10 Common Bathroom Design Mistakes That are Easy to Fix
When designing your bathroom, unless you are a pro (even then, mistakes can be made), you may want to prepare yourself for having made a mistake or two. It’s common, and many mistakes can be easily corrected. There are common mistakes that are made when designing a bathroom. After all, it’s one of the toughest rooms in the house to design. There is so much to think about, from the layout of your main features, lighting, storage and more. It’s not always easy to remember everything you want or need when it comes to designing the most detailed room in the home. There are a lot of commonly made design mistakes made in the bathroom, but most of them are easily remedied, so no need to panic. Here are 10 of the most common design mistakes made in the bathroom that are easy to fix.
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1. Small, intricately designed tiles
The use of small, intricately designed tiles has been one way many homeowners have tried to revamp their bathrooms, and using lots of them, whether for an entire shower stall, around the vanity, or vanity tops, however beautiful they can be, they are not as easily accepted by all homeowners, so, should you decide to sell your home, your home buyers may view this as a negative aspect and here’s why. Small, intricate tiles mean a lot more time spent cleaning and maintaining them with all the grout used to install them. Using these types of tiles could be a design mistake and should be reconsidered. Instead of using a bulk of these types of tiles for complete tile projects, consider small amounts of small decorative tiles to accent areas in the shower or around the sink and vanity.
2. Mismatching bathroom features
Your bathroom features and finishes should coordinate to create a cohesive look. Mismatching features and finishes can be a design mistake, but can easily be remedied. Decide on the look you want for the bathroom, polished silver, brushed nickel or bronze, then replace the features that are not the finish you want. Door knobs and handles, faucets, even lighting fixtures should coordinate to give the bathroom a balanced flow.
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3. Hardwood flooring
Most everyone loves the look of hardwood as a flooring choice for homes. It looks warm, inviting, and oh, so very classy. Hardwood is great for the main living spaces; living room, kitchen, dining room, even bedrooms. But hardwood and bathrooms do not mix well. Over a short period of time, the moisture from showers, the sink and other water related issues, will warp the hardwood and make it look, less than beautiful and inviting, not to mention, it can be costly to repair or replace. Opt for tile flooring or other moisture and water-friendly flooring ideas.
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4. Add décor pieces
A lot of people don’t visualize the bathroom as being a place where decorative items should be, however, the bathroom is a part of the home and should be included in your decorative theme. Depending on the size of your bathroom, just adding a few pieces of decorative items can make the bathroom feel warmer and look complete. A vase of flowers, a decorative clock, or set of candles, maybe something oceanic for your beach-themed bathroom design. This is an easy design remedy that won’t set you back financially.
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5. Exposed plumbing
Unless you are going with an Industrial look, and even then, some exposed plumbing in the bathroom may not be the way you want to go, and should consider having it covered. Not only can some exposed plumbing be an eyesore for new home buyers, but it can be hazardous for children. While the Industrial design theme is desirable for some, not everyone loves the look of metal and other industrial elements being exposed in their home. Depending on what you exposed, and how much, you may find having it a bit pricey to take care of, but could be worth it in the end if you plan to sell your home, or have kids you would worry about trying to play around the piping.
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6. Colored tubs, sinks, and toilets
Yes, this was a décor fave back in the day, but since the colored toilet and tub era faded, it has tried to make a comeback. Despite the urge to want to add color to your bathroom, there are other ways to go about doing this without interjecting it in your main bathroom features. Today, the look is still white when it comes to your sinks, tubs, and toilets, and if you try to tell yourself you can sell your home with a pink or blue sink, you’re kidding yourself. Colored bathroom features scare most home buyers, so to play it safe, stay with the white and use your need for color in some other way.
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7. Vintage storage pieces in your bathroom
It may seem like a good idea to incorporate that vintage style storage unit in your bathroom. There’s no doubt about it that a vintage piece of furniture can look beautiful and chic, but what happens when you spend all that time and money refurbishing a vintage style storage unit for your bathroom, only to discover that in a short period of time, the moisture and water from the bathroom has ruined it and it is need of repair? It can be disparaging, especially if your piece is ruined. The maintenance required to keep it from water damage, sealing and re-sealing, can easily fall by the wayside, so why bother? This is a design error that can be easily fixed by replacing any vintage pieces with storage pieces that don’t have that kind of worry or investment.
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8. Don’t forget about storage
Speaking of storage, bathrooms have a lot of use for proper storage and it’s one room you don’t want to skimp on when designing your bathroom. From linens to personal toiletries, among other items, you will quickly notice if you haven’t thought of enough storage. Taking the amount of storage you’ll need into mind when designing your bathroom will prevent having to deal with it as an afterthought, but if you find you do need extra space, there are plenty of types of storage units available that can help make your bathroom more functional.
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9. Layered lighting
The bathroom is one room that will require multiple types of lighting in order to make the room optimally functional, as well as beautiful and serene. Since the bathroom is used for multiple purposes, organize your lighting and layer it accordingly. The basic three types of lighting are: Ambient, task, and accent lighting. The main overhead lighting is your main source of light, but adding recessed lighting gives you more main functional lighting, as well as a way to get an ambient feel to the room. Task lighting is needed above the mirror for grooming needs. A wall mounted light just above the mirror, or perhaps some tea lights hanging above the mirror is more your style. A wall sconce can be hung on the wall close to the tub as a way to function as ambience lighting or used as a task light. Accent lighting can be small lit mirrors or other small lighting features in the bathroom – a small lamp on the counter, for instance.
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10. Trendy and waterfall showerheads
It may seem like a good idea at the time, cool and trendy, but to install features that are not necessarily going to be the in-thing in the future, can be a mistake. Keeping with features that you know will be classics for years to come, makes more sense, financially and time-wise speaking. Not everyone is into the same personal indulgent styles that you may like, so to avoid having to change things out down the road, or spend more money when even you get tired of the trendy look, install classic styles of bathroom features and forgo illuminated water, waterfall showerheads and other anomalies that you are tempted to get just because you hear they’re the “in” thing.
You can also read:
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- 20 Amazing Kitchen Tile Design Ideas
- 20 Beautiful Kitchens Incorporating Negative Space
- 20 Gorgeous Bedrooms with Big Mirrors
