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What color to paint a small windowless bathroom?

8 years ago

I have been helping a friend paint the inside of his house. The great room area is now SW Online and we are super pleased with the more contemporary feel of it. The previous owners had TERRIBLE taste in terms of paint colors and they were DIYers who didn't do a quality paint job either. Currently, the hallway bathroom is this pink/apricot color. The room doesn't have any natural light and that is why I am unsure on what color to suggest. I figure something lighter to paint all the walls including the ceiling to fix the awfulness. Would cool colors make the space feel cold since there isn't a good amount of artificial lighting either?

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Comments (5)

sylviatexas1
8 years ago
The best small bathrooms & powder rooms I've seen are the ones in which everything really ties together, no quirky odd elements or tangents, & it seems like you can "get away with" more in a small space than in a big one.

You can be more starkly modern, more decadently Deco, more specialized & individual. You can put down a floor that looks like water (don't know how that's done, but it's cool), you can use a bright orange 70's theme, things you'd never do in a bigger space.

I saw one below-the-stairs powder room that was done in a Victorian theme, very busy wallpaper in warm gold/brown/burgundy tones, dark hardware, dark cabinetry, etc.

It was like a perfect little gem.

& it wasn't exhausting to the eye because of course nobody spent much time there.
emmarene9
8 years ago
I think part of the color choice depends on whether or not a woman would be putting on makeup daily in this room. I like this SherwinWilliams color Dewy.
You really need to go to the Home Decorating forum. They know all about color there and there are a few people I refer to as Color Wizards. They will fix you up.
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In another thread I was introduced to "LRV" concept - Light Reflecting Value - 1-100% scale black to white. Higher numbers are lighter. On the BM site, Healing Aloe is 68.95. Quiet Moments is 60.79. I think that difference is going to be noticeable and wonder how you will feel moving from room to room with a different color. Or, if both colors be seen in the same eyeful, that can be troublesome too with some colors. Quiet Moments Healing Aloe As a reference point, I have Woodlawn Blue in my bedroom and it is 60.38 LRV and it definitely comes across as light. I normally do deeper richer colors, but felt in the mood for a pale color there and it is. I think you will be best served to get a sample of each and try them both in both rooms. They read a little differently in grey-ness and green-ness too. That will affect your decision too. Also, at some BM paint stores they can show (or sell/ rent) you a large sheet of the colors. That may help you too. A nearby BM store has 16" square pieces of many colors and 7"ish squares of every color.
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With the photoshoped images I showed above, I was just playing around with the paint bucket. Example #4 is putrid IMO, but I put it up there to show that this could be a wrong direction to go with color. I really like the #5 too @sloyder. I also like #2, #6, and even #7. I think the peach colors might work if they were deeper and more grayed down. As they are in the above images they seem to "bright" to me, too clean.
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Thanks to both of you. I will definitely look at the mirror back light below and above , as I was planning the below one anyway. That makes sense. Outside of that, most of the beautiful pictures you shared were including recessed lights, which I cant really do because of the concrete ceiling. We thought about doing a drop ceiling to add can lights (ultra flats ones) but that would force us to redo the doors for the whole floor which are custom floor to ceiling height. That is why I was considering doing that same thing but just partially (just 6 ") from the vanity through the shower/tub so be able to have the recessed light look. I am just struggling getting a clean look, without those options. If I can't do that, and I cant do the sconces because there is just not much room to add a sconce between the sink and the wall next to the vanity (it is only 30" wide and our sink is a large rectangular vessel sink), what other options would you recommend?
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I think a nice blue would look very nice with those choices. Have a look at BM Smoke 2122-40 or something along those lines. A nice light green might also be nice - just a hint of colour in your paint would be nicer than plain white IMO. If you look at BM - they have a whites collection with lots of choices for just barely coloured whites - blues, greens, greys, pinks, yellows. Then you'll need to test them in your room to see how they look with lighting in there etc. Then you can repeat that same tone in your choice of accessories and towels.
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Vith
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Do you want a warm color, cool color, neutral/warm, neutral/cool, neutral? Think of the emotion you want to have in the room. Colors control the mood of the room.

Make sure you test samples in the room with the color temperature lights you plan on having in there so the shade does not change.
Aims
Original Author
8 years ago
My friend is in his late 20's and lives alone. It's his guest bathroom and he doesn't have a super strong opinion about it but he does want it to look nice. The previous owner didn't even paint all the walls bc I think she was trying to go with some sort of an accent wall but it really looks like she didn't finish it. I've had to help him along the way thus far. This is what we did last weekend with SW Online and I think it looks lovely! He decided to paint his entry way and master bathroom which is larger, has natural light, and better artificial light a slightly darker shade, SW Contemporary Gray. We are still unsure about to paint the smaller bathroom with terrible lighting and no windows. Do we stick to his gray/blue theme?
sylviatexas1
8 years ago
Yes, the simplest, most surefire thing would be to stay with the general theme & colors.

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