The English-language decorating magazines used to call it clinical bathroom, and now it seems to be about to disappear from all of them. The term refers to uncluttered bathrooms, with a penchant for white and neutral palettes. This has been the trends that, in recent years, have positioned themselves as hegemonic. Trends that interpreted this space in the home under the idea of an environment with an aseptic aesthetic, even minimalist, free of superfluous or too personal decorative details. That is why it is surprising to witness the decline in this type of interior design and observe that, beyond the anecdote, decoration magazines, the Instagram profiles of interior design and decorative inspiration studios are now filled with photographs loaded with personality.
A shift towards more vivid colours, a renewed relevance of plants, art pieces, special decorative objects and details vintage takes control of a space that, until very recently, aspired to be as less expressive as possible. These are the keys that define the new commitment to maximalist bathrooms with a vitaminized character.
The return of the bathtub
The norm has been to aspire to a bathroom featuring an open-plan shower space, almost at ground level, with little delimitation. However, in this new aesthetic paradigm, the traditional bathtub once again takes center stage. And the more their shapes remind you of the curved lines of bathtubs vintagebetter.
That is why bathtubs are once again found as an expression of luxury interior design. roll top, that is, with protruding and rounded edges, including with legs. And what about the always fast and pragmatic shower? Well, the possibility of installing it in the bathtub itself is increasingly seen, as was done until recently, together with a transparent screen or a shower curtain. The emphasis on cleaning products such as bombs and salts have raised bath time as a moment of well-being and self-care, and this is beginning to be reflected in its decoration.
wooden touches
It seems that both the most popular interior design trends and common sense dictate avoiding wood for a space like the bathroom, in which contact with water and steam is guaranteed. It is known that humidity could spoil the surfaces of this type of material. Hence the growing tendency to find boiserie in decorative-inspired publications it continues to be striking. This technique consists of embellishing walls by placing wooden panels, usually decorated with moldings or some other reason. “If properly treated and installed, it can be long-lasting,” says interior designer Luke Arthur Wells for EKKB Magazine as advice to avoid the aforementioned clinical bathrooms. “It brings the warmth and texture that a bathroom normally lacks through the use of friezes and moldings.”
dark tones
Dark palettes, and specifically, the color black, are making their way with increasing presence among decoration trends as the main chromaticism. Especially in kitchens and bathrooms, rooms in the house where light, soft tones or even pastel palettes have traditionally reigned.
“The client has been educated in a taste for natural materials and a modern, industrial style,” said the luxury interior designer Roselind Wilson for the same decoration trends outlet. “We have the opportunity to bring warmth and a cozier look to what is normally presented as a hard and neutral space, thanks to gray travertine or Pietra d’Avola tiles, oak or walnut wood and aged effect faucets”.
‘Vintage’ looking gold faucets
A quick review of the Instagram profiles of decoration magazines or interior design studios confirms the new predilection for taps with an aged look and shapes. vintage, especially for the golden finishes. Nina Watson, interior designer at Apartment Therapy, explained to her followers on Instagram how she had decided on a bathtub. roll top with legs and stylish golden taps vintage from Burlington, whose exterior he commissioned to paint in black, and to which he installed a transparent screen, synthesizing at the same time the prevailing trends in bathtubs at the time.
Plants, paintings, rugs and other unexpected details
This decorative current may not be to the taste of the most loyal followers of the commandments of the guru of order Marie Kondo, who made it very clear through her method that everything that did not convey joy was expendable. Bathrooms become more personal spaces, expressive in terms of character, to the extent that they allow color notes and the decorative intention in the details to permeate. For example, the presence of indoor plants (in itself very much in vogue among interior design trends), which take up the space in the bathroom, conquering corners such as the shower or near the mirrors. A way to brighten up and make a space cozy that, in fact, may be suitable for the plant thanks to the humidity in the environment —as long as it has a guaranteed dose of natural light.
The paintings, normally absent, now come to climb the walls, ending the sensation of being in front of an open and clear space. The bathroom becomes the unexpected location for pieces of art, and also for other surprising decorations, such as rugs.
It is true that there were always rugs in the bathrooms, but they were usually small squares in neutral tones, maybe even a terry texture similar to the towel set. However, now we find rugs with braids and special drawings, handcrafted and inspired by vintage and even Persian, in short, rugs that we would expect to find in other spaces of the house covering the bathroom floor.
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