How to Decorate Small Powder Rooms

If you’ve been looking for somewhere in your home to take a Met Ball-like approach to your home decor, consider the powder room. The teeny, tiniest room in the house has long been a favorite room for designers to experiment with wild wallpapers, fabulous floor coverings, and high-wattage fixtures deemed too eccentric to take up residence in the rest of the home. Eager to frill out your small powder room in statement-making-style, but not sure where to start? Powder to the people! — We delve into all the before-you-buy basics below!

Glass and Chrome Sconces - a Pair

Where to Start with Small Powder Room Decor

Powder rooms are unique in that they’re one of the few rooms where you’ll likely source no furniture, no textiles, and minimal decor. That means your opportunity to make a statement relies solely on fixtures, wall decor, and flooring! Follow the steps below to ensure you make the most impactful picks.

1. Consider Your Decorating Scope

Take a moment to assess whether you’ll be undertaking a full-out renovation of your powder room or a surface-level rehab. If you’ll be working with existing features like flooring or fixtures, those will likely influence the rest of your design choices. Look to them for color, style, and material cues. If you’re going all in, all bets are off! Go wild with a theme and don’t hold back!

2. Choose an Inspiration Piece

Ask and designer and they’re likely to tell you that small powder rooms are truly about creating a mood. Consider that license to approach them with a sense of adventure or playfulness. Choose an inspiration piece that opens the stylistic flood gates, be it a transfixing tile or a mega-watt wallpaper. Select a piece with character to spare and let it guide the rest of your design decisions.

3. Mood Board It

While non-designers might question the effectiveness of a mood board for larger rooms, when working in a room as small as a powder room, a mood board is akin re-creating your space in the miniature. (i.e. it’s super effective.) To make sure all your choices are in stylistic harmony, compile wallpaper swatches, tile tidbits, and fixture finishes in a collage that you can see, touch, and assess for perfection from every angle.