When you’re designing an interior space, you probably don’t focus on the bathroom first. But don’t overlook the importance of a well-designed bathroom. Since it’s an enclosed space, you can decorate it differently than the rest of your home or design it to match. These color ideas will get you started.
Bathroom Color Ideas
Here’s a list of the best colors for bathrooms.
1. Cool White
Cool white might be the most common color for bathrooms. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make it exciting! Regardless of the style and layout of your bathroom, you can use this shade as a backdrop for other colors or let it shine on its own. The ultra-modern bathroom pictured is a great example of a successful monochromatic palette. However, the warm-toned wood floors and ample natural light prevent it from looking overly cold.
Even in a monochromatic palette, it’s good to add a pop or two of other colors. In the pictured bathroom, the green plant in the copper pot adds some visual interest without taking over the space. You also might consider adding contrasting towels or a floor patterned with black and white tiles.
2. Wood Tones
Most bathrooms don’t have wood floors. But if you love wood tones, you can still integrate them into a bathroom! Wooden walls are an uncommon but highly effective way to add some warmth to your palette. They go best with cooler neutrals like black or gray.
The pictured bathroom does well with integrating these colors. The end result is a bathroom that successfully combines rustic and modern elements. The stone beneath the bathtub and on the countertop adds some ruggedness, while the slender wooden wall panels add a modern touch. So does the matte-finished black bathtub.
3. Light Blue
Lots of colors could be described as “light blue,” so don’t feel limited to the example shades. The vintage-inspired blue in the example bathroom has the vibrance of sky blue, but it’s muted enough to not overwhelm the small space. As you can see, shades of light blue do well with cool white, but dark blue or black accents are useful for keeping the space grounded.
If you can’t paint the walls of your bathroom (or want to try out this color scheme before committing to it), try adding a light blue shower curtain and towels. If you don’t like it, you can simply remove them!
4. Leafy Green
If you want your bathroom to feel like a springlike retreat, leafy green is a great color to add! You can of course incorporate it using tiles, paint, or accessories. But if you have a green thumb and a bathroom with natural light, you might want to consider adding potted plants. It doesn’t have to be as many plants as in the example photo; even a few will make a difference.
This is a look that does well with cool white, but plants will look good with almost any color, especially neutrals. If you have an all-white bathroom and want to add even more bursts of color, consider adding plants in an assortment of colorful pots!
5. Warm Brown
Brown comes in all manner of shades. But warm, amber-hued browns like the ones in the picture are somewhat uncommon and incredibly striking! Reminiscent of desert sand and clay soil, they can really make any bathroom stand out.
Shades of warm brown are easy to layer, and you can integrate them seamlessly with other shades of brown, white, and beige. If white is part of your palette, warm white tends to go better with these shades. Warm browns look great when used in stone or tiling. You can go with monochromatic tiles (like those used for the pictured bathtub) or choose to use an assortment of colors (like on the tiled wall).
6. Silver
This one might sound obvious. After all, many bathrooms have silver-hued hardware throughout. But for those who really like silver, this metallic can shine when used elsewhere in your bathroom as well.
The pictured bathroom uses ornate silver wallpaper and a hanging mirror, both of which are fairly rare in bathrooms. But the muted silver shades used here just complement the centerpiece: a bathtub coated in silver means mirror-like tiles! If you want to liven up this cool, neutral palette, adding a colorful accent like the purple seat shown in the photo is a good choice.
7. Tangerine Orange
Tangerine and other shades of bright orange are somewhat uncommon in interior design, largely because their boundless energy can quickly overwhelm a space. The pictured bathroom is a prime example of how to successfully use orange: when it’s included in a few different locations, it energizes the room without looking garish.
The cheerful bathroom in the picture also does a great job of bringing together vintage and modern influences. The tiled floor has an unmistakably retro vibe. The orange included at the top of the ceiling is something you’d expect to see in a bathroom with modern decor. Combining styles like this doesn’t always work, but this bathroom does it successfully!
8. Navy Blue
Few non-neutrals are as versatile as navy blue. This deep, dark blue can be used for walls, rugs, furniture, accent pieces, and more. Its classic look also helps it fit into a huge range of palettes.
Navy really shines in high-contrast color schemes like the one shown in the photo. If you’d prefer a darker aesthetic, go with navy blue walls and a white bathtub, sink, etc. Navy does a great job grounding lighter aesthetics like the one in the picture. White and pale gray look modern and interesting, but navy cabinets and accent tiling prevent the overall color scheme from getting too washed out.
9. Lime Green
Many bathrooms seem to be blue, white, black, or a mixture of the three. But if you really want a bathroom to stand out, try adding touches of lime green! Though it’s a cool color, it’s useful for adding high-energy bursts to cooler neutral palettes.
Lime green looks best against cool neutral backdrops that use primarily white or gray. It also works well in small doses. The pictured bathroom uses just enough: a few towels and bright green plants are all you need to complete the look.
10. Brick
Industrial-style decor has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years. It’s often seen in living rooms and offices, but exposed brick (a mainstay of industrial decor) is also a great choice for a bathroom. You can choose how much exposed brick you want to include. You can leave an entire exposed brick wall as-is, or you can paint a portion white like in the pictured bathroom.
Brick looks nice with white porcelain, but if you’re going for an extra-rugged look, combine it with a metal bathtub, metal countertops, etc. If that look starts to seem too cold, distressed wooden furniture makes a great addition.
11. Peach
Antique-style bathrooms and pastel walls just seem to go together. If you like pastels but want something subtle enough that it could be mistaken for a neutral, try peach! Paler shades of peach have enough orangish undertones to add some warmth to a space. They also can be used alongside white to create a soothing, peaches-and-cream look.
A peach and white palette makes a great backdrop for vintage-style accessories as well. The pictured bathroom’s design adds some interest via a vintage clock and chair.
12. Lilac
Lilac is a pale pinkish purple that’s about the shade of the flower of the same name. Like peach, it’s often used in quiet pastel shades. Lilac is more versatile than you might think, though: it looks great in this Southwest-inspired bathroom!
You can really shape the mood of a room by choosing which colors to go with lilac. Cool and warm whites alike are excellent companions. But as you can see in the photo, lilac also pops against bright or pastel shades of orange, blue, and yellow.
13. Warm Beige
Beige is pale and common enough that some people find it dull. However, when incorporated into the right palette and paired with the right accessories, beige can actually help create a dynamic palette.
For instance, the pictured bathroom does a great job using beige as a base color. The white bathtub and grouting fit right in. But with no other colors in the palette, the bathroom would look quite dull! In this case, metallics add just enough dynamism. Soft gold sink and tub hardware look great alongside beige. Silver tub feet and accent furniture top off the luxurious look. Of course, you don’t have to stick to a neutral-only palette like this one. Deep shades of blue, green, and other cool colors tend to look great against cool beige!
14. Fuchsia
Fuchsia is a bright, exotic-looking pink that isn’t too common in the design world! Like many other very bright colors, fuchsia normally does best in smaller doses. If you want to avoid running the risk of creating a palette that’s too chaotic, try using a burst of fuchsia in a bathroom that is mostly made of cooler neutrals.
The fuchsia rug in the picture adds just enough pizazz to the pictured bathroom. However, if the palette was otherwise all white, the room might look unbalanced. The natural-finished dark wood helps ground the space. It’s just warm enough to connect with fuchsia, too.
15. Marine Blue
If you like navy blue but want something a little less dark and a little more ocean-inspired, marine blue might be ideal. It contrasts beautifully with white tubs, toilets, and sinks. You often see it as a wall color, but if you really want to dive in, you can use it for both wall and floor tiling!
If you do this, just be sure to add enough white to balance it out. White ceilings, cabinetry, and other accents can help you do this.
16. Copper
Copper is the new trendy metallic, and it’s especially popular in kitchens. However, it also looks great when used in bathrooms! Copper sink hardware, towel rails, and even copper bathtubs go nicely with dark blue or gray walls.
As you can see, copper also makes a great color for a shower! In this case, multicolored tiling creates an incredibly interesting palette. Notice how the interspersed black tiles seem to add just enough of a grounding influence. This design choice really adds an air of distinction to the pictured bathroom. Without the copper-tiled shower, its palette is relatively nondescript.
17. Stone Gray
Unevenly colored gray walls are beautifully reminiscent of stone. And as you can see in the photo, rugged-looking walls like these make the perfect backdrop for a sleek, modern palette. Mostly-white palettes are common in modern design schemes, but this variant uses darker-colored walls and flooring to really set the white bathtub and furniture apart.
You don’t have to have a super-modern bathroom to successfully use this color scheme, though! If you have a bathroom that is already white, paint your walls stony gray and add deep gray towels and rugs. Often, that’s enough to really transform the space!
18. Pastel Pink
Mid-century modern decor really seems to lend itself to fun pastel color schemes. The pictured bathroom is a great example! In most modern spaces, you see either pastel pink or pastel blue used with white. But in this one, baby blue and baby pink seem to work in harmony.
However, shades of pastel pink work well enough without the influence of blue or other non-neutrals. Since pink is a warmish hue, try using silver hardware and accents. The silver mirror in the photo is a great example of how cooler metallics work well with warmer pastels.
19. Dusty Rose
Dusty rose is another vintage-inspired color, although this one is more closely associated with the 1990s. You sometimes see quilts and living room furniture in this slightly muted shade, but it’s a highly unique choice for a bathroom. Use a few touches to add some character to a mostly-neutral bathroom, or layer multiple shades of dusty rose like the bathroom in the picture.
If you’re already replacing floors and wall tiles, these are excellent places to use dusty rose! If you aren’t, you still have the opportunity to include ample amounts if you wish. Mirrors, curtains, cabinets, shelves, towels, and rugs are all great examples.
20. Black
Most people proceed with caution when incorporating large stretches of black in an interior. When you take the time to craft a balanced color scheme, mostly-black bathrooms can actually look very inviting! The pictured bathroom is a great example. The black walls are broken up just enough with white. White furniture and flooring offer an appealing contrast, too.
If you like the combination of black and white, you can incorporate it into a range of other palettes, too. Black and white tiled flooring will fit into a variety of color schemes. And if you’re decorating a bathroom for kids, a dalmatian-printed shower curtain will add a playful touch to a black-and-white palette.
21. Ultramarine
Ultramarine is a vivid shade of blue that isn’t for everyone. It’s both intense and bright, and it pops against white when used in bathrooms. If you’re looking for an energizing blue like this one, it’s a nice choice for wall tiling.
The pictured bathroom shows you a highly unusual way to incorporate ultramarine. In this case, the bathroom is split down the middle with a royal purple side and an ultramarine side. It’s an interesting look for sure, but if you find the aesthetic too busy, you can always pick just one color.
22. Gold
Gold hardware is the perfect way to add just a touch of luxury to a room. In a bathroom, it’s especially easy to do that. Between sink hardware, showerheads, cabinet hardware, and towel rails, you have plenty of opportunity to add gold.
If you want to really go all out, try an antique-style bathroom like the one pictured. Distressed, metallic gold paint gives the whole room a magical feel. And while the wood floors and marble countertop aren’t gold, they’re warm enough to make the overall palette look almost monochromatic.
23. Coral
Most shades of coral are bright, saturated, and summery. These brighter shades can add a lot to a room, but for some, they’re just a bit too loud. Slightly faded shades of coral, like the one shown are a great alternative. And if you find that coral looks a little too bright against the white walls, you can always add black patterning. Geometric designs look especially striking!
In some cases, you may find you want to stick to just one bright color in your bathroom. But if you’re up for adding another, coral looks beautiful alongside teal or turquoise. Use turquoise if you want to maximize the energy of the color scheme. Teal is deep and dark enough that it exerts a calming effect.
24. Cocoa Brown
You might think that shades of brown are too boring. But some shades, when used right, will actually make your bathroom palette more dynamic than ever! The pictured Moroccan-style bathroom has a gentle, ensconcing effect thanks to its deep cocoa walls. But its relatively light wood flooring and warm white tubs and sinks (not to mention the ample natural light) make sure that it doesn’t get too dark.
You don’t have to have a Moroccan-style bathroom for this color scheme to work. Be careful if you have a very small bathroom, though. Darker shades will sometimes make a small space seem even smaller, especially when you use them for walls.
25. Olive Green
If you like cool colors and rustic palettes, olive green just might be the right color for your bathroom. There are plenty of shades of olive, so you can choose one that suits your taste. Regardless of the exact shade, olive green walls go well with copper hardware. They also look nice with white toilets, tubs, sinks, etc. With darker shades like olive, it’s important to include enough white (or a similarly light color) to counterbalance it.
Olive walls also look good with mostly white flooring. If you want the room to look especially coordinated, you can choose white flooring with small olive accents like the flooring used in the picture.
26. Burnt Orange
Earthy yet energetic burnt orange has become a highly popular color for a reason. The shade in the photo is a little brighter than many variations, but it’s balanced out well by black, white, and brown accents.
Especially in a smaller space, burnt orange does best when it’s the only hot color. As you can see in the picture, a darker neutral like black is important for grounding it. If you find that black looks too harsh (or Halloween-like!) against orange, charcoal gray is a nice on-trend alternative.
27. Black-Brown
Both black and brown make great colors for bathrooms. But if you simply can’t decide between the two, split the difference and go with black-brown! This near-black shade looks especially beautiful in marble! And as you can see, white-veined dark marble will give your bathroom an exciting, almost ocean-like look.
Black-brown marble is striking enough to work as the centerpiece for your bathroom decor. It looks great with white. If you can’t install marble in your bathroom, consider a mixture of black-brown and white tiles. They may not look quite as spectacular as marble, but the color combination is dynamic enough to make a statement.
28. Vivid Green
One easy way to make your bathroom’s color scheme unique is to choose unusual shades of common colors. The green in the picture is a great example: it’s not quite emerald, not quite peridot, and not quite spring green. However, it has a depth and richness to it that you don’t often see.
If you can find a shade of green like this, be sure to pair it with a quiet neutral backdrop to let it stand out. If you wish, you can use tiling like this for the walls (or at least a portion of the walls) and add small accents that tie in. The pictured soap dish is a great example. While it isn’t quite the same shade of green as the wall, its interesting pattern makes it a great companion piece.
29. Maroon
Maroon is often confused with burgundy. However, burgundy is more purple, while maroon has more notes of both red and brown. It’s not often seen in bathrooms, but it’s rich and complex enough that it works well when used carefully. Like burgundy, it also can be combined with gold for a royal-inspired aesthetic.
The maroon marble in the pictured bathroom makes an otherwise nondescript room look stunning. The white veining in the marble ties in with the white in the rest of the room, while the reddish warmth of maroon ties into the warm neutral finish of the wood floor.
30. Forest Green
Forest green is a dark, rich shade that looks similar to hunter green. Usually, forest green has a slightly bluish tint. It’s not incredibly common as a bathroom color, but it probably should be: it looks especially luxuriant against gold hardware and forms a striking contrast with white.
The pictured bathroom isn’t just memorable because of its color scheme: it also uses highly unusual materials. The subway tiles used for the walls aren’t something you see every day, and the vintage-style lamps complete this highly original look. If it seems like too much to tile your bathroom walls green, you can incorporate small amounts of forest green and still get good results. Especially if you’re decorating a very small bathroom, even painting your cabinets forest green will work.
31. Gray-Beige
In the design world, it often seems like there are endless shades of both beige and gray. If you can’t make up your mind between the two, you might like gray-beige, a color sometimes called “greige.” You can easily find paint in this color, but it’s also increasingly common in wood and wood-patterned furniture.
Flat greige walls will often look too dull, so the woodgrain version of this color is probably your best bet. It’s often just used for flooring, but you can take a relatively dull bathroom to the next level by using it for both flooring and walls. If you do this, make sure to use white, pale gray, or another light color to break up the palette.
32. Bright Yellow
If you frequently feel sluggish while getting ready in the morning, a burst of sunny lemon yellow might be just what your bathroom needs! As one of the brightest colors on the list, lemon yellow usually works best when just used for one wall or another portion of a space. You can create balance by filling the rest of the room with cool colors, neutrals, or both.
The modern bathroom in the picture is a great example of this kind of balance. Both the floors and the walls on one side of the room are patterned in black and white, giving them an overall cool cast. And since black and white are both neutrals, they don’t compete with the cheerful yellow tiles on the opposite wall.
33. Sky Blue
Sometimes, even cool colors can be energizing. That’s definitely true of sky blue, a youthful color that makes a great addition to mostly white bathrooms. This color combination is reminiscent of sunny skies with a few clouds. That makes it a great palette for a child’s bathroom, though there’s nothing wrong with using it in a bathroom for an adult!
Like most light color schemes, this one can start to seem adrift without a darker color to ground it. In most cases, black (especially large stretches of black) will seem too harsh. Instead, go with very dark shades of brown or gray. To keep everything in balance, do your best to include the grounding shades in a few places as opposed to just one.
34. Chocolate Brown
Cocoa brown often has a soft, light cast, much like that of cocoa powder. By contrast, chocolate brown has a dark, more powerful look. “Chocolate brown” can refer to milk chocolate shades like those in the photo, various shades of seal brown, and anywhere in between.
The pictured bathroom makes good use of a medium shade of chocolate brown. Palettes like this are great for those who like the basic look of black-and-white color schemes but need something that seems just a bit softer. Brown and white color schemes can start to seem boring if you add no other colors whatsoever. Try adding brightly-colored accent flowers like those in the picture. If you want to keep the color scheme on the cool side, add in a few soft blue accents. Paler shades of blue can really pop against brown!
35. Royal Purple
Purple was once associated with royalty. That might not always be the case anymore, but if you want your bathroom to have a royal touch, you can include a few purple accents or even make purple the main color of your bathroom!
Royal purple can be intense, so most designers would caution you to start with a few small accents and go from there. The pictured bathroom works well with just a couple of touches of the color. As you can see, its palette is balanced and primarily neutral. But the uniquely designed purple chair and the pot of purple flowers make a statement without completely overwhelming the room.
36. Bright Red
Like orange, bright shades of red are not especially common in the world of design. So if you want a modern bathroom with a standout color scheme, bright red might be a color to consider!
In order to be successful with this shade, make sure you don’t use it too heavy-handedly! Including red in prominent but defined spaces will often look best. For instance, in the pictured bathroom, the tub and hanging cabinet make up a decent-sized portion of the room. However, since most of the rest of the room is black and white, red doesn’t seem to take over the space. By contrast, in a bathroom of any size, bright red walls are likely to be overwhelming.
37. Champagne
Champagne is a color that’s somewhat close to gold; it often looks like a combination of beige and gold. If you like understated elegance, it’s a good color to choose for your bathroom. And as you can see in the picture, soft shades of champagne (like those used for the curtains and wallpaper) can blend seamlessly into bright white! It’s a great color if you’re hoping to design a quiet space with a vintage feel.
Sometimes, you may even be able to find and incorporate champagne as a metallic. While uncommon, champagne-finished sink hardware can really make a bathroom look upscale! You also might consider metallic wall hangings or metal-legged chairs or stools.
38. Celery Green
Celery is an interesting shade of green that looks approximately like a warmer cousin of sage. As you can tell from the pictured bathroom, it looks great with warm neutrals. It’s also an excellent wall color, as it adds character to a bathroom while still remaining fairly unobtrusive.
Try combining soft celery walls with natural-finished wooden cabinets. To complete the palette, include warm beige tiled floors and/or marble countertops. The result is a bathroom that feels warm and inviting without feeling suffocating.
39. Charcoal Gray
Charcoal gray is a color that never seems to go out of style. Whether it’s grounding hot-colored palettes or working alongside black and white to create a wonderfully nuanced color scheme, it always adds a dignified touch. If you want your bathroom to have an elegant yet grounded feel, charcoal gray walls are worth considering. As you can see in the photo, they look especially sophisticated with black marble and silver hardware.
If you find this look a littletoominimalist, you can add some real interest with neutrals alone. The pictured bathroom includes a great example of this. The honeycombed wall panel features several shades of gray and white. They’re light enough to contrast with the charcoal walls, but not so light that they disrupt the entire palette.
40. Blue Violet
Purple can make a beautiful addition to your bathroom’s color palette. If you like the idea but find royal purple a bit too loud, consider using blue violet. This beautiful shade is a mixture of blue and purple, and it has a soothing yet grounding effect.
Like most darker colors, blue violet will look more balanced when combined with white. As you can see in the picture, this color looks especially nice when it’s included in patterns with white. This palette is especially intriguing, as parts of it involves white diamonds on a blue violet background. Other parts involve blue violet diamonds on a white background.
41. Teal
Teal is another deep color that will go beautifully in a bathroom. It’s an intriguing wall color, but since it can run the risk of looking overly dark, it works best with natural light. Cool white wall trim also looks especially nice against teal.
If you want a palette that’s a little more varied than plain teal and white, mottled neutral accents (like the area around the tub in the pictured bathroom) will work well. The metallic accents you choose will also go a long way toward shaping the mood of the room. Black or otherwise dark hardware creates a cool, subdued look. Gold accents add more energy and even a little glamour.
42. Sage Green
Sage is a popular color for bedrooms and living rooms, but this earthy shade is a great fit for bathrooms as well. You most often see sage used as a wall color. But as you see in the bathroom pictured, sage green tiles can also really set your bathroom apart.
This pretty shade of green will pair well with paler neutrals like light beige and warm white. If you wish, you can also create a layered palette by interspersing shades of taupe, tan, and more throughout the room. Although it will go well with a number of design styles, sage really lends itself to bohemian-style decor.
43. Turquoise
Last on the list is turquoise, a lovely greenish blue (or bluish green, depending on the exact shade). It’s a useful color for adding a little life to neutral palettes. As you can see, turquoise seems at home next to cooler shades of white. It also does well in color schemes with a few black accents.
Though it’s a cool color, turquoise has relatively high energy. Most people avoid making it a primary wall color, instead opting to include turquoise cabinets or towels. When it is used as a wall color, turquoise is often diluted. This way, it adds distinctive color to a bathroom without becoming overwhelming.
What Is the Best Color for Your Bathroom?
There’s no single best answer to this question. It depends on the mood you’re trying to create, the decor you already have, and the palette of the rest of the home. You also don’t need to feel limited to one color. With countertops, shower curtains, tiles, rugs, and more, bathrooms offer you the chance to include a remarkable and varied palette.
