How to design the perfect powder room

The powder room is one of the few spaces in the home that you can you take a real risk with the design. Dark colours and large-scale patterns that might overwhelm in a living room or bedroom are often ideal in the powder room. It’s also the perfect opportunity to use high-end materials that may be too expensive to install in larger spaces. Here’s how you can design the perfect powder room.

Go big and bold

A common misconception with a powder room is that you have to keep it minimal. But a little room with nothing in it will always look like a room with nothing in it, so pack a punch with your design choices and create an experience.

You could do this through a statement wallpaper pattern or by choosing a dark, uniform colour on the walls and floor. Another option is to base your design around a unique tile or marble with intricate veining, or even an unexpected grout colour and build the rest of the room around it, with subtler details in a coordinating colour palette.

Lydia Maskiell Interiors

Choose the right sink and vanity

The vanity in the powder room is often the only major décor piece that takes up square footage and stands out prominently. If space allows, a floating vanity is ideal, it will give you extra functionality and also give the illusion of the room looking larger. It can be paired with an undermounted sink for a streamlined, integrated look, or with a vessel sink that sits on top, for a more sculptural appearance.

For extremely space-constrained powder rooms, or if you don’t want the sink to be the centre of attention, a simple wall-mounted or pedestal sink may work best.

Drawing Room Architecture. Product: Vivid Slimline Shower/Wall Mixer and Outlet in Matte Black

Perfect the lighting

The powder room is where visitors will check their hair and makeup, and you can enhance their experience by adding fixtures that provide flattering light. Avoid using bright fluorescent or bluish-white LED lights. Instead, aim for low levels of warm light.

As for styles, sconces or pendants hung near eye level on either side of the mirror will provide light where it’s needed, while an overhead fixture can deliver general illumination for the rest of the room.

Image by Brock Beazley. Product: Vivid Slimline Vessel Mixer

Select the perfect tapware

Sitting atop the sink is the jewel in the crown of your powder room, the tapware. Tapware can instantly transform a space, but it is important to make sure your tap of choice fits seamlessly with the rest of room to avoid a disjointed looking space.

If you have a more traditional style powder room, rounded tapware works well thanks to its softer, more feminine edges. Contemporary and minimalist powder rooms are able to carry bolder fixtures and fittings like chunkier square shapes or more architecturally designed taps.

If your bathroom is a balance between the two, a style that combines both is ideal. Square tap shapes with rounded edges or vice versa are a popular choice for those looking to create a more organic look and feel in their bathroom. At Phoenix we are seeing a real trend in a combination of distinctive angles with gentle and soft forms in tap styles.

Product: Vivid Slimline Shower/Wall Mixer and Outlet in Brushed Gold

As for types of tapware, wall mixers offer a streamlined aesthetic and can also make a statement in a powder room. They have the added benefit of freeing up countertop space, making them ideal if your space is on the smaller side. You could also choose a tapware set, which includes a spout and hot and cold taps installed from within your vanity or wall.

Product: Lexi MKII Vessel Mixer in Matte Black

If space isn’t an issue and you’re looking for something a little different, A vessel mixer, also known as ‘extended basin mixers’, provides the perfect opportunity to create a sophisticated designer look in your bathroom as it allows you to get creative with tapware placement – usually the tap would be placed at the back of the basin, however, with a vessel mixer you can place it to the side to create a unique look.