Scandinavian bathroom design ideas for your home

Elements of Scandinavian Bathroom Design & How To Use Them In Your Home

Scandinavian interiors are simple, modern and cosy and their design involves creating light, airy spaces that maximise natural light. A light bright space is achieved using lots of white combined with neutral colours. Additional elements are an uncluttered interior, furniture with clean lines, the use of natural textures, bringing greenery indoors and the use of black as an accent colour. Here we’ll focus on Scandinavian bathroom design in particular and how to use each element in your bathroom project.

Neutral Colour Palette

A Scandinavian interior scheme will feature a simple pared-back colour palette. White is used for much of the room – white walls, white ceiling and often white floors too. Pale colours such as taupe and cream are used to complement the white backdrop. This is the best way to maximise the available light as it bounces off the walls around the room. It gets dark early in the winter months in Scandinavian countries so interiors make use of the natural daylight and good artificial light sources for when it gets dark.

In Scandi bathroom design a bright space is created with the use of white tiles, white sanitaryware, a white ceiling and white floor. Mirrors also help to increase the light levels by reflecting the available light. Keep blinds and curtains light-coloured and sheer to give privacy without blocking the light. While in other parts of the house the focus may be on creating a cosy atmosphere, in the bathroom it is always important to get your task lighting right. You’ll need a combination of overhead lighting as well as wall lights – place these on either side of the mirror above the sink to ensure you can see what you’re doing. Candles around the bath can be used for some softer light in the evening when relaxing.

Dark Metal Accents

The range of gunmetal taps, showers, basin mixers and bath fillers by Coalbrook provide the ideal contrast within a white bathroom interior. The dark metal really makes the fixtures stand out against the white tiles and sanitaryware, and the clean modern lines sit comfortably within the Scandinavian scheme. For a minimalist feel choose the 3TH Deck Mounted Basin Mixer Round Spout for your bath or sink, and for the shower the Concealed Shower Valve Trimset – 3 Outlet. The gunmetal finish is PVD coated so is ideal for everyday use. The PVD coating provides durability by bonding the finish to the brassware so there will be no discolouration or tarnishing.

Other metals would also work in the bathroom such as chrome, and the brushed brass would complement any natural tones in the space such as wood, rattan and wicker.

Simple, Modern Design Style

Furniture used in a Scandinavian design scheme is simple in form, featuring clean lines without fuss or embellishment. Interiors are generally kept empty of clutter. Accessories are sparse and carefully placed – for example, a simple vase of dried flowers, a small stack of books or a bowl of pinecones. Clear surfaces create a minimal, uncluttered look so the focus can be on the light and textures within a space.

Wood & Other Natural Textures

To increase the cosy and warm vibe in a typical Scandinavian interior you can use a variety of natural materials such as rattan, cotton, wood and wicker. You could use wicker lampshades, a wicker basket full of soft white towels or a laundry basket in wood or rattan.

Pale wood is a classic choice in Scandinavian interior design. Add a wooden chair into the bathroom, maybe with a tactile cushion or a sheepskin rug on it. Pale wood flooring is an option. As this is a bathroom space you can look at tiles that look like wooden planks or luxury vinyl tiling which again looks like planks but is actually a hardwearing water-resistant vinyl.

Natural Greenery

Bringing nature inside adds shades of green and brown to the colour palette of a Scandinavian interior, thereby adding some more colour into the scheme and creating a cosy look. For your bathroom design, you can choose plants that do well in the steam and moisture in a bathroom. Try hanging them from the ceiling or devoting a shelf to them and be aware that not all plants will thrive on a bright windowsill.

The main thing to remember with Scandinavian interiors is that you are trying to maximise the light as much as possible so you’ll need to rely heavily on white. You’re trying to create a refined, streamlined look without clutter, yet one that still manages to feel cosy. A combination of all the elements mentioned here will help you achieve this.