The diminutive size of most first-floor powder rooms make them ideal spaces for homeowners to lean into their creativity. “You might want to be a little more careful in the kitchen or in other rooms, but in the powder room I think you should go bold,” says senior designer Arlene Allmeyer, a specialist in kitchens and bathrooms at RSI Kitchen and Bath on Manchester Road.
Choose one or two decorative elements, say the floor and the faucet, and build your design around those pieces. Allmeyer is partial to the look of a dramatic stone countertop, be it marble or granite, paired with a complimentary vanity. (She tends to choose a vanity over a pedestal sink because of their built-in storage.) Take note of what you find that you really love, she says, and work backwards from there.
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If it’s difficult to narrow down the number of design elements to just one or two–the options, after all, seem truly endless–another way to go about it is to walk into the room and see where your eye lands. “The first thing you’re going to see is the mirror and, maybe, the light fixture,” says Allmeyer. “So don’t skimp on the mirror.”
Designer wallpaper or colorful tile that runs the length of the powder room walls are like expressways to achieving a bold aesthetic—but don’t discount the power of a coat of paint to transform a room. “Pick a gorgeous paint, maybe a little edgier than you feel comfortable with. Push yourself a little and just do it,” says Allmeyer. If you’re working with a small budget, painting an existing vanity is a sure, and less costly, means of introducing color and style to the room. Says the designer: “Sometimes people get a few more years of life out of something by painting it.”
