Paint color for a small bathroom

15 years ago

I'm having a hard time picking a paint color for a small powder room that we are updating. I've tried many samples and so far I like SW- "Sea Salt" and "Rainwashed." The tile flooring is staying as it was installed about 6 or 7 years ago and is the same as in the hallway. It's a neutral light creamy beige color with darker beige as well. We will be going with a small vanity in a dark Espresso with a white china euro-style sink top and a mirror that matches the vanity. There is a built in wall cabinet as well so we will have the doors refaced to go with the vanity. The faucet, towel bar tissue bar, and above vanity lighting are all going to be brushed nickel.We might change the doors on the small shower as well to get rid of the chrome. The toilet will be white. The styling on all the fixtures and the vanity are what I would call traditional without being ornate. I really like "rainwashed" but I am thinking maybe it is to colorful for such a small room with no window. It's more colorful than the paints in the rest of the house though so maybe that is why I am thinking it is too much. My other choice is "Sea Salt." Has anyone used this color in a bathroom before? Right now the bathroom is so stark looking with white walls, white pedastal sink, toilet, and light beige tile that I am not visualizing it the way it will look once we have it updated.

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Comments (9)

ccoombs1
15 years ago
I think is a small bathroom, there are no rules. Go with what you like, even if you think it's too colorful. A room that you spend hours in is one thing....you have to be more careful with colors there. but a bathroom.....no rules. Just my opinion and I am not a professional decorator! lol!
Sueb20
15 years ago
I'm not familiar with those specific colors, but I agree with ccoombs. A small bathroom is a great excuse to use a fun or interesting color that doesn't necessarily "coordinate" with other colors in your house. I have a TINY powder room (if yours has a shower, it doesn't qualify as small in my book! mine is 3' x 5') and it is a lavender color right now, a color that has no relationship to any other colors on my first floor. Neighbors also have this same tiny bath, and one is cobalt blue, the other is a raspberry color, and both look great.
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Don't be afraid to go dark in small places. Dark works amazingly well in small places-imagine huge room that you use all the time painted dark..not for the weak nerves. While in smaller places, especially ones where you spend just so and so amount of time, dark is enveloping, cozy and calming actually-or elegant and striking, depending on the direction you take. Don't be afraid of contrast with white fixtures. Dark loves some white, and light touches, shiny surfaces like in your mirrors or lighting fixtures, metal (fixtures yet again, and picture frames for example)..it can become easily one of your favorite places in the house if you treat it like a little room. Go with one of the colors in your tile(it already has many, so I'd keep to one of them)...if your ceiling is standard-tint it with a wall color, in proportion more then usual, so it won't feel like a box with a white lid (usual proportion is around 5-10%..that' what good painters do when painting rooms. In rooms with standard ceilings and dark walls you might want to go as high as 50%..check it all of course beforehand, play with the proportion. every room has its own light thus its own rules. it won't make a room darker; it will create the illusion of a higher ceiling though, and prevent the white lid effect). If the ceiling is higher, then you have less to worry. But I'd tint the ceiling some anyway. Also, crown molding helps a lot in these cases..the line where walls and ceilings meet seems softer and somehow more pleasing to the eye. If you leave your paint semi gloss-it will also create the illusion of a room less dark, because the sheen is so reflective. Add art you love, and generally have fun with it-a rug in a richer tome/interesting pattern, a shower curtain that picks up the color, even just in a tiny detail, a little plant, an interesting mug instead of a regular toothbrush holder..you won't pay attention to the tiles you're not a fan of, because the bathroom will have other things you love, in abundance. Disclaimer: everything I suggest here, I went through myself..))
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Ok, so in order of the pics, we're looking at flooring, acrylic tub surround and marble (granite?) top? Are these all bought? Did you take a picture of these three elements in the same lighting? I ask because lighting is everything in how we perceive colour and on my monitor (which might not render the colours true), these elements aren't cohesive. The surround looks like a cool grey on my screen while the other two skew warm. All three have a pattern as well which usually makes a small space look busy. That said, you have two horizontal applications (counter and floor) and one vertical (surround) so that will affect how we perceive the colours as well. Will you have a glass shower door or a curtain? If a glass shower door, I'd be tempted to find a colour that relates to the surround (I'd pick the lightest of the swirls). If you'll have a curtain and won't see the surround, I'd pick the lightest colour in your countertop. Bringing a sample to the paint store and having them match your element is one easy way to find that colour. (Both Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore have phone apps that can help you identify their closest match colour to a hard surface.) A greige colour is a chameleon colour that skews both warm and cool grey depending on the light and I'd be tempted to look at those. Benjamin Moore's Silver Satin might be a good one to try. Hope this helps.
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Another BM color to try is Gray Cashmere. On the screen it reads more green. On my walls it reads blue. Try a sample to see how the color reads in your space. Beautiful bathroom!
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I am not a professional, so full disclosure there, but I understand your frustration and I am in a similar situation. Its always hard to see color in photos but it looks like you also painted your wood door frame in the same color as the cabinets? An easy solution would be to repaint the cabinet white and door trim white, leave the grey on the walls. What is the trim color in your hallway, flooring color? These items also figure in to the colors of you bath. Its nice to pull in the color from the outside flooring just a tad or to have something on the walls, floor or counter that pulls it all together.
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primbynature
15 years ago
I agree. we are building a new house and our spare bath is going to be a totally different color than the rest of the house. they are all neutral khaki's and tans, etc...the spare bath will be white and nantucket fog. not a big jump but just a little different.
fnmroberts
15 years ago
I agree that a Powder Room can stand separate from others nearby. We updated ours a couple years ago and went with a deep blue wallcovering.

It sounds as though your fixtures will be similar to what we selected. We have been very pleased with our color choice and have received lots of favorable comments from visitors. And remember, it is a small space so if you have a change of heart, repainting is not a big deal.

Here are photos of ours:

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Powder Room
johnmari
15 years ago
Powder rooms are the perfect rooms to go "over the top" with in ways that would be completely overpowering in a larger room - so colorful is good! We haven't done anything with our half bath yet but I'm planning on something really strong, bright and fun like cobalt blue (DH's favorite color, too), since it's only a 5x6' space.

BTW, just to be finicky, if it has a shower it's not a powder room, it's a three-quarter bath. (A full bath has a tub, a powder room aka half bath is just toilet and sink.)
nthemdl
15 years ago
It sounds like a larger version of my powder room with the same fixtures and wood colors along with same tones in the tile work.

IMHO, I would go dark in that room. I have SW Rainwashed in my master bath, and although it is not a large bathroom, it looks spare and cavernous.

In my tiny 5X6 powder room, I have SW River Rouge with the espresso vanity with white euro sink. Brushed nickel fixtures and lights. It looks stunning!!
User
15 years ago
we used SW Celery with white trim and crown moulding, and love it!
Desert_Heat
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you for posting pictures of your lovely powder room fnmroberts. Thanks to everyone else for your imput also.

The bath really is 3/4 and not a powder room. I just think of it that way because it is tiny and the shower rarely gets used as the only bedroom downstairs is used as an office. The floorspace not counting the shower is just 4'10" x 5.

I dragged the vanity into the bathroom to see what it looked like against my sample wall and I decided I liked the way it looked with Sea Salt a bit better. Hopefully I made the right choice.
lisaaparrish_hotmail_com
12 years ago
I have a small bathroom with no windows, it has a med to dark vanity cabinet and a cream color sink. The shower with glass doors is also cream color liketh e toilet and tile floor. I am trying to find a color to paint the walls. The hall is a BM tyler toupe and the bedroom on the right side of the bath down the hall a little is a crimson red.

Paint color for a small bathroom

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Paint color for a small bathroom

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