Considering a home makeover?

Consider the bathroom.

Yes, that space where you bathe and do your business is just as important to the gestalt of your home as the ever-more-obvious living room or bedroom. So important, in fact, that we're providing you with a few tips for achieving the perfect designer bathroom.Our sister site ShelterPop has a few examples to start you off.



Celebrities expect more than simple, practical functionality out of their bathrooms – and you should, too. The above image shows the restroom of Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne. He had it designed by FitzSimmons Architects. The smooth, rounded futuristic mosaic-covered walls contribute to the overall feel of being enveloped by a cocoon. In other words, it's a place for relaxation.

Image: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.shelterpop.com/media/2010/12/unusual-bathrooms2-590jd121410.jpg

These gilded bathrooms are fit for a queen. The gold-studded one on the left is a product of Kelly Wearstler's imagination. Not only does she always take her designs over the edge -- she's able to instantly make you feel something specific. In this case, it's the feeling of stepping back into the 1970s.

The bathroom below – designed by Jenna Lyons of J.Crew -- reiterates the idea of taking one element and exaggerating it to make a big impact. The stripes stretched from ceiling to floor and even over shelves and moldings makes this bathroom a standout.


This design, offered up by Tokyo's aat+ Architects, is perfect for intimate living situations: the glass is voyeur friendly. The bathroom is suspended above the small apartment's living space.



File this one under cool: Mina of the blog La Résidence! took bathroom design into her own hands by covering the walls in penny tiles.

To make sure your bathroom designs are current, here are some bathroom trends for 2011.

Bathroom trends you ask? Yes. And they're even official. Every year the members of the National Kitchen & Bath Association to discuss up and coming trends. More than 100 designers who worked on a kitchen or bathroom during the last three months of 2010 participate in a survey and reveal the hottest styles for 2011. Here, Stephanie Pritchard, a kitchen and bath designer at Middleburg Design Company in Middleburg, Virginia, weighs in on the biggest bath trends of 2011.


Seeing Green

"The trend in color for bathrooms has been softer, more neutral tones, like sea greens, with natural elements like bamboo and stone added to the space," she says. And she's right: While whites, creams, beiges and browns are still the most commonly used colors in bathrooms, green color palettes rose from 14 percent to 24 percent over the course of 2010.

Green can also be a peaceful color – the soothing tones of nature provide relaxation for the stressed-out bather.


Countertops in Quartz

What's the most popular bathroom counter material? Historically, among designers, it's been granite. But the pervasiveness of quartz is catching up. The trend in bathrooms is to create more of a spa-like or hotel-like feel," Pritchard explains. "People are making their homes equipped with the items they love when they go on vacation, such as high-end countertops. They want those aspects of luxury incorporated into their own bathrooms."


Bathroom Vessel Sinks

Don't forget about your water source. Under-mount sinks continue to dominate in new bathrooms, but vessel sinks have become the clear second choice among designers, as 51 percent of NKBA designers used them in the final quarter of 2010, up from 39 percent a year ago. "Vessel bowls remain popular due to the switch to a more transitional or contemporary home," Pritchard says. "It creates a cleaner, more calming feel, while eliminating the chance of clutter since vessel sinks are typically mounted on less countertop space."

Happy bathroom renovating!

And if you're still itching for more bathroom makeover tips and tricks, check out this piece on ShelterPop. Hint: it involves patterns.