How to Brighten Your Bathroom Design with Simple Colorful Accents

It's springtime in the Philadelphia-region! Well, almost. The official start of spring is two days away--Friday, March 20--but the first glimmers of our favorite season are here. This Sunday, the NCAA selected the brackets for the men's basketball tournament--an annual springtime rite. And yesterday, St. Patrick's Day, the city was awash in shades of hopeful green. Who knows, perhaps soon we'll see the first blossoms!

Spring is the beginning of our busy season at MKBD, a time of planning and demolition,--and, like spring, expectation. Inspired by the buoyancy of the season, homeowners often ask MKBD to shoot for the moon in terms of bathroom design.

Often, however, we find ourselves suggesting subtle, yet dramatic projects with a timeless appeal. This timelessness is seen in our muted color palette. Spring might be the time of pastels, but we believe most bathroom remodeling projects are best served with muted palettes.

But wait! That doesn't mean we don't enjoy a shot of color. Instead of bold palettes, however, we often prefer bold accents: the little details that make a timeless color scheme shine.

In the pictures below, we explore two favorite ways to add color to your bathroom design: with a single, colorful element or simple accent tiles. 

In this little gem of a bathroom, the bold accent is a blue vessel sink. 

A Colorful Element

A colorful element is a perfect way to add color to your bathroom design. Your colorful element might be a dramatic juxtaposition or seamless integration, but to be successful, the element should merely accent and not overwhelm.

Viewed from a different angle, the bold blue vessel sink above fits quite seamlessly into the bathroom's blue and off-white color palette. 

A different use of color: in this Montgomery County bathroom remodeling project, two decorative dolphins the same deep blue color from the project above juxtapose the white marble tiles. 

The decorative dolphins above reveal a crucial point about color and design--one that we find ourselves reminding clients about all the time: your palette is not simply limited to the base elements of your design.

You do not necessarily need to build a blue vessel sink to add color to your bathroom. Color can come from your own accessories, from decorative elements, like the dolphin, or even toiletries and towels. In this way, even a simple vase of flowers can become part of your bathroom design.

This white and grey palette of this marble powder room is brightened by a colorful potpourri.

Colorful Accent Tiles

Our favorite way to add color to a bathroom is accent tiles. The key to a successful accent tile is choosing a timeless pattern that will not look dated in a few years. Remember, a bathroom remodel is a semi-permanent installation, so you should anticipate enjoying your accent tiles today, tomorrow, and five or more years from now.

In this Southampton project, the simplest of accent tiles brightens the subdued palette.

Like colorful elements, your accent tiles can juxtapose or integrate. Yet here, too, the same principle applies: you want to accent, not overwhelm your color palette. 

In this Voorhees-area project, brown and black accent complement the bathroom's earthy palette. 

In this Cheltenham project, colorful accent tiles juxtapose the larger muted stone tiles lining the shower wall.

Accent tiles can also serve as a unifying element. In the Cheltenham project above, the accent tiles might juxtapose the shower, yet when viewed from a different angle, they become the element, like the Big Lebowski's rug, that ties the room together.

Accent tiles become more than mere accent in this Cheltenham-area project--they become a unifying theme.

FREE In-Home Remodeling Estimate

If you have any questions about your next remodeling project, please feel free to call MKBD for an individualized consultation. Let's talk bathroom design and more! Call now! 215-355-4747. Better yet, check out our Free In-Home Remodeling Estimate on this very blog!