1. HONEYED TONES
Honeyed tones are a key look across all color trends - they're a softer take on the browns that dominated in 2023 but are no less warming. And, like brown, make you feel a little like the room is giving you a hug.
2. DARK COLOR PALETTES
The flip side of honeyed tones is an embrace of darker colors. And they have the same effect - layering them on top of each other creates an elevated space which feels cocooning rather than oppressive.
3. PATTERN DRENCHING
Color drenching has been a big trend in interiors, but designers are amping this up in the bathroom. New York-based agency Crosby Studios created this modern bathroom wrapped in a powerful blue and white wallpaper. The result is a space that can't fail to make your heart sing.
4. A MINIMALIST TAKE ON STORAGE
Interior designer and former Livingetc columnist Linda Boronkay created this bathroom as part of her fit out of Australian hotel Osborn House. And it embodies a general move towards minimalism in interior design which has been taking hold of every room in the house this year, looking set to dominate even more in 2024.
5. SYMMETRY IN THE LAYOUT
By centering the bathroom layout around a sense of symmetry, a really pleasing feeling of orderliness emerges. This is an approach that is also emerging in living room trends - a new take on the traditional idea that regimented lines make a home.
6. SCULPTURAL TAPS
While the best bathroom taps have been becoming progressively more elegant, beautiful and exciting over recent years – think elongated spouts, surprising material choices and experimentation with bold finishes – 2024 is the time that tap design really steps into the spotlight.
7. BATHROOM STOOLS
Part storage, part place to rest, part handy table for your laptop while in the bath, the three legged bathroom stool is having a moment.
8. SPA SPACES
The quest to turn the home bathroom into a spa isn't particularly new in itself, but after the turmoil of recent years, homeowners are doubling down on their desire to do so, making it a big bathroom trend for 2024. Expect to see a rise in grey bathroom ideas to go alongside this.
9. ART IN THE BATHROOM
The way people choose to decorate - and personalize - the bathroom is evolving for 2024. Expect to see gallery wall ideas translate into this space, or large, overscale prints hung if there is enough space.
10. ARCHES
We've seen arched doors appear as an extension trend, and they're now making their way into the bathroom, too. ‘The pandemic made us carefully examine things that make us feel good in the home – such as a relaxing bathroom where we can take care of ourselves, mentally and physically,’ says Monica Born, CEO and Co-Founder of Superfront. ‘What could create a soothing atmosphere better than the classic arch shape used in ancient roman baths? These three-dimensional arches were used to create the large airy rooms needed in the popular roman imperial baths.’
11. CURVED SHOWERS
And, arches aren't just about openings, but their soft cocooning curves are carrying through into shower room ideas too.
12. SEMI-PRECIOUS STONE
Say ‘decorative stone in the bathroom’ and marble will be the immediate reply. For 2024 our minds will be opened and our horizons broadened as we enter an age beyond Carrara. That classic monochrome marble veining will step aside to reveal a whole host of other glorious rock patterns just waiting to adorn our floors, showers, splash basks and walls.
13. GREEN AND PINK
A classic color combo in the home for years, green and pink is moving over the bathroom, specfically when it comes to bathroom tile ideas. Both shades are soothing in their own way, and combined they have the dreamy effect of cool ice cream on a warm day. It makes sense that that mood of light, joyful relaxation is one that is being carried over to the bathroom.
14. GOLD BATH TRAYS
It's always handy when storage looks good too. And so this is the year that bath trays have gone luxe, appreciating that soaking in the tub and wanting somewhere to rest your glass of wine is only ever meant to be a treat experience, and so the finishes of the tray reflect that.
15. FINGER TILES
Slim profiles which are neatly laid next to each other, finger tiles – also known as Kitkat tiles – are the 2024 update on mosaic and penny tiling. A seemingly minimal take on bathroom tile trends, once repeatedly put on a surface alongside each other, they suddenly become more than an extremely thin slice of tile, forming a perfectly imperfect pattern which merges into itself the further away you stand.
16. JUNGLE MOTIFS
Jungle motifs have flourished in the home of late, and we’re not quite ready to live without them. Over in wallpaper trends, we're seeing tigers, but for 2024, in bathrooms, it's jungle leaves specifically. If we’re unaccustomed and unable to travel the globe freely, we’ll turn our bathroom – the place where we have a few moments of peace and private time – into a leaf-filled habitat, a space that transports us into the rainforest with the simple swish and flick of wallpaper paste and a little imagination.
17. RAW AND NATURAL TEXTURES
Natural, unrefined finishes offer respite from the hard, cold surfaces commonly found in the bathroom – not to mention the hard, cold reality of life beyond the bathroom door.
18. FLUTED FINISHES
Texture always comes into the trends of living rooms and bedrooms, but this want for unusual 3D finishes and tactile materials is coming into bathrooms too. And the bathroom trend for fluted surfaces is a lovely subtle way to bring in those unexpected textures. Opt for a fluted vanity cabinet, fluted glass shower panels, or, as can be seen in this grey bathroom, go for a fluted marble backsplash or create a similar look with fluted tiles.
19. TERRACOTTA TILES
Terracotta is a color we're seeing in kitchen trends, too. For years there's been a slow but steady shift away from the sleek, clean, verging on clinical approach that was used in so much of bathroom design and towards choosing a warmer, cozier, more cocooning scheme.
20. SOFT TEXTILES
Textiles often aren't a focus in bathrooms, when it comes to window treatments, simple roller blinds or shutters are usually the go-to. However, bathroom curtains and blousy fabric blinds and a big trend this year as again there's that shift to make bathrooms, softer more living room-like spaces.