For a room that often isn’t very large figuring out what color to paint the bathroom often turns into a big problem for many homeowners. A few easy to think about guidelines can make picking a color much simpler.
Today a reader asked for advice on picking paint color for her bathroom. Here is her color dilemma.
“I have a question. I am remodeling my bathroom at home and was wondering what paint color makes you look your best. I have a friend who has taken some interior design classes and told me that green tends to make people look/ and feel sick; therefore, I changed my initial plan. Can you please help?” –Melissa
Thanks for your question Melissa. Here’s what I as a way to think about paint color for your bathroom. Start with the end result in mind. This will help you narrow your color choices and then you can focus on finding just the right hue for your bathroom.
Flatter your guests
If this is a guest bath and your goal is to create a backdrop that is flattering for anyone when they look in the mirror Then consider tints or tones inspired by skin tones. These would be hues in the peach to pink to warm beige ror soft tan. These are colors that easily flatter just about everyone no matter their coloring.
Source: Valspar Color: Ballet Slipper Cl214 Signature
For hair salons and other professional establishments, I almost always recommend that they go the pinky-peach route because most people will look great surrounded by it when looking in the mirror. When your business is making people look good this is exactly what you want a customer to think when they glance in the mirror to see their freshly styled hair.
You could also consider a color like turquoise that looks good on everyone too but this may not be as easy a color to work into your decorating scheme.
Make a decorating statement
For a guest bath however you might have the desire to chose a color that makes a decorating statement. That’ can work well and often a rich or dark color that accents your decor can turn your guest room into a little jewel. No need to worry about whether the color flatters your guest. They will probably be too busy admiring your beautiful decorating scheme to be looking at themselves anyway. just choose a color that feels great to you in the room and make the statement you have in mind.
One thinkg to note however about color that make a statement. With colors that are very vibrant they will seem to bounce off the walls in a small room and you and your guest might feel the same way. If you really want a bold, bright color in the bathroom consider it on just one wall and use artwork or accessories to bring in more of the same or other bold colors.
Make it your perfect color!
Your friend is right that greens and yellows, as well as many other colors, can be unflattering for some people. For your private bath however you can easily go with any color that flatters you…even green if that is a color you normally wear and feel great in.
If you share the bath you could pick a color that looks great on both of you or at least consider it…you are the one picking and painting after all.
I am faced with a color delema also. I have a very small bathroom- 5ft x 8ft x 7ft. It has that nasty blue tile poplar in the early 70’s, on the floor and 3/4’s of the way up the walls. Right now, my walls are white, but that really brings out the blue. I have been experiementing with different colors to try and tone it down and may have found something but I need some advice. I hung some towels that were in the brown family, like maybe in the “sand” color family and it really has toned down the blue. If I go to dark, it will shrink the room that much more. Any suggestions?
I had the same problem. My solution was to use a much lighter blue in the same color family for the walls. It didn’t tone down the tile but made the transition between tile and wall less harsh and look more continuous. Also, there are products out there you can paint the tile with but I wouldn’t recommend them unless you’re an extremely tidy person and rarely need to clean those areas