The one colour you should avoid in the bathroom

There are some colours which highlight all that is wrong in your bathroom.   Brown can be one of them.

Brown, especially dark brown, isn’t the wrong colour in all cases.  For example, an ornate powder room painted in a dark brown with a beautiful mirror straight out of Snow White, wall scones with soft lighting and sparkling fixtures can seem like a jewelry box.

However, for Joe Ordinary bathroom, brown can do a few nasty things such as:

• Emphasizing your flimsy baseboards
• Shining a spot light on tacky white plastic switch plates.
• Making your brown towels and bathmat appear dirty.
• Turning your cream-colour floor or shower curtain a gloomy shade of ugly.

Brown bathrooms don’t age well and despite your best efforts to scrub it clean, you’re just not going to shake that drab feeling until you either paint it or reach into your bag of tricks and spruce it up.

Cabinets

Are your cabinets a stark shade of white?  Pick a softer shade of white that will blend more nicely with a deep brown.

Baseboards

Architectural detail can do wonders with brown.  If you have two-inch baseboards, add some height and go up to six-inch baseboards.  Wainscoting is another detail that will add elegance to your bathroom particularly if you paint the wainscoting, and your baseboards, the same soft white as your cabinets.

Towels

As mentioned, brown towels are great at hiding dirt and stains.  But not matter how fresh, clean and fluffy your brown towels may be, they will not appear to be fresh when your walls are dark brown.  Yes, it’s just an illusion, but go with towels in a complementary colour. The softer the better in a relaxed pattern.  Turkish towels are lovely.

Lighting

If you have lots of natural light in your bathroom, dark brown just might work for you.  Don’t take our word for it.  You can add more light but swapping out your light fixture over the sink or perhaps adding a ceiling sconce over the shower to add even more.  A little extra light might change that brown into something you can live with.

Create a Distraction

Add colour to your walls with stencils, interesting wallpaper or colourful art. What better place to hang that large print that you don’t know what to do with.  With a cheap poster-sized frame, you can always throw it out if moisture ripples the paper later.  Be sure that the colours pick up at least one other colour in the room.

Repaint

If ridding your bathroom of the dreaded dark colour is the best recourse for you, here are some colour options that work well in bathrooms:

• Neutral tones of white, grey or yes, even beige, are traditional and peaceful.
• Pale blues and greens can give your bathroom that spa-inspired look.  These colours remind one of the ocean and its calming influence.
• For a more feminine bathroom, you can’t go wrong with pastel shades of pink and mauve.  Subtle pastels like these also go well with most skin tones.
• If you like yellow, choose a softer buttery-yellow for bathrooms with lots of light.  Go bolder with a darker bathroom or powder room.