How can the trend for colour in the bathroom be utilised effectively and what other trends are coming through in the design of this smallest of spaces? Ben Bryden, Sales and Marketing Director of RAK Ceramics UK, offers us an insight.

The bathroom may be one of the smallest rooms of the home, but it is also one of the most important when it comes to injecting personality into a property. A personal space overall, the modern-day bathroom has become an extension of our living spaces, with comfort, indulgence and luxury being as much of a priority as the fixtures themselves.

For a long time, the focus for sanitaryware in the bathroom has been starkly white, but things are changing. While we remain a long way from the avocado greens, electric blues and candy pinks of the 1980s, wall-to-wall white and chrome bathrooms are also seeing a change-up, with a return to colour. Soft pastels and muted shades are increasingly being seen on sanitaryware particularly as inspiration for this room’s design increasingly takes its influence from the hotel sector.

Less clinical than an all-white bathroom, these pops of colour can be scaled up or down to meet individual tastes. It is not necessary, for example, to choose an entire suite of sanitaryware in a single colourway; a washbasin bowl in cappuccino can add colour and visual interest to a bathroom while being enhanced by more traditional white pieces elsewhere, an idea that works particularly well in smaller spaces, such as en suites and cloakrooms.

Colour doesn’t need to mean bold and bright and in this instance the trend takes a far subtler approach, with nature-inspired tones that serve to add character while creating a relaxed and tranquil vibe. Indeed, we are seeing a rise in the use of organic materials and earthy, nature-inspired colour schemes alongside a strong focus on wellness and relaxation throughout bathroom design. This gives a great opportunity to express personality through the choice of materials and finishes to complete the look. As trends turn towards warmer, earth tones, bathroom tiling trends are shunning stark white too, in favour of stone-effects with warmer hues like travertine and limestone.

This subtle use of colour also works in harmony with brassware finishes other than chrome, giving greater creative freedom in what it is after all a very personal space. This is an emerging trend in bathroom design that taps into the shift towards industrial-inspired styling, first seen in the kitchen but lending itself quite nicely to the bathroom, from metallic finishes and raw materials through to basic white, brick metro tiles. Some areas of the bathroom lend themselves to the industrial trend more than others. Brassware, for example, is an obvious one and taps and showers in finishes such as matt black, brass, copper and brushed nickel all work well with this trend. Surfaces such as countertops and wall and floor tiles too can be industrial-led, with nature-inspired quartz and ceramic and textured finishes all adding to the ambience.

So when you are considering the décor for the bathroom, don’t rule out the use of colour and mix things up with a combination of materials and finishes that will give the space instant personality.