When done right, half bathrooms can really pack a punch. While a half bathroom’s limited square footage means decorating options are minimal, small acreage can also encourage a wild design risk. Turn a powder room into a jewel box and cover the walls with bold paint or utilize a statement-making wallpaper. Splurge on lustrous marble countertops or install one-of-a-kind mosaic tiles on the floors. Really, the possibilities in a half bath are endless! Still feeling a bit intimidated? We’ve got you covered! Here, we delve into top designers’ tips and tricks to elevate the humble half bath into an all-encompassing, eye-catching haven.
What is a Half Bathroom?
While full baths include a toilet, a sink, and a shower or bath, half baths comprise only two of those four fixtures. Hence the name—half bath! Typically, half bathrooms contain a toilet and sink. However, other configurations (such as a shower and sink, or a shower and toilet combo) are also considered half bathrooms. Also called a powder room, these spaces are usually located in a common hallway on the main level of a home. Their main floor location means they’re frequently used by company—and we say, even more reason to give them a little extra design TLC!
What Do You Put In a Half Bathroom?
Incorporating quality fixtures are the key to making half bathrooms feel whole. Forgo store-bought fixtures, and dress your powder room in custom pieces. For instance, opt for a sink or vanity crafted of a sumptuous stone slab or antique commode. Courtnay Tartt Elias of Creative Tonic Design explains, “A powder bath is a place to have fun with wallpaper, splurge on a lavatory faucet, or go bold with a stone countertop in an unusual application.”
In the powder room below, Atlanta-based interior designer Summer Loftin employs a Chairish-sourced, demilune-shaped vanity. The shape of the sink not only helps to conserve floor space, but adds visual interest to the otherwise square room. Triangular shelves that tuck into corners, medicine cabinet mirrors, and floating shelves are also stylish ways to save space in a powder room.
In small spaces like half bathrooms, Summer is also a fan of statement mirrors. “Bring in the drama with an interesting vintage or antique mirror,” she says. In the powder room below, Summer utilizes an arched, gold scrolled wall mirror that she also acquired from Chairish. The mirror enhances the gold detailing of the vanity while also warming up and ennobling the room.
What Countertops Are Best in a Half Bath?
The countertop sets the tone for any bathroom, but they’re especially mood-making in a teeny powder room. Marble countertops are popular options for small bathrooms, because of their versatility and their ability to make a statement without too much fuss. “Countertops with a dynamic marbling speak for themselves and allow for minimal accessorizing,” says Laura Umansky of Houston-slash-Aspen-based Laura U Design Collective. Because they pack a punch, marble countertops are perfect for small, but mighty, spaces like half bathrooms. Plus, they’re heat and scratch resistant!
How Do You Decorate a Half Bathroom’s Walls?
With less vertical and horizontal square footage to cover, powder rooms present an opportunity to splurge on more expensive wall coverings. Seize the chance to use a bold wallpaper that you might never otherwise use. Always one to put immersive patterns to work, Courtnay Tartt Elias of Creative Tonic elected to use a multi-hued, multi-striped, azure wallpaper on the walls of a tiny half bath. The firm even extended the paper to the ceiling, giving the room even more dimension and depth.
If you want to use a bold wallpaper, but don’t necessarily want to overpower the half bath, take designer advice from Maloos Anvarian, founder of San Francisco-based firm DWN / Maloos: “Keep the main colors light and neutral, but use wallpaper with accent colors for added dimension, sparkle. It’ll add energy without overwhelming the small space.” For a modern half bath Maloos personally designed, she juxtaposed stark white fixtures with a vibrant magenta and tangerine geometric wallpaper.
NYC-based designer duo Brockschmidt & Coleman are also all for one-of-a-kind wall coverings but advocate using some restraint. For a powder room in an early 20th century Nashville home, the pair selected a mural-style wallpaper depicting a Revolutionary-era scene. Instead of swathing the entire wall, they framed squares of wallpaper for an extra dramatic effect.
What is The Best Color to Paint a Half Bathroom?
Although there are plenty of visual examples of wallpaper leveling up a half bath, a simple coat of paint can do wonders, too. Anna Still and Marguerite Johnson of Alabama firm Still Johnson Interiors don’t shy away from a dark color. “Paint a small half bath a dark color, or even black,” they encourage. “It will make the room surprisingly warm and cozy!” Dark colors can make a small space appear larger, reflecting less light, muddling the depth of the room’s color and shadows, and consequently blurring the edges of the room.
Designer Laura Umansky loves bottomless paint colors for powder rooms, too. “Go bold or go home!” she advises. For some extra excitement, she recommends using a lacquered finish in a half bath. “Surrender yourself to finding the most dramatic finishes,” she explains, noting that lacquer is a stylish selection “that is sure to impress everyone.”
How Do You Make a Half Bathroom Look Bigger?
While the half baths can feel cozy, they can also appear cramped. To combat the feeling, Brockschmidt & Coleman recommend bringing multiple mirrors into the mix. In the powder room below, the duo layered a Neoclassical Venetian mirror over a mercury mirror. The juxtaposition of a practical mirror laid overtop a more artistic mirror helps to reflect more light into the room and creates the illusion of depth.
Matching the colors of your tiles and wall or employing floor-to-ceiling tiles also helps eliminate the dividing lines that can slice through a powder room. High-gloss paint reflects lights, amplifying a space. Of course, there are also space-saving options to making a bijou bath seem larger. Once more, recessed shelves, open shelves, and suspended fixtures are all ways to create more floor space.
Lead image: Design by 2to5 Design / Photo by Dustin Halleck
