Painting a small bathroom

13 years ago

I have a small bathroom in my condo 10' X 7' - no windows. I've been told that a dark color will make it look larger. Has anyone had experience with this? Opinions, comments, suggestions?

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Comments (5)

bronwynsmom
13 years ago
Yes, this can be true. A deep color, particularly if you paint the ceiling as well, makes the walls seem to melt away from you. It will also make the corners where the walls meet and the ceiling meets the walls sort of melt away, because you don't see the shadow lines as clearly. This works best with a soft neutral color, or a neutral version of a color...one that is greyed down. What doesn't work is a strong or hot dark color,like bright dark blue, or orange, or bright yellow, which can jump right into your face in a small space. Think foggy, atmospheric colors with warm undertones, because whatever strong color you choose can reflect onto your skin...so be sure you have enough lighting for your face at the mirror, so that you don't look dead when you look into it!
dilly_dally
13 years ago
Photos will help. It all depend on how much trim you have and if it is natural or painted. Vanity or sink? What color fixtures? What lighting do you already have? Wall tile? How much?
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It all depends. Small rooms can be done in darker wall colors and small bathrooms can absolutely look stellar with lighter wall colors. Decorator "color tips and tricks" can be annoying. :) There are indeed rules when it comes to color and the built environment but once understood, those rules are made to be broken. Purposefully choosing wall colors to create unique atmospheres and customize environments sometimes means not following "the rules". Again, perfectly fine as long as you know what rules you are breaking and why. There are reasons why dark wall colors work in small rooms. Just like there are reasons why a lighter wall color can be the best choice for a small bath. Light or dark wall colors boils down to personal aesthetic and color tolerances. Every time. You either feel good in a small room with dark walls or you don't, etc. There is one philosophy about color in a small bath that I believe rings true consistently. And that is it's better to limit contrasts. There shouldn't be big contrasts among the materials used, like tile, flooring, fixtures, and the wall/ceiling color. Now, whether the color palette for the small bath leans darker or lighter isn't the point as much as how you handle incorporating the colors of all those elements to create a cohesive whole - i.e. manage the contrast appropriately. IMO managing the contrasts appropriately means more subtle levels of contrast. Lastly, defining what a midtone is can be challenging. It's not necessarily the colors located in the middle of color strips. A good *guideline* for defining a midtone paint color is to look at the LRV, Light Reflectance Value. A LRV close to 50 would be a midtone.
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dutch8257
Original Author
13 years ago
I used a dark color, would I paint the ceiling the SAME color or a lighter shade of that color? Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the bathroom. The floor is a light brick colored tile. The vanity and mirror are Antiqued White Vintage with dark oil-rubbed bronze hardware and over-the-mirror light (from Lowe's - link following)
http://www.lowes.com/pd_168072-444-C15524_4294855867_4294933768?productId=1217333&pl=1&currentURL=/pl_Bath%2BVanities%2Bwith%2BTops_4294855867_4294933768_
susanelewis
13 years ago
My master bath shower/toilet room is called Park Bench (think of the green of park benches from the past). I love it. The ceiling is still white (that will change to an almond one day). It has no natural light but a bright light. It is very calming and I don't feel closed in at all. I'm not a morning person and frankly, it helps to transition me into the day. I could not take a bright room at 6am.
deb1853
13 years ago
I have a small bath (no natural light) and I painted it with a base color of pale gray, I then sponged on silver metallic paint (Sherwin Williams) and it looks great.
The silver metallic catches the light and really opens up the room. It was easy to do as well. Just play around with the sponging pattern on a practice board, I used a small natural sea sponge and applied it in a tight pattern.

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Painting a small bathroom

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bronwynsmom

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dutch8257
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Painting a small bathroom

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bronwynsmom

dilly_dally

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dutch8257Original Author

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deb1853

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dutch8257
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