It’s funny writing a trend post every year on a room like the bathroom. This is, of course, a space that wears some fairly permanent and expensive decisions. In fact, it’s common for true “trends” in kitchens and bathrooms to run the length of about a decade (or more). And surely, there are some design decisions that look good for a lifetime. But you wouldn’t be here reading about home aesthetics if you weren’t an enthusiast of sorts, wondering what’s next. So while I kind of cringe at the idea of trends for the sake of newness, I do also know there is a time and place for fresh ideas. If you’re embarking on a home reno or new home journey, you’ll likely need some concepts to chew on, whether you’re after just a few special details to add to your traditional design plan, or are looking to create something completely drama-filled.
And just like Jess said in her trend observations for kitchens in the coming year(s), I also don’t take these kinds of posts lightly. We research for weeks and often months (heck, sometimes the whole year) to see what other designers and firms have dared to do. What might stick? What could be fun to dream about? What feels like an entirely new idea? What feels like a classic detail done in a crisp way?
So, without further ado, here are the seven design “trends” I’ve taken notice of that I think have some serious legs.
Moody Boutique Hotel
The whole moody vibes thing really started to take hold maybe five-ish years ago, and with the color-drenching trend that exploded in the last year, it just makes sense this would make its way into the bathroom. It’s kind of always been a thing for powder baths where people are more comfortable taking risks, but this boutique hotel slash members-club aesthetic is primed to also make its way into primary baths.
First up is this absolutely gorgeous space by Life of Plenty Home. I especially love how subtle the contrast is between the dark lime-washed (or possibly Roman clay) walls and the more cream-leaning marble-fluted sink basin and rattan mirror. This keeps the design super interesting and layered without coming off overly glam.
Here’s the treatment in a full bath, by our friend A1000xbetter. This one is a bit more retro in vibe, between the terrazzo floor and the wood paneling, but the feeling is the same. It feels like the kind of room you can enter at 2 am when your bladder can’t make it to the morning, and your eyes won’t be smited by brightness.
I’m screaming this is so good. Forgive me for being graphic, but it’s kind of like the inside of a uterus in the absolute best way (girl power!). All jokes aside, it takes a very daring person to let their designer (Crystal Sinclair Designs in this case) implement something like this and I applaud this homeowner. And while that custom red marble sink is likely the cost of a hospital bill after giving birth, you can get a similar—if not so bold—look by opting for a deep burgundy wall or tile color, adding some thin picture frame molding, and going with an antiqued mirror finish on multiple surfaces.
A bit less glam is this powder back by Laura Brophy, achieved with a rough, possibly vintage or antique stone basin. Contemporary touches like the streamlined wall-mounted faucet, sconces, and the thin-framed mirror keep this space feeling forward-thinking rather than overly rustic.
Natural Spa Vibes
On the complete flip side of “moody boutique hotel” is the warm, natural spa aesthetic. While your mind might go to something very clean and white, this trend is far more rooted in earth tones and materials. Marble is replaced with wood, limestone, and slate. Surfaces are cohesive—meaning the same finish is seen across ceilings, walls, even vanities. It’s calm, luxe, and rich-looking while also down to earth.
While I was only really able to get two images approved for use, don’t let that make you think this isn’t having its moment. Because it is, and big time. In the last decade, we’ve seen a lot of colorful bathrooms, eclectic and glam spaces, charming English cottage looks, but I think this is where modern design is heading. More “quiet luxury” than in your face (but expected) spa. I especially love how Yond Interiors mixed the nearly velveting mushroom finish of the walls, ceilings, and pony wall (that houses the vanity) with a thick grouted slate and a stunning wood surround for the tub. I’m not sure how a wood like that would hold up to water over time, but I have to imagine that was thought through. (Also, you heard it here first: Slate and terra cotta floors are having a comeback…)
Here’s a fairly different look, from Studio Utkan Gunerkan but the serenity they both serve is unmistakable. I think this is accomplished by picking just a few materials and using them all over. Here, the concrete-like material on the walls, floor, ceiling, and vanity is balanced by a pinkish clay-hued tile in the walk-in shower. That’s it. It’s simple but powerful.
Raw Edge Vanity
This is more of a detail than a full-room design move, and also kind of an offshoot of the warm natural spa look from above. I’ve been seeing so much of this lately, executed both in stone and in wood. Raw edges are particularly interesting when juxtaposed with the cold and pristine nature of a stone like marble.
I originally pulled this image to illustrate the previous trend, but then I couldn’t stop finding bathrooms with wood or stone with raw edges, like this one by Anke Design Studio. And while I’m sure this detail isn’t for everyone, it lends a one-of-a-kindness that doesn’t feel like it can be replicated. It’s uniquely yours and celebrates the beauty of stone.
If you told me to close my eyes and picture a bathroom with rough-hewn and scraped wood on every surface besides the sink vanity, which was a boulder-like chiseled stone, I’d struggle to come up with something this refined in my brain. But Alessandro Isola somehow managed it expertly. This feels like a 5-star resort, as many of Isola’s spaces do, which typically feature raw-edged rock and stone elements where most tend to lean in linear, clean-cut marble and wood.
A bit less grand but no less beautiful. I love this bathroom by Susannah Holmberg Studios because it feels both incredibly special but somehow attainable. The live edge counter that flanks the plinth stone basin really grounds the room.
White Plumbing Fixtures
Gold and brass has had a chokehold on metal finishes for well over a decade at this point, and we’ve toyed with wondering what’s next. Chrome maybe? Polished nickel? Bronze? All of those are great options, but strangely white fixture finishes are kind of having a (niche) moment. Now, I don’t see this replacing brass in any way, but it’s a good contender if you’re after something new and modern.
A white faucet really plays to the youthfulness of this bathroom (this is actually a design in collaboration with Domino for surface company Concrete Collaborative). It doesn’t cut through or juxtapose anything about the checkered tile or the bobbin-esque mirror, but rather complements it perfectly.
Here, by Lizzie Green of Popix Designs, the white faucet is more of a contemporary foil to the earthenware thin stacked tile on the wall. A brass fixture would have been beautiful, but this is unexpected, cheerful, and feels like an eternal spring.
And while I know this isn’t a faucet, I couldn’t skip over including the white finish on the metal doors of this shower (the space was designed by Handelsmann + Khaw). It’s such a cool look that we don’t see often.
Interesting Trimwork
We’ve been seeing picture frame molding everywhere, but it’s taken its time to make it into the bathroom in the same way it’s applied in living spaces. In addition to that, there’s also so much fun being had with subtle tile and marble trim work. Think contrasting colors, stripes, and barely-there stone. It’s really the kind of thing that can take a fairly subtle room and take it to the next level.
You don’t often see so much molding in a bathroom, but I love it! Now, keep in mind that in a powder bath like this one by Carlos Garcia Interiors, there isn’t much to be concerned with in terms of moisture, but in a bathing space, you may want to consider a PVC molding to avoid any warping or deterioration over time of the wood.
The image I’m referencing here is on the second slide (in case it doesn’t default to that for you). This is a bathroom in Le Grand Mazarin Hotel, which was designed by Martin Brudnizki. As if the peachy tile with a subtle darker peach stripe every four rows wasn’t punchy enough, they added a black and white vertical stripe prior to the bullnosing. I think almost every room can stand to have some black sprinkled in, and this is a highly effective and quirky way to do it that’ll draw the eye and make you smile every morning and night.
Heidi Caillier Design knows just how to take a fairly serious (and seriously beautiful) room and add that je ne sais quoi to make it feel new. In this instance, it’s the thick, lacquered green trim at the baseboard and around the opening to the bathtub nook.
Another one by A1000xbetter, I almost missed the delicate marble trim along the top line of the tile and around the threshold of the shower stall. I can’t stop looking at it and it’s such a surprising, simple detail in a room with so much else to look at.
Brown, Black & Dark Gray Natural Stone
Move over white marble because darker pigment natural stone is here to take its seat on the throne (and no, I don’t mean the toilet…or do I?). There’s such a gravitas to opting for an Emperador Marble or Nero Marquina marble over the more commonly used Carrara or Calacatta, and also feeds into the moody boutique hotel look I shared earlier.
My jaw is on the floor here, and if ever I would allow my mouth to touch the ground, it would be on this gorgeous creamy and dreamy stone floor in a space by Montana Labelle. And look, I know that marble tub is something few could fathom for themselves, it’s great inspiration for the power of dark stone. Hard to go back to white stone after laying eyes (and jaw) on this.
I’m fairly certain this stone is actually a red marble, but when I first earmarked it, I thought it was dark brown, so I’m letting it slide anyway. Isn’t this just so gorgeous? Thank you Style House LA for this marvel.
For those not inclined to go so potent, darker gray marbles might just be for you. It’s stormy, modern, and plays nice with both warm and cool tones on other surfaces. I especially like it against a grey-washed wood like the one in this bathroom by Lark+Palm.
Color Drenching
Surprise, surprise…said no one. We can’t get away from color-drenching (I mean, I’m not ready to anyway), so it’s no wonder it’s sneaked into the bathroom. I love this one because it’s a fairly simple way to make a huge impact with some pretty affordable materials. Of course, like anything else, it can also read luxurious, modern and personality-filled, all depending on what you pick to get the point across.
Another Human‘s Leah Ring is no stranger to creating spaces that make you smile while simultaneously leaving you thinking “wait, why didn’t I come up with that?” In white, the classic square tile and floating flat-fronted vanity would feel sterile, nearly clinical, but in sage and mint green, it’s just so dang pleasant.
Color drenching doesn’t always have to feel contemporary, either. Erdem Hamza went monotone (with white for contrast) but in a way that is organic, worldly, and chic. Don’t be afraid to look at sinks and fixtures in colors other than white, and then match it to your wall paint and tile selections.
Talk about happy! This is what I call color-drench-light. Meaning, yellow isn’t on every single surface, but it’s on just enough to get the point across. Tamsin Johnson varied a buttery yellow on the cabinets and mirrors and a darker ochre on the tile. Even the antiqued brass faucets seem to play into the color scheme.
And finally, a mauve moment by Decus Interiors. This is similar to Leah Ring’s green bathroom in that it’s a straight-forward square tile with a painted flat-front floating vanity, but it feels very different with the swirling stone that picks up on those purple hues, and the linear color-matched cabinet handles. It’s hushed but speaks volumes.
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There you have it. Overall, there’s definitely a trend toward deeper, more personality-filled bathrooms, replacing the cold, white spaces that were the norm for decades. I hope these rooms inspire you, even if they wouldn’t be something you’d choose for yourself. Heck, may they push you to think outside the box for any room in your home, not just your bathrooms. But well, especially your bathrooms if you have the inclination to work on yours.
Until next time friends…
Opening Image Credits: Design by Montana Labelle | Photo by Patrick Biller
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.
