Colour Ideas for Small Bathrooms

When designing a small bathroom, taking the time to carefully consider your colour and material palette will ensure you create the perfect space that will accurately represent the exact atmosphere you want to achieve. A small bathroom layout can still offer plenty of room for creativity provided that you clearly define your intentions for the final design when making your colour and material selections. 

A small bathroom design allows for a variety of options: You can choose to enhance the space’s dimensions as much as possible by combining light, bright, breezy materials and colours to create the feel of a larger space or instead, you can opt for more of a cosy ‘cocoon-like’ feel that embraces the room’s dimensions. You can also create a darker colour palette that is carefully balanced out by softer neutrals, taking a step away from the traditional all-white look of a smaller bathroom design to create a space that reflects your own unique sense of style. 

Bright and Breezy

Creating a bright, light-filled bathroom design scheme will effectively enhance the space’s dimensions and create the perception of additional space. These styles of bathrooms use a predominately white (or otherwise lighter tones such as pastels for example) colour palette combined with softer contrasting elements such as blonde timbers, light grey concrete or white marbles. 

Ensure there is an abundance of natural light in your new bathroom to create a brighter space. The light travels through the glass shower screen while also reflecting off the wall tiles and metallic bathroomware in this luxurious design scheme to create a stunning light-filled atmosphere with the use of a lighter toned timber vanity unit, bright finishes, white wall tiles and soft, dusty beige floor tiles.

Shiny, reflective surfaces are a must in these small bathroom designs as these finishes will allow for light to travel and bounce throughout the space, further enhancing the perception of added dimension to the area. Clear glass shower screens, bright chrome or gold tapware and metallic or glass bathroom accessories provide the perfect solution in a small bathroom design, while glossy wall tiles will also assist in allowing the movement of light. These shinier surfaces can be perfectly balanced with a range of more muted matte finishes that will provide the perfect level of contrast without overpowering the overall design scheme. 

Designed by Norsu Home, this playful bathroom design scheme uses a range of soft, blush tones paired with marble wall tiles and gold metallic finishes creating a bright and luxurious look. Our multi-textured Patagon mosaic tiles add a wonderfully tactile element to the blush toned feature wall, perfectly highlighting the opulent freestanding bathtub.

Comfortable Cocoon

Where a brighter colour scheme will help to enhance the space in a smaller bathroom, a darker colour palette will have the opposite effect of creating a cosy ‘cocoon-like’ experience that is perfect for winding down in at the end of a long day. This design style allows for a more eclectic and personal colour palette where you can let your creativity run wild using assorted finishes, bolder colours, shapes and even patterns. 

Ocean themed colours can work especially well in these smaller bathroom designs with rich, deep blues, mossy greens and soft charcoals working together for a harmonious and soothing look. Metallic finishes such as bronze or gold will create a striking contrast against these richer hues, creating a luxurious vibe in the space. The ceiling can be either a traditional white or be painted in a more striking colour that will further enhance this style of design scheme, making for a creative and unique personal touch in your new bathroom. 

Deep ocean blue wall tiles are used in this cosy bathroom by Perini Renovations to create a comforting vibe. Our Nue bathroom tiles are available in a myriad of rich colours, making for the perfect solution in a colourful and warm interior design scheme.

It is crucial to pay close attention to your bathroom lighting solutions in this particular style to ensure a comfortable experience. Pendant lighting over the bathtub and vanity will provide focused task lighting in these key areas while a diffused light source (such as scattered downlights for example) will provide balance. 

Combining the best of both worlds, you can also use a darker toned tile as your feature wall in a small bathroom layout while balancing the rich, bolder tones with more muted wall tiles throughout the space. Soft grey bathroom tiles, warm charcoal tones and even dusty browns or beige tiles will all work well to create more of a sense of balance without relying on the traditional white wall tiles, offering a unique alternative option.

Our Arabian Handmade Tiles are used in this small bathroom layout as a stunning, rich toned feature wall in the shower while soft grey wall tiles balance out the interior colour scheme to create a softer look in the space.

The right combination of bathroom tiles in your design will either work to create a light-filled, open space or a warm and cosy atmosphere that will embrace the room’s dimensions. By paying close attention to your colour choices and lighting scheme, you can create the perfect atmosphere in a small bathroom or ensuite design that will allow for you to truly showcase your own unique design style and creativity, proving that options are not at all limited in a smaller design! For more on the latest colour and material trends, our guide on the top Bathroom Design Trends of 2021 is full of colourful ideas and inspiration!