Bathroom Color schemes

Here are some bathroom color schemes. The design of your bathroom is of some influence on the 'feel' of your colors, but one thing is clear: big red surfaces make any skin look bad. The color schemes here were designed in house paint software, based on actual bathroom pictures - all of course in available paint colors.

Bathroom color schemes

Colors for a bathroom color scheme need to do a few things for us: they should create the desired mood, they must look natural and comfortable, and they should make our skin look good. That sort of rules out reds and strong chemical shades (like DIN colors). But certain pinks can be used, expecially the more cool ones. Browns can be OK too, when applied carefully. Look at the undertones, and hold them next to your arm - they should make your skin look fresh. But neutrals, greens, blues, yellows and violets are safer choices.

Turquoise and pink bathroom color scheme

Turquoise and pink bathroom

Bathroom color scheme of pink and turquoise

A pleasant and luxury feel. The rug was colored in paint color software too (for illustration). Of course you need some luck in finding a rug in exactly that color. But, even though a woolen pink rug is absolutely luxurious, you can also add the pink by taking a pink bathrobe or towels.

Instead of a pink rug, you can also take pink towels, a bathrobe, or window treatments - as long as you can get the right pink
Egg-sheen is probably the best paint sheen for walls, and matte for the ceiling. Sheen influences the darkness of the tint, so try them out in real life first.
Here you'll find some notes on color and mood.
The gold and ochre elements (curtains, gold metal details) also play an important role in this design.

Neutral and blue bathroom color scheme

Bathroom in mint and neutrals

Neutral bathroom color scheme

The middle neutrals (the warmer ones of this color scheme) are on the walls. The lightest one is on the right wall: it looks darker because it's in the shadow.
The blues are shaded: the darker blue is more turquoise, and the bathtub blue is a lighter cobalt blue. Click here for more on blue paint colors
The neutrals on the walls are RAL colors, and the ceiling color was picked from Porter Paints.

This bathroom has something exciting about it, because it's rather dark but not very colorful - except for the turquoise rug. Dark can be enveloping - like a grotto. Green and blue always give a natural feeling, and they make any skin look good. The flowers contrast nicely to the neutrals. Taking a greyish brown (instead of the colder neutral for the floor is an option to make the overall feel a little warmer. The turquoise doesn't need to be a rug - it can be vases, a bathrobe or towels too.

Cool and warm green

The green is 'warmed' by an orange tub and lower trim. The ceiling is an orange-toned white. This kind of colors do good in light from the north.

The dark floor and the blues give the green a more cool impression. The turquoise tub adds some extra freshness.

Painting software

These pics were made with painting software - you can do that yourself too, if you want to. It gives a solid visual impression about how things will look like when you're done. It makes designing so much easier... If you like a careful preparation, buying this software might be a good idea.

More about bathroom color schemes

Every bathroom has a different styling. In a romantic bathroom, colors will shine differently than in a square and modern one. When you paint a regular white bathrooms (with lots of white tile) in different colors, you have to be careful not to make it look cheap. Colors function differently in an abstract environment. You could hang up a painting or mosaic, or add colors as accessories (instead of paint colors) - for things like window treatment, shower curtains, a bathrobe. Having all your towels in the same specific color, can be an important styling element of your bathroom

Some extra notes

When you make a bathroom color scheme, also add the colors of existing elements - like wooden floors, colored tiles etc. The outside of the bathtub can be painted as well (inside, the paint will suffer very much and peel of sooner or later). In making your design, keep in mind that the material is important too. Brown paint looks and feels different than brown hardwood, even though the color can be the same. But: when your colors harmonize, they won't look bad or cheap - even when they all come straight out of a paintcan.

Creating your own bathroom color scheme

In making color schemes, a certain order of decision can be handy. First define the elements that are there to stay, then buy the things that are hard to find in specific color shades (rugs, tiles, floors), and then match your paint colors to them. You might even pick colors from these elements. Or how about a painting in your bathroom? You can pick colors from that too.

If you find choosing paint colors awkward and need professional resources, then consider using the "Paint color cheat sheets". It's a list of proven and tested paint colors, composed by a color consultant who tried them out for years (her husband owns a painting company). Click here for a review and more info on this tool for choosing interior paint colors.

Other bathroom painting ideas

Your bathroom wall materials have a big influence on the way the room is dealing with moisture. When you use breathing paints (like latex), there will be less condensing water. Loam is even better: it absorbs moisture and exhumes when the air is dry. That means: clean mirrors all the time. But if loam is not your designing style, latex is a good alternative. Check the section on interior painting techniques, to see what undergrounds are suitable for latex paint. And on this page about bathroom painting ideas, you'll find more about painting ceramic tile. Although real mosaic is a great artistic styling option as well.