Recent design trends have encouraged bathrooms with personality, and it’s not that unusual to choose a bathroom style that contrasts sharply with the rest of your home.
Opting for a bathroom look that is a radical departure from your usual interior design style can be way of experimenting with different style influences, or a good compromise if there are opposing tastes in your home.
Traditional bathrooms can sit very comfortably in modern homes, adding perhaps to the sense of escapism we look for when we close the door, switch off from the busy world and relax in the bath.
Ultimately, it’s your space, your home and your style and taste is what matters.
Don’t be scared of interior design – have a little fun and enjoy playing with eclectic ideas.
There are no rules, only what makes you happy in your home.
Accent Colours
One way to bridge the gap between a traditional bathroom and contemporary style elsewhere in the home is to utilise some common elements such as accent colours.
If for example you have an ultra-modern open plan living area, with a predominantly yellow and grey colour scheme, then find a way to incorporate some sunny bursts of yellow into your traditional bathroom plan.
Adding a yellow floral fabric, or an item of distressed painted furniture, or yellow-painted frames to showcase some antique-style prints are all easy ways of making a subtle visual transition from one style to another.
Art Deco
The clean lines of Art Deco manage to suggest both contemporary and traditional styling.
Seeking inspiration from the 1920s would give some style pointers that help you make an easy leap from now to then in terms of interior design.
If you have a bold, tiled floor elsewhere in the house, you could try mirroring a similar shape or colour with your choice tiles in the bathroom on either the walls or floor.
Add a roll-top bath as the main feature, or a traditionally-styled pedestal sink.
Accessories that nod to a bygone era can help set the design tone: you might be able to repurpose a wooden cabinet for bathroom storage rather than a new, modern unit.
Vintage jars and canisters make a stylish change from bright plastic toothbrush holders, but make sure that whatever you choose can withstand a little humidity.
Mixing Modern and Traditional
Combining a few modern and traditional elements in the space will tie the bathroom in with the rest of your home.
In much the same way that mixing up vintage pieces with high street clothes can create a unique and individual personal style, approach your bathroom in much the same way.
Pairing a contemporary bath with period-style taps, or vice versa, helps you create your own interior style rather than simply replicating the latest magazine ideas.
The contrast between old and new provides a playful clash of styles, which can work very effectively as long as you concentrate on a few key items rather than letting the space become over-crowded or confused.
Clean and streamlined works best for bathrooms, whether traditional or modern.
