First Bathroom Design Ideas

Moving into your first home brings a whole host of jobs to complete along with the ride, with every room in your home probably requiring at least a few changes to suit your taste. You may get lucky and absolutely adore everything that the old owner has done with the house, but it’s more than likely that you will feel like you need to inject a little of your own personality into it. Moreover, the task of renovating your home can be full of joy and extremely fulfilling; although it brings along its fair share of stress too!

One room that may not immediately be high on your list of makeovers is your first bathroom, but you’d be wrong to ignore it. You spend more time in this room than you may first realise, and it’s important to feel comfortable every time you use it and not be put off from relaxing in it. So, to make sure that’s not the case have a look at these tips on making any of your first bathrooms a pleasure to be in.

Everyone has different ideas about what constitutes good interior design, we all obviously want to put our personal imprint on it and that’s never going to please everyone. It’s your home at the end of the day, but in general there are certain colours and materials that work best for the bathroom.

White is the most popular colour to deck a bathroom in, but if you're after something a little different then soft and calming colours are the way to go. Light blues, peaches – basically light pastel colours work great, but make sure mutual colours are in play so bathroom accessories etc. don't clash with the walls.

When it comes to the walls personally I’d avoid tiles, unless it’s a half tiled wall which can look good with the right tiles and colours. Stick to paint for your walls though, as wallpaper can obviously become damp other time and will need replacing more often.

I've sort of covered this in a previous hub, ‘The Positives and Negatives of Replacing your Bath with a Shower’. It all comes down to what you prefer of course, but think about how it fits your lifestyle. Do you just want to jump into a quick shower and rush off to work? Or do you love a long soak in the bath at the end of a long day? You could even combine them both and get a shower bath, but this doesn't always look brilliant.

When it comes to styles of bath smaller bathrooms will benefit from corner baths, while bigger bathrooms can afford to have a stand-out freestanding bath as a centrepiece – and you could even go down a different route than the standard acrylic bath, such as a stone or copper bath. Bear in mind though that these options will be far more expensive.

One of the most important things to remember when designing your first bathroom is to avoid the clutter. It’s easy to get carried away with filling it with things you think will be useful; but keeping it simple promotes a relaxing atmosphere, is easier to clean and just all-round looks better. As for everyday products like shampoos there are plenty of unique bathroom storage ideas – even if you have a small bathroom - that will hide this extra clutter away, but it’s best not to buy more than you need in the first place.

The amount of bathroom accessories you have is up to you, there are thousands of varieties to choose from. However, to avoid the clutter we mentioned it’s best to keep it simple and stick with the essentials; such as toothbrush holders, toilet roll holders and towel rails. Make sure they match the décor of your bathroom though.

Bathroom lighting also has a variety of choices; from spotlights to wall lights. You can even incorporate a dimmer on your lights if you’re after that romantic mood, and all around it’s best not to go too harsh when it comes to how strong the light is.

Hopefully that will give you a brief overview of where to start with your first bathroom, ultimately aiming to give you a bathroom that you won't have to change for years.