How to Create A Monochrome Bathroom

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How a Monochrome Theme Makes Your Bathroom Look Bigger

Using a chic, unfussy monochrome theme in your bathroom is the easiest way to make a small room look larger. Using white walls and white tiles gives an instant feeling of light and space. The dark floor grounds the look, and the large format tiles I used also give a more spacious feel. The white metro tiles, in a brickwork pattern add interest and texture, without being fussy. Using sleek gloss cabinets allows us to store the whole family’s towels and toiletries, leaving the bath sides and windowsills relatively clutter free. This all adds up to a more spacious feeling bathroom.

How Our Monochrome Bathroom Started Out

When we moved in, we inherited a fairly hideous bathroom, which was not family-friendly at all. These ‘before’ pictures are from the estate agent.

There was a tiny, grotty shower cubicle, a sink on a pedestal, a toilet and a bath, and no storage at all. It also had a sloped floor and awful beige speckled lino. And the tiles. Don’t even get me started on the tiles! It also had a horrible (and dangerous) wall light. When the shower started leaking through our (freshly painted) kitchen ceiling, we realised that our bathroom renovation would have to come sooner, rather than later.

How to Plan a Monochrome Bathroom

When you’re planning your monochrome bathroom, follow my tips to keep the look light, bright and spacious. The key to planning a monochrome bathroom scheme is to keep things as simple as possible. Keep any accessories in a very simple colour palette and they’ll really pop against a black, white and grey background. Don’t be tempted to add too much colour, as bottles of shampoo and shower gel are often colourful.

How We Changed The Layout Of Our Monochrome Bathroom

I knew from the start I wanted a monochrome bathroom, but the layout was the first issue we needed to tackle. We originally had a large airing cupboard next to the bathroom. We realised that if we could knock this through, we could create a big walk in shower. It turned out to be a fairly easy job, as it was only a stud wall. It has made a huge difference and is a much better use of the space. Here is my only ‘in progress’ shot:

The new shower is the same size as a bath, so we have a nice big space to dry off without getting water all over the floor. The old shower was a tight squeeze, so having a lovely big walk in shower is a real luxury.

Having such a large shower has balanced the bath on the other side of the room, making it more symmetrical, as well as bigger.

Bathroom Suite For A Monochrome Bathroom

We got all of the bathroom ‘furniture’ from a local supplier. The man who ran it was so helpful and reliable. He visited the house to help us design the new layout. I would really recommend this step if you can, as it helped to maximise the space. The only thing we didn’t buy was a toilet. The existing one was absolutely fine, so we kept that to save wasting the old one, and upgraded with a new seat. Adding storage was essential, so we chose a large sink on a vanity unit, with two large drawers. Because we lost the airing cupboard, we store towels in there, and keep toiletries in the cylinder storage unit. This helps to keep clutter under control, which is key to a minimal monochrome look.

Monochrome Tiles

All of the tiles are from ToppsTiles, as they were working with our bathroom supplier and offered a discount. We chose very dark grey ceramic floor tiles, white metro wall tiles and mid-grey grout. We also got underfloor heating, as we knew from our old house that tiled floors get very cold in winter. I would recommend going into the shop to choose your tiles, especially floor tiles, as you want to make sure they feel nice and are non-slip. The large-format tiles we chose help to make the space look larger, and we had our tiler make a bath panel too, to create the illusion of a bigger floor area.

Accessories To Pull The Monochrome Bathroom Together

I found the gorgeous circular shelving in Tiger.

 

The circular shelves are up, finally! 👐🏻 it’s the finishing touch my #monochrome #bathroom needed, you can see the full room tour #ontheblog {link in my bio} My little cacti fit perfectly, and we got the picture when we were in New Zealand about 12 years ago. #shelfie #mymonovibes

A photo posted by Becky Pink Blogger|Copywriter (@pinkscharming) on Jan 6, 2017 at 11:09am PST

 

Loving the #circle #mirrors in my newly finished #bathroom – they were a steal from @bm_stores (thanks to @mkmamavibes for the tip off!) One has a rope strap, the other faux leather. They help brighten up the #monochrome room – you can see more on my blog {link in bio😍} #allthingsmetric #mymonovibes

A photo posted by Becky Pink Blogger|Copywriter (@pinkscharming) on Jan 13, 2017 at 11:05am PST

The white circular storage unit was from BHS before it closed, and I love it. I think it goes well with the white bin and matching toilet brush, which were £5 and £3 respectively, from Wilko.

The Simple Human extendable shower caddy is from Lakeland or Amazon, and is pricey, but has a five year guarantee and is really solid and stable, so hopefully it’s worth it.

The shiny white plastic boxes are also from IKEA and help to keep clutter hidden away. They are not dishwasher friendly though, I discovered to my cost! So this is the second set.

I chose plain dark grey towels with turquoise edges for Ryan, and coral edges for me from Dunelm.

The monochrome beakers are my MissPrint at John Lewis. They can go in the dishwasher so are great to use as toothbrush mugs.

We actually got different shower heads from these originally, but were given water saving ones by Anglian Water as part of their drive to reduce water wastage.

What I Would Do Differently

In retrospect, it wasn’t the best idea to have the sink next to the shower. Water gets splashed over the glass all the time, and leaves water marks, as we live in a hard water area. We have also had the occasional toothbrush casualty, when they fall off the windowsill or sink into the toilet. But this was the best layout we could get without moving the toilet and all the pipework.

There are three lights in the ceiling, and I think we could do with an extra light on the wall above the sink. We did think about it, but as there is a window, it would have looked a bit odd as it wouldn’t have been centred.

We paid extra for special glass for the shower enclosure, which was supposed to mean it was easier to clean. But I don’t feel it makes the slightest bit of difference to normal glass, unfortunately!

And finally, we got an extendable shaving mirror from IKEA. And it hasn’t stood the test of time. As much as I love IKEA I have to admit it was a false economy, and in this case we got what we paid for.

Not ready to create your dream bathroom? Why not pin the details to Pinterest for later?