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laurensmom2010

White bathroom help please!

laurensmom2010
9 years ago

When doing a small bathroom over into white, what elements are important to make it beautiful instead of boring?

Still unsure about going white but I'm thinking it could be good. Family all say they couldn't wait to get away from boring apartment white bathrooms. So I'd like to avoid an apartment look. I'm favoring traditional and classic style, with just a bit of bling. Not too vintage.

Bathroom is small. Needs a 30 inch vanity against the wall, with storage.

How to ensure the whites match up? Which subway tiles and patterns work best? And like a previous poster wrote- who knew white could be so complicated!

Suggestions? Photos?

Comments (16)

  • Nicholas2014
    9 years ago

    Hi laurensmom2010,

    I love pure white bathroom, but use glass mosaic tiles to decorate it, will look very elegant and stylish.

  • llcp93
    9 years ago

    I would recommend you go to houzz.com, put "white bathroom" in the seach field, and look at the thousands of photos that will pop up. There are a million ways to use all white, white with tan, etc, and whether you use marble, quartzite, subway, porcelain, etc.

    There are a lot of ways to do white.
    I my current remodel, my tile is Travertine but my tub and sinks are white and cabinets creamy white. I incorporated some "shiny" in my shower on the bench with pearl oyster tile. See below.

    On houzz, no one bathroom was everything I wanted, but one was my inspiration for the most part, then I took elements of others that I liked, and wanted to incorporate.

    Seeing a lot of photos in one place will help you in seeing what you like and don't like, right away. Save them in an ideabook (each photo will allow you to do this), then revisit them and you will see what you gravitate towards.

    Good luck.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Pearl white oyster brick laid tile

  • maxmillion_gw
    9 years ago

    No matter how hard you try, you will have different whites in your bathroom, so it's probably best to make it look intentional. If you are going all white, the focus is more on texture, lighting and shape than color. And your hardware choices will stick out, so pay attention to those.

    I would try to incorporate different textures and sheens - maybe large matte wall tile, small hex floor tile, polished counter, fluffy white towels, linen shower curtain, etc.

    [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by Novato Home Builders Rasmussen Construction

    You can also add a lot of drama with lighting like a floating cabinet with lighting underneath.

    [Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by San Francisco Architects & Building Designers Todd Davis Architecture

    Little details can make a big difference, like the furniture-like legs and molding on this floor-to-ceiling vanity.

    [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by Birmingham General Contractors Structures, Inc.

    If you have room, a dramatic soaking tub that always looks nice! I love the shapes here and the tiled wall.

    [Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Sydney Architects & Building Designers C+M Studio

    Or if you want some bling, a soaking tub and a chandelier:

    [Transitional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2112) by London Architects & Building Designers CC Construction Ltd

  • Bunny
    9 years ago

    Although my vanity is a darker stain and my floors are gray, the rest of my bathroom is white: tub/shower tile surround, bathtub, toilet, sink, carrara counter, shower curtain, towels, bath mats. The whites don't precisely match but they aren't at odds with one another. They're all in the same ballpark and seem to get along fine. As you shave, shower, put on makeup, or poop/pee, it's not something one fixates on.

    I love the look of layered whites. My walls and ceiling are antique white, more of a french vanilla.

  • Pipdog
    9 years ago

    In our last home we designed an all white bathroom. I didn't worry too much about perfectly matched whites -- I just picked the stone that I liked for the floor and shower (Calacatta marble) and then picked the other elements around that. The marble had all different shapes (small hex, large hex and bricks) and it had just enough veining/color to give it some visual interest.

    I painted the walls a very soft light grey to match some of the tones in the marble -- we started off with white paint that matched the cabinets and it felt too sterile, so we bumped it up to the next color on the strip.



  • laurensmom2010
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    All good ideas. I love the look of those bathrooms.

    Thank you for the suggestions and photos.

  • Nancy in Mich
    9 years ago

    Since it is a small bathroom, you can also haunt Craigslist for tile. I see white floor and wall tile there all the time. If I were not the mom to a 15 year old dog, we'd have bought real marble tiles from Craigslist last week for the floor. Luckily, that was not an option, because I think I found something that looks better with my other tile and shower surround for 2.99 sq ft - dark gray porcelain. I have gone from a white bathroom to a very light green bathroom in my planning. I was going to do white square tiles, black trim or carrara trim, and a basket weave floor. The shower is going to be white and gray swirl Swanstone. Now it is green room walls and medium gray floor with black trim. Even my beloved Brockway sink is under reconsideration! My advice is to decide what you are doing and DO it. It is the two years of waiting to get other things paid off that has got me changing plans.

    Here is a link that might be useful: [My green tile inspiration at Houzz[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/vintage-apothecary-bathroom-craftsman-bathroom-new-york-phvw-vp~19569096)

  • laurensmom2010
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Nancy, that floor is lovely!

  • Nancy in Mich
    9 years ago

    Lauren, the floor is made by a company in Arkansas that exists simply to recreate original 1930s and earlier floors. They are very expensive, I think, and everything is made to order. Here is a quote from the owner of my inspiration bathroom:

    "The floor is an unglazed porcelain mosaic from American Restoration Tile, manufacturer of custom historical tile. The floor is beautiful but the company was very frustrating to work with. The original lead time was 8 - 10 weeks, not great to start with but it was about another 4 weeks after that. It was challenging to get information from the company about schedule. Once the floor was installed, it had to be smoothed with a sanding machine because there were sharp edges at many of the tile corners, so plan for that as part of the installation process."

    My husband hates the floor in the inspiration picture. I checked out the slip-coefficient of the cheaper gray tile floor I found. It is not good. The European rating system for that says that a 9 is asking for broken bones, and that is what my tile rates. Back to the drawing board!

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago

    Nicholas, your tiles are GORGEOUS!

    I'd do the bathroom walls in a chocolate brown, with Nicholas's tile, white fixtures, white towels (and shower curtain, if you're using one), and get a mini crystal chandelier.

    Btw, I have these towels, and I can't tell you how many people compliment them and ask about them. Egyptian cotton. I can't recommend them highly enough.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Kassatex hotelier towels.

  • laurensmom2010
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Slip co-efficient rating system. Do tiles list that somewhere? Slippery tiles is a big worry. Though I love shine I want as stable as possible.

    (And after seeing the recent post about marble tile major color variations I'll be looking at porcelain marble looking tiles for the floor.)

    Love those chandeliers! I can't imagine one in my small bathroom though. That would really be pretty!

  • Lilyka
    9 years ago

    Hey laurensmom, good luck with the white on white, it's a great look!! I have bought samples of glossy and matte subway, trim, and floor tiles in about 8 different brands from Lowes, Home Depot, and off of a few websites, so if you find yourself looking at one brand for one thing and want to know if another brand will match, hit me up, i may be able to tell you!

    --Lily

  • Nancy in Mich
    9 years ago

    Laurensmom, you often have to go to the tile maker's website to find this slip resistance information. The US system has been the COF(coefficient of friction) and they tell you to make sure that any glazed tile on a floor that could be wet be over .60. (I would get as high as I could get.) Unglazed tile is rough and you apparently don't have to worry about slipping on it. I recently learned about the European system, too. Here is an article from Build.com about the different ratings.

    Though the DIN ratings are determined by how much of a slope can be walked on before the walker slips on the tile surface, I do not think that they are meant for when you are tiling ramps! It is just an easy and standard method of testing tiles that can be done anywhere by anybody, with the right equipment. So if you can classify tiles reliably into categories, then people will know what the tile they are buying will perform like. The DIN rating with the R are for dry tile. The ABC ratings are for walking on wet tile (with shoes, I believe). Then there is something called the pendulum skid resistance test that is numerical and divides into four groups.

    So you never know what slip resistance rating system is used. Print up the article below and take it to the tile shops with you!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Build dot com's article on slip

  • laurensmom2010
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks lilyka for that offer.

    Nancy_in_Mich. according to that these tiles having .40 is slippery.

  • kat123
    9 years ago

    Gorgeous bath!! Can you please tell me what cleaner you use on the floors. Thank you

  • gmp3
    9 years ago

    If you have kids and or any activity in your house I would avoid a very light floor. I have a lighter tile in one bath and every hair, thread, crumb, bit of astroturf and all the other things the kids bring in show up.

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