This is a collaborative post, that we hope contains some helpful tips and ideas for how to create a cosy bathroom.
When the winter season kicks in, the bathroom is usually one of the first rooms of the house to feel it. You know how it is – that jolt of you feel when your feet touch the cold bathroom tiles when getting out of the bath. Even that sharp gasp you make when you have to go into the bathroom in the middle of the night and the whole room has an icy air to it.
There are a few ways to overcome the ‘bathroom blues’ this winter. It doesn’t have to look like a cold, unwelcoming room as the weather starts to dip. Plus, there are also some super helpful, budget-friendly hacks to make a cosy bathroom. So before the worst of the cold snap kicks in, here are some of the main ways to get your bathroom looking and feeling cosier this winter.
Invest in heated towel rails
The best feeling is getting out of a hot shower or bath, and wrapping yourself up in warm, fluffy towels. This is why the addition of a heated towel rail in your bathroom is one of the best ways to keep the cold away and make your bathroom more of a warm, cosy haven.
Try to match the finish of your towel rail to your tapware for a sleek, cohesive look. If you can, try and position your towel rail as close to your shower as possible to make it easy to reach for your toasty towel.
Choose materials wisely
If your bathroom is in need of some updating, the main thing you could look at during this time of year is the types of materials you want to use. Ceramic, cast iron and sturdy steel baths paired with natural materials like timber and stone are now the most versatile and modern, along with brushed metallics like brass and copper if you want to add some colour.
By using a combination of these textural materials, they will help to add depth and warmth to your space to keep that chill-factor low and give the feeling of a cosy bathroom.
A new material that has started coming through is the use of cork – for flooring! It is fast becoming a popular choice for bathrooms due to it feeling warm underfoot.
Let in natural light
When moving things around in your bathroom, be cautious of the positioning of your windows. When light is more limited in the winter months, it’s important to maximise sunlight coming into this room as much as you can.
Utilising natural light as much as possible will help to warm your bathroom, even if only a little bit. Even in the coldest months, you’ll sometimes get a bit of sunshine first thing in the morning.
The heat of the sun will reduce the risk of excess moisture too – something very common in all bathrooms.
Another thing to consider is the use of skylights if you’re in a position to renovate the room. This opens up the room by letting in natural light from above, flood lighting the room without actually having to use any bulb light.
Choose your colour scheme carefully
Colour plays a huge part when it comes to the feelings you get when you walk into a room. Whether it’s a splash of a paint, indoor plants or the colour of towels, the shades and tones can be used cleverly. The main aim is to use colour to help offset any cold, clinical feelings that bathrooms can often have.
Look at Earth-toned colours like yellow ochre, light ginger, cinnamon, rust and olive green, as these can warm your bathroom space right up in an instance. If you’re not too sure about using such deep colours on the walls, why not mix up a bit of grey and beige? These two colours when combined give a warmer shade, yet it’s still a very safe one to use.
Avoid pale blues, ice whites and very light grey’s, which connote to feelings of frost.
Treat your windows
Make sure you give all the windows in the bathroom an intense check for any gaps. Any small cracks will let in the cold air, and you’ll feel it so much more during the winter. If you do find any cracks and gaps around the windows, a makeshift way to solve it is to attach a clear film applied with double-stick tape all around the gaps. When applied neatly, this isn’t so bad to the eye.
However, be careful applying the tape to painted surfaces inside your bathroom; if there are any worries about paint peeling off when removed, use painter’s tape (blue rolls) to avoid the problem.
If you need to, you can also look at investing in a bathroom blind, to keep a little more heat in too. It’s surprising how many people don’t have these already, as they feel safe with frosted glass, and don’t usually think about the cold air that they bring in.
