How do you improve the ambience of your windowless bathroom? With our top tips, we'll put you in the frame...
Many homeowners like having big windows and open floor plans to allow natural light to cover their entire living space, giving it a bright yet welcoming feel using the power of natural light. But are windows totally necessary in a bathroom?
Bathrooms are quite frequently used throughout the day, but they can often be overlooked due to bad natural lighting, or even worse, a lack of natural lighting. Natural light coming in through windows has the ability to complement the interiors of a room, including a bathroom, so what can we do if our bathroom has none?
Windowless bathrooms can often be claustrophobic and uninviting at times. The dark and gloomy interior makes us feel boxed in and trapped in a small, dull place. In these situations, the bathroom ventilation system might consist of an extractor fan to bring fresh air in and bring old air out. A wet floor can also help absorb excess moisture from the bathroom floor.
Whilst there is no beating natural sunlight when it comes to illuminating a space, there are ways to make that bathroom look a little more welcoming. While lighting is also important, things like installing extractor fans and making sure the moisture levels in your bathroom don't exceed high humidity will make sure your walls remain white, whilst preventing the build-up of unsightly mould.
You can do this by playing around with artificial light sources, decor and other interior elements of your bathroom to make it seem brighter. Check out 6 of our bright ideas below.
1. Embrace the dark theme
Taking on a dark interior might seem counterintuitive to creating a more welcoming interior but you may find that many interior designers disagree with this perception. If done right, using black won’t make a room feel gloomy and small, but rather more inviting in a mysterious and moody way.
Using black without the presence of natural light may be the way to go when it comes to creating this dark and luxurious feeling space. You could also add in some on-trend black accents or even go black with the bathroom door and shower enclosure frame.
When dealing with large amounts of black shades, using metallic accents helps enhance the luxury factor. Metallic accents also help reflect light as well, creating more dynamic light reflections that brighten up the room even more. Mirrors are a great way to enlarge a small space, and using a large mirror will help add flair to the room's interior as well.
Handy hint: Check out our tips on creating light with mirrors
When it comes to a dark theme, it is important to choose the right shades of black and the right materials. The key to creating a room that doesn't feel one-dimensional and suffocating is striking a balance between dark shades and more reflective materials. This will help distribute light in certain areas and create subtle contrast.
Finish off your room with hints of cool colours in the decor and you’ve created a sultry-looking bathroom.
Want to "Get the Look"? Click on the image above for our Dark Domain style guide
2. White can do wonders
There is a reason why many choose white as their main colour in living spaces. White is a shade that easily creates the illusion of a larger space that feels extremely welcoming. Using white in a bathroom helps create a brighter and seemingly bigger area that is both inviting and airy.
A great way to use artificial light to recreate natural light is to stick to a light colour scheme, even down to the extractor fan and the bathroom furniture.
When it comes to white, there are many approaches that you can take. The first would be going for a white-dominant theme by using different shades of white to create contrast so your bathroom doesn’t feel one-dimensional. Keep your walls white, so they can reflect light easier, and white walls can be cleaned easily with baking soda, which will also consequently absorb moisture. White also works terrifically with artificial light.
If you haven’t already noticed by now, the key to creating a welcoming space often lies in creating contrast. This is an easy way to prevent your windowless bathroom from feeling flat and unimaginative.
A predominantly white theme can do wonders for a windowless bathroom
3. When in doubt, opt for neutrals
If you’re not one for a completely white bathroom, complementing white with various shades of neutral tones may just be the thing you need. The great thing about this approach is that you can pick neutral shades of your favourite colour or colours to complement the white interior of your bathroom. But why neutral tones? Brighter or more vibrant colours may end up making the room feel smaller instead!
A top trick, favoured by interior designers, when it comes to white or neutral-themed bathrooms, is to incorporate plants into your bathroom. The dark green tones of the leaves or pastel-coloured flowers often complement white/neutral tones extremely well and add to the natural and cosy feel of the bathroom as well.
Along with a neutral shade, you should also look to have "neutral" air in your bathroom too. An extractor fan can keep windowless bathrooms from holding too much moisture, and can keep your bathroom fresh while avoiding nasty bathroom odours. This is, of course, difficult to maintain without a window; the bathroom is a particularly damp space with the shower, the bathtub and other things that invite musty smells to form. So, when in doubt, try to leave the bathroom door open and hang up any wet towels or bath mats, to invite fresher air and reduce your bathroom humidity levels.
Neutral colours, plus houseplants, make one beautiful-looking bathroom
4. Experiment with your light fixtures
Without a window, the only thing lighting up your room would be the artificial sources of light that you have installed. This places great importance on choosing the right light fixtures that complement the interior of your bathroom. No matter the approach you take with the interior, lighting will make or break the room.
Centred lights or ceiling lights that illuminate the entirety of the room are a must to ensure adequate lighting for practical reasons and to enhance the overall look. Employing the use of accent lights is also a great approach to creating more contrast in certain areas of the room, helping highlight focal points and creating a more dynamic space.
Designer light fixtures are also a great way to add personality, making the bathroom feel more inviting.
Far from hum-drum, these designer bathroom lights from Eglo will bring a touch of sophisticated style to any bathroom
5. Wall decor complements your bathroom
Wall decor, when utilised well, can help brighten up your bathroom and add a little personality as well. From mirrors to lighting fixtures and even framed paintings, wall decor can be used in many different ways to bring character to your space.
Want a more vibrant bathroom? Pick out decor with bright colours that will do wonders for the room. Prefer a more monochrome look? Select decor with complementary colours and shades that fit the temperature of the interior and feel.
Decor can help create focal points that improve the dynamic of the room as well. This creates a seemingly larger space when compared to a monotonous interior that can make users feel enclosed or surrounded.
A feature wall can really bring out the character of your windowless bathroom
6. Change your shower
This last tip may come as a surprise to you, but changing your shower can help create a more welcoming space as well. Shower doors are the first thing that can be changed. Instead of frosted glass, clear glass will help distribute light across the room better.
If you do have a shower in your windowless bathroom, make sure your extractor fan is working as well as it should, to ensure you ventilate as efficiently as possible. And, if you really want to open up your space, remove the doors completely and create an open-plan, walk in shower concept.
Conclusion
The key to creating a larger and brighter space out of a windowless bathroom lies in creating a perception of a more welcoming interior. By tricking the brain into perceiving a larger space through the use of contrasting shades and focal points, your windowless bathroom can appear much more inviting.
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Small bathroom ideas
Windowless bathrooms are often small in size. And, as we all know, small spaces require big thinking! Luckily, at Victoria Plum, we've come up with loads of great ideas when it comes to small bathrooms. Click on the image below to discover more big inspiration for small bathrooms.
