region, or artistic movement - Victorian, Mediterranean or Art Deco. Then you can choose fixtures, materials, and decorative details that will achieve this look.

Begin by looking for characteristics that define the rest of your home. Your new bathroom should blend in to the existing architecture. If your house doesn't have an exact architectural style, simply go with a look that you like. You still need something to unify your design, so you may want to start with a color scheme, tile, or vanity that you love and then look for other elements that will complement your choice.

Design Elements

In the confined quarters of the bathroom, a balanced, visually pleasing design is especially important. Through the skillful use of form, color, and texture, you can create a mood, camouflage flaws, and even make your bathroom appear larger. You can get started with a free in-home design estimate by MKBD bathroom designers. For now, imagine that you are looking at your bathroom plan head-on (you can make a sketch, or elevation drawing, from this perspective). Study the different lines that characterize the design - the vertical lines of the shower stall, the horizontals created by the cabinet tops - and imagine how they'll draw your eye through the space. Notice the interplay of shapes created by windows, doors, alcoves and large bathroom elements. Finally, check to see that your fixtures and other major features are in proportion to the size of the bathroom. If space is limited, choose scaled-down fixtures that reveal as much floor space as possible - a wall-mounted sink instead of a vanity cabinet.