How to design a white bathroom: furnishing ideas with the emphasis on style.

Whatever the style or the design of your home, white is a solution you will never tire of, the very opposite of mundane. It is a colour that offers incredible versatility and potential, also when furnishing a bathroom.

In this latest article for the blog, we will explore Arcom’s solutions for designing a white bathroom. Are you ready to discover how this apparently simple colour can transform your bathroom into a modern and stylish wellness space?

The allure and versatility of a white bathroom

White is an understated yet impactful colour choice that adapts to any interior design style and this is why designing a white bathroom for your home is a safe bet that will never fall out of fashion.

Whether you go for a total white bathroom or a white bathroom with hints of colour, white comes in a range of shades that make it quite the opposite of monotone. Its different hues range from pure white, like signal white, to warmer tones like cream, milk and ivory, through to cooler shades such as ice and pearl. What is undeniable is that every shade of white transforms and influences our perception of the space, adding depth, warmth or freshness to rooms, as well as exuding a sense of cleanliness.

Its ability to create bright and airy rooms also makes it the ideal colour for decorating the confined or windowless bathrooms often found in smaller apartments or houses. White has no rivals when it comes to making spaces seem bigger and can be used on walls, floors and decorations, perhaps varying the textures to add extra dynamism.

When it comes to variation, in a white bathroom you can play around with a vast array of finishes and shades: wood, marble, glossy and matt lacquered surfaces, fabrics – everything can come in white. The combination of these finishes and their different tones gives rise to infinite stylistic variations that can enrich and further personalise your white bathroom.

Interior design styles for a white bathroom

Thanks to its incredible versatility, white can be used to decorate all kinds of interiors, from modern to classic spaces, through to more distinctive decors such as Scandinavian or industrial (to name just a few).

In interior design, white isn’t just a colour choice but a genuine declaration of style. It is up to you to decide which shade best fits with your design needs and personal taste.

Modern white bathrooms: minimalist and understated

The modern bathroom is synonymous with elegance and simplicity, and no colour embodies this better than white. With its clean lines, smooth surfaces and minimalist aesthetic, this style lays the emphasis on the functionality of the elements without compromising their design.

The keyword of the modern bathroom is minimalism, the concept of less is more which is also applied to the colours. This is why a total white bathroom is the most appropriate choice for this interior design style, one that perfectly reflects the simplicity of the design that characterises it.

However, in a modern bathroom, white doesn’t necessarily have to dominate: you can also elevate the space using a variety of neutral shades. For example, you can pair white with pastel shades or greys and beiges, choosing colours that are enhanced by the brightness of the white to create harmonious and delicate contrasts.

Another way to embellish a modern white bathroom is to insert steel or gold metal details, a clever way of adding more light to the room as well as a sophisticated finishing touch to the decor.

Also interesting in a modern white bathroom is the use of materials like white marble or porcelain stoneware. The outstanding expressive ability of these materials adds a note of refined elegance to the bathroom while ensuring it stays bright and airy. Of course, you can use marble to cover the walls or the floors, or more simply for the surfaces of tops and other furnishings.

In a white bathroom dominated by marble, to further emphasise the sophistication of the material and prevent it from appearing too heavy or cold, we recommend choosing your lighting solutions with care. Warm lighting will make the room more intimate and inviting or alternatively you could try installing spotlights in strategic positions to highlight the veins of the marble. Backlit mirrors are another excellent idea for a modern and sophisticated effect.

Classic white bathrooms: elegance and sophistication

A classic bathroom stands out for its refined decor – details such as mouldings, freestanding portable bathtubs with legs, vintage taps, decorative frames around mirrors and frames around the doors of the bathroom furniture.

White is the perfect colour for emphasising the elegance and purity of classic bathrooms, making the space even more welcoming and sophisticated. However, make sure you choose the right shade of white: avoid excessively bright tones, opting for warmer shades or hues like cream and ivory that are just as elegant as white but also add a note of colour.

Shabby chic style is a variant of the classic style, sharing its love for vintage details but presenting them with a much more romantic feel. In a shabby chic bathroom, white is the dominant colour of pickled finishes, distressed furniture and wrought iron accessories that add that nostalgic and lived-in charm to the room.

Scandinavian style bathrooms: bright, light, white

The Scandinavian style stands out for its functionality and simplicity, characteristics that are perfectly highlighted by the colour white. In a Scandinavian bathroom, white can be used for surfaces, pale wooden floors, minimalist furnishings, and accessories to create a clean and cool atmosphere.

Though the integration of natural materials like wood and details in neutral or pastel colours add warmth and personality to spaces, white remains the common denominator of the Scandinavian style.

In fact, white is able to brighten up rooms like no other colour, playing a crucial role in compensating for the lack of natural light in the northern European countries where this style originated. In this interior design setting, white is not just an aesthetic choice but a functional element that helps make spaces brighter and more welcoming.

For an ultra-luminous effect choose glossy white lacquered bathroom furniture, white ceramic fittings and white ceramic tiles.

Industrial bathrooms: finishes with character

When furnishing a bathroom in industrial style it isn’t so much the design that makes the difference but the choice of finishes.

Industrial is an authentic and lived-in style which makes wide use of raw finishes like oxidised and brushed metal and natural and recycled wood, but also textural finishes like concrete and unfinished wood for floors or raw-effect visible brickwork or tiles for walls.

In amongst all this, white manages to carve out a space for itself, an interesting choice that is able to offset and soften the typically robust and unfinished elements of this style.

How does it do this? In an industrial style bathroom, white contrasts with the dark raw-effect finishes, paint and materials that characterise this style, colouring visible brickwork, metal and unfinished wood. Using white for the walls of the bathroom or architectural details like metal beams and columns can soften the space and make it lighter, or you can add a white piece of bathroom furniture that contrasts with the dark colours of the floors and walls.

Ideas for a white bathroom

Below is a selection of Arcom ideas for furnishing your white bathroom. From bathroom furniture to fittings and through to surfaces, white can be utilised in various ways, you just have to choose how to make it fit best with your needs and your taste.

“Total white is sterile”: is the first criticism thrown at this apparently monochromatic style.

Many worry that total white might be unsuitable for the home because it makes it cold and uninviting. But this isn’t true: we have seen that white is the colour of light and is perfect for brightening up rooms, also helping to make them seem bigger. The key is knowing how to correctly balance it with other elements, such as the lighting for example.

White takes centre stage in the following compositions: furnishings like towel rails, shelves and columns, the profiles of the walk-in shower or the finish of the freestanding bathtub, linen and accessories. Everything is white but in different tones, from matt to glossy finishes, from white to ice.

If instead you prefer a touch of contrast, consider a white bathroom with hints of colour like black and anthracite. These tones can be introduced in furnishings like the taps, functional accessories like towel rails and shelves, and decorative elements like the profiles of showers and mirrors, as well as in the details of the bathroom furniture, such as feet and handles.

White plays a key role in these combinations, especially in black and white style, which can be used for both modern and classic bathrooms. Its role is to act as a luminous base that brings out the contrast and the elegance of black. Even if the design isn’t necessarily modern, the use of white in combination with touches of black or anthracite creates a sophisticated and harmonious setting.

Contrasts can also be created with brighter and more vibrant colours, or with paler and more delicate shades.

Picture, for example, a white bathroom with blue inserts. A colour that can vary from delicate and elegant dusty blue to the more intense and sophisticated navy blue, and which can be added in the form of little details without stealing the limelight from white. This colour combination is really good for furnishing a seaside home, for example.

And if the colour inserts are green, the decor has a fresher and more natural feel, perfect for a relaxing bathroom inspired by nature. Colours that transmit a sense of calm and wellbeing, making the bathroom the ideal place for relaxation and regeneration, as in the case of a zen bathroom.

When it comes to zen-style white bathrooms, colour details can also be introduced in natural elements like plants suitable for the bathroom..

Conclusions

When furnishing a white bathroom there are infinite ways of creating an aesthetically striking and functional space. But how exactly can you achieve this goal?

When you design a white bathroom it is important to know how you can exploit the versatility of this colour in order to elevate every design element and every space available, whatever the size of your bathroom. Though it might seem like the easy option, much of the success of a white bathroom actually depends on the materials and finishes you choose. Whatever your preference – sophisticated and classic, modern and minimalist, romantic and shabby chic, industrial or Scandinavian – white is the perfect canvas for expressing your creativity and personality. So, allow the purity of this colour to inspire you and transform your bathroom into a haven of style and wellbeing.