Designers include shades of blue in the list of the most popular colors for bathroom decoration. Muted options help you relax, get rid of psychological stress after a working day and prepare for bed.
The stains from drying drops on light blue are almost invisible; there is no need to rub tiles with such an interior every day.
Photo examples of a bathroom in blue
However, designing in blue yourself is dangerous. The shade can be associated with a cold spectrum and visually make the room uncomfortable; have a depressing and irritating effect on the psyche.
We'll tell you which blue bathroom you won't get tired of in a couple of weeks, and what nuances in choosing a color are best taken into account when looking for design ideas.
Design solutions for the interior of a blue bathroom
Features of blue for the bathroom: pros and cons
At the first mention of bluish shades in interior design, many people associate them with hospital walls. But the choice of color allows you to make the room bright or noble-minimalistic, warm or cold and is not limited to a “sterile”-looking option. Designers love blue for:
- versatility. With light blue, if you use 1-2 basic colors in your design, it’s difficult to overdo it. “Pressive” walls can always be diluted with light-colored furniture and plumbing fixtures;
- good psychological associations. A well-chosen color scheme reminds the bathroom of relaxation and cleanliness.
Light blue bathrooms
Especially when decorating a shower and toilet, blue with a grayish undertone, classic and muted blue, ultramarine are valued.
It’s more difficult with dark blue: after a while the paint begins to irritate and “crush.” Among other color disadvantages, designers name:
- self-sufficiency of color. Blue does not need accents. It’s not easy to choose beautiful decor for a bright interior; the room sometimes looks empty;
- difficulties in finding finishing materials. If you want to save money, choosing tiles and materials of the right shade will not be easy.
Dark blue tiles in the bathroom
To develop the design, it is better to involve a professional who will take into account the specifics of the room and select a good color. When decorating on your own, when a person does not maintain a balance between tones, bluish quickly becomes boring.
Furniture items in matching colors
When decorating a bright bathroom, you can completely opt for blue bathroom furniture. From ancient times to the present day, the use of tones from the sky-blue palette of furniture sets has been considered an excellent option.
- The standard set includes a nightstand under the sink with a pencil case and a dressing table.
- Wall decoration in snow-white shades will be harmoniously emphasized by such furniture items.
- The room will look delicate and exquisitely stylish.
- In many cases, you want to slightly dilute the resulting “coolness,” then it is recommended to add accent details in yellow or orange.
The modern market offers many options from pleasant classic motifs to extravagant ones, where an abundance of indigo shades dominates.
They are most often associated with the surface of the sea or the blue sky. This palette always has a calming effect, helping to relax and leading to peace.
Filling the space with a feeling of endless spaciousness, it psychologically relieves accumulated tension. For a bathroom this is the main quality. This palette means the same thing in Feng Shui philosophy. Psychologists always first of all recommend choosing this color for interior decoration.
What finishing materials to choose
When searching for suitable materials for finishing a bathroom, rely on a combination of 3 criteria: moisture resistance, hygiene, smoothness. A smooth surface is easier to wipe off dirt. Moisture-resistant and hygienic materials do not deform from water and do not mold over time.
Walls
For wall decoration, you can choose tiles, natural and artificial stone, PVC panels, and moisture-resistant paint. It is better to choose basic tones so as not to overload the room. If you want a bright blue bathroom, use the color on just one wall as an accent or to zone the room.
Important : the tiles must be medium in size. In a limited bathroom space, too many or too few joints distort the proportions of the room.
Wall finishing options
Ceiling
For the ceiling, the optimal solution would be a glossy stretch film in white or milky color. Gloss will visually expand the space due to reflection, and light colors will balance the overall tone.
Stylish ceiling design ideas
Floor
For the floor in the toilet and shower, use tiles, moisture-resistant laminate or self-leveling coatings. Choose colors that are close to the walls or light, balancing the bright blue.
Attention : do not forget about the floor covering, which will prevent slipping. Rough tiles for bathroom floors are much safer than smooth ones.
Bathroom in the style of “Ice Palace”
This is a special version of a bathroom in blue tones. For this bathroom design option, the best option would be to use mirror panels. You can also prefer natural or artificial stone. The ceiling should be white, and the color of the walls should convey the shades of the icy kingdom.
Add more themed accessories. Hang a mirror that looks like an ice floe on the wall. Let the sink be transparent, made of blue glass. Place tall vases in front of the entrance that match the color of the overall interior and more blue LEDs.
This way you can easily create a unique ice kingdom style. Coming to such a bathroom, all troubles are immediately forgotten. You seem to move away from the bustle of the world, finding yourself in your domain, like a real snow queen.
Don’t think that if you choose a blue design for your bathroom, it must be boring and monotonous.
After all, nowadays there are so many variations for combinations. These can be either different shades of blue or experiments with adding bright highlights. For example, bright red, orange, green, yellow and other accents will look great.
To make sure you don’t spoil anything or overdo it, you should use programs to create a project. These programs will allow you to select all the details online.
You will install everything for yourself, from the ceiling and walls to accessories and shelves. Having seen the three-dimensional model from the outside, you will understand what is missing or, on the contrary, too much in your idea.
Plumbing and bathroom furniture in blue tones
The choice of furniture for a room in bluish shades depends on the style of the interior. You can choose natural wood or cabinets painted white. It is better to buy simple furniture, with clear lines, if unnecessary decorations or complex designs are not part of the idea.
A blue bathroom looks beautiful with white fixtures, or less often with black fixtures. Avoid bright blue as a color for a toilet or shower stall so as not to overload the room.
Harmonious combinations
In a blue bathroom, orange accents or decorating one wall will bring joy to the room. These two shades are called Mediterranean style.
Gray-blue color is the choice of aristocrats, where there is cold laconicism without bright details.
A white and blue combination or with blue is an excellent solution. White traditional color expands the space well, and blue will refresh the design.
A beige palette of warm tones will add warmth to any blue. The beige shade is especially good.
In azure-colored rooms, bright yellow, green or red details are ideal. They will bring colors of joy to a monochrome interior. Several accessories look beautiful and stylish in one tone.
A nautical-themed curtain and floor mat, right down to a glass or towel, will fit perfectly into a blue bathroom.
Tips for decorating a bathtub in a “marine” color
Try to dilute bright blue as the main color in the interior with a base color. Combine dark and muted blue with white, milky, gray on the walls or in furniture and accessories.
Use color for accents or zoning. To keep the room from looking “heavy,” make the paint work.
Lighting
To illuminate the bathroom, use lamps located at different levels. Try to recess the ceiling spots by 1.5-2 cm to protect your eyes.
In the mirror area, place bright lamps at face level. For subdued shower lighting at night, hide the lamps under hanging cabinets.
Choose a light spectrum close to daylight so as not to distort the tone of the interior.
Decor
The choice of decor depends on the style of the shower and the chosen color scheme. In cladding, bright or light blue is often combined with mosaics and ornaments, marine and tropical motifs.
For inspiration, it is better to focus on photos of real interiors - realized projects will help you not to overdo it with decorations.
Accessories
As accessories, choose textiles, cups for toothbrushes and bottles for hygiene products in the same style. A good solution for a bathroom is attributes with natural motifs: green plants, artificial flowers, seashells.
Use of metal, stone and wood
Metal elements are considered the most popular. Usually they choose from a warmer brass material, or a cooler copper material. The first option fits perfectly into neoclassical and modern styles. The space takes on features of warmth and softness. Nickel brings the effect of freshness and coolness.
Light or dark wooden fragments will help to soften the design somewhat when decorating it in the tonality of “blue plus white”. This is especially true for the implementation of a marine theme. Rattan is considered an equally interesting material. Baskets, bags for storing linen items or pots will create a feeling of the tropics.
The use of ceramic granite in combination with a marble effect has long become a classic. The natural tone of black, grayish or snow-white only adds to its charm. The last two give a wonderful combination with a light blue palette.
Small bathroom design
For a small room, choose no more than 1-2 shades. Preferably light, reflective to add air and light to the space. Avoid mosaics and abstract motifs - unnecessary elements visually make the room smaller.
For the same reason, remove unnecessary decor and massive sets from a small shower; focus on furniture with simple lines.
Style selection
The design of a blue bathroom can be done in different styles. Shades of water and sky easily become the base background or accent spots.
The direction for decorating the room is chosen taking into account personal preferences, the size of the room, and the general concept used when renovating the apartment.
Large blue bathtub
When decorating a large bathroom, you can play with textures, decor in the cladding, furniture design and accessories. Make sure the amount of paint does not overwhelm the room.
Place enough light sources around the perimeter so that the dark blue does not take on an oppressive hue.
Shades used
Designers offer different ideas for designing a blue bathroom. It is not necessary to use dark or intense colors: indigo, ultramarine.
The options are suitable for gradients and details. Deep, rich blue shades have the property of narrowing space and absorbing light.
Azure and aquamarine colors will create a friendly space. This option is suitable for a small room. Shades of blue are rarely used in isolation. A successful color scheme for a design is drawn up when making combinations.
Bathroom interior styles in blue
In design, try to adhere to a single style. Determine your preferred one and select cladding, decor, furniture and plumbing to match the overall background.
Classical
The classics are characterized by neutral blue shades in combination with milky ones: pale cornflower blue, gray, muted azure. Add noble wood and natural stone to the decor, and stucco molding to certain parts of the space. Choose elegant furniture, with ornate elements and gilded fittings.
Country
Country style looks better in large bathrooms. Choose natural, noble bluish shades. Dilute bright colors with natural materials and hand-made decor.
Wicker baskets, rugs knitted from old clothes, and small clay bottles will fit perfectly into the interior. You can take vintage furniture, or style an old chest as a laundry basket.
Colonial
Colonial style ideas are suitable for travelers who like to bring decorative items and exotic plants from different countries. Such bathrooms combine noble classic tones of blue and bright accents in the form of things with ethnic motifs.
Wooden, deliberately rough-hewn furniture, African masks, skins, and geographical maps are suitable for the colonial style.
Oriental
Deep noble blues are often found in oriental-style bathrooms. Color is combined with ornaments and mosaics, gilded elements and bright textiles. Carpets and tapestries are welcome.
The main color of the cladding is diluted with white, black, olive. The oriental style is suitable only for large rooms; it looks out of place in small ones.
Nautical
The simplest design for bluish tones in space design is called the marine style. The design welcomes everything that is associated with water : decorative anchors, mirrors in the form of ship portholes, shells, fish on the cladding, pebble rugs or a lamp in the form of a lighthouse.
Shades of blue can be any - from gray to azure. It is better to leave wooden furniture natural or paint it white; choose textiles close in color and texture to sailing fabric.
High tech
High-tech combines glossy textures and bright lighting , plumbing fixtures and furniture of unusual design, chrome and glass elements.
The room will suit bright blue in combination with a white, light gray or black base. If possible, remove the decor, leave inconspicuous textiles and bottles for cosmetics in a single design.
Minimalism
Minimalism is characterized by simple lines, basic colors, lack of luxury and a minimum of decor. Choose muted blue, combine with neutral beige and light gray. Bright is best used as an accent: to highlight the shower area, toilet, for textiles or bottles for cosmetics.
Art Deco
Art Deco features deliberate geometry, sharp corners and graphic color combinations. Blue can be diluted with catchy accents in red or black, but it’s better against a white background.
In the decor, use plants, natural motifs in combination with futuristic chrome elements and mirrors; choose wooden furniture with metal fittings.
boho
The style will suit creative and bright people who are not embarrassed by mixing accents in the bathroom. Boho is distinguished by the use of different bright colors, textiles with “gypsy” prints, living plants, vintage furniture with eye-catching upholstery.
This style is good for those who don’t know how to combine colors and stick to a single palette. Designers describe boho as “creative chaos”, which is combined with lovingly selected items and materials.
Brutalism
Brutalism embodies technology, minimalism and rigidity. Interior decor should be abandoned. Stick to clear lines; use seemingly untreated materials - brickwork or bare concrete; add metal and glass elements.
Choose a deep and noble blue - brutalism does not tolerate bright and pastel colors. Combine with base: white, black, gray. Look for furniture with clear lines, strictly rectangular - hanging or standing flat on the floor, without visible legs.
Lighting ideas
To get a heavenly shade due to light, you need to correctly position the lighting fixtures. When lighting the bathtub with LEDs, when purchasing a bathtub with lighting, the room will sparkle with the desired shade. You don’t even need a blue finish for this; the light will give the necessary blueness, for example, to a snow-white room.
In a white bathroom with a blue self-leveling floor, you can direct bright beams of light onto the floor. The play of light reflections in the plumbing fixtures will give an extraordinary visual effect of the diamond shades of the room.
Read here: Curtains for the bathroom - photos of unusual, beautiful design ideas
The bathroom will appear blue if you place halogen lighting above the plumbing fixtures.
What colors go with blue in a bathroom interior?
The main rule when working with bluish colors is not to overdo it. A rich color scheme is self-sufficient and rarely needs accents; it is better to dilute the interior with a base: white, milky, gray, coffee.
Try to choose warmer neutral colors so that the room does not look sterile. To select colors, it is more convenient to use the color wheel: look for close or opposite contrasting ones.
Yellow
Bright yellow is suitable for placing accents in marine, ethnic and oriental interiors. The color scheme looks good in the form of thin lines dividing walls into certain zones, and as decoration.
Lilac
Violet shades that are similar in tone dilute and soften the aggressive blue. Just try to choose muted, light options so as not to overload the room even more.
Muted light purple can be used as the main color scheme for the interior, and blue can be added as an accent wall and decor.
White
The most versatile white is used with blue in a ratio of 3:1. The color can balance any bright shade. But if the undertone of blue is cold, it is better to go with beige, grayish or milky. The combination of pure white and cool blue will visually transform the bathroom into an operating room.
Blue
If you don’t want to dilute the blue with other colors, choose similar shades. Muted blue will balance the heavy dark blue and add air to the room.
Grey
Light gray can be used as a base for bright, deep blue shades. The color scheme will dilute the heavy design and add nobility to the interior. The combination can be used in many styles: from classic to high-tech.
Green
Green shades mixed with yellow are best combined with blue. The pair looks good in interiors with natural motifs; adds freshness and richness to the room.
Red
The shade can be used as an accent: to create dividing lines, zoning, and decor. Don't overdo it - contrasting tones can easily overload a room.
Blue tint range - selection of materials
Blue bathroom tiles are rightfully considered the most common. But many people don’t want to decorate the entire room evenly. Modern trends are based on the selection of at least two different materials.
For example:
- Wall tiles;
- Ceramic granite.
Beautiful prints will never spoil the overall picture.
On the contrary, such finishing looks extremely beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. Handmade with a patterned geometric or floral design will fit perfectly into the interior. A modern finish reminiscent of Portuguese azulejos or Gzhel will effectively highlight the design.
At the peak of relevance now is the combination of tile material with waterproof paint. So there is no particular need to limit yourself exclusively to tiles. It can be used to highlight an accent area or even an entire wall.
A slightly more daring solution would be wallpaper. Only they are mainly suitable for a spacious room at the entrance or near the sink. By decorating it with a certain pattern, print or a whole picture, you can get an original design.
