In The Design Studio: The Insiders Guide to Bathroom Design

This is a sponsored post by Anna Gibson, owner of AKG Design Studio and an award-winning, certified kitchen and bathroom designer. AKG Design Studio is a boutique design firm specializing in kitchen, bathroom designs and cabinetry sales. Contact Anna at 571-989-2541 or [email protected], and follow her work on Houzz; Pinterest; Facebook and Twitter.

Choosing the right bathroom design for you and your family can seem overwhelming as the number of choices to pick from can seem endless. To help narrow down your options below is an insider’s guide to bathroom lighting, paint colors, storage and flooring.

Lighting — Although, you may dream of beautiful light fixtures in your bathroom the reality is if you pick the wrong one, you could look an unattractive yellowish-green color while putting on your makeup. Instead, we suggest trying to use as much natural light in the bathroom as possible. Alternatively, if you love the appeal of a romantic sconce lighting, don’t use this as your primary light source, add some recessed lighting overhead.

Paint Colors — Similar to lighting, paint color can affect the look of your skin color, so be careful with paint selection that would make you look sickly or you have a bit too much makeup on. When choosing the right color for your bathroom, white never goes out of style. If you love the idea of white but need some color in your life, you can always do white cabinets, sinks or toilets, and paint your bathroom something brighter like Sherwin-Williams Organic Green, which is part of the 2018 Sherwin Williams Color Swatch.

Flooring — With the frigid temperatures, the country has been feeling, this is the perfect time to talk about heated flooring. Heated flooring is relatively inexpensive and easy to install under the tile. Heat flooring is usually a mat with coils in them. They are installed under tiles and often come as a kit. Many kits have temperature controls, so you can set the heat to be on from during the time you and your family take your showers to when you are ready to get in and out of the shower. When your floor is warm, you stay warm, allowing you to save on your heating bill, because you will not be required to use as much forced heat.

Storage — When designing a small bathroom, it is important to remember to use all the space wisely. The first step to design is matching the storage space to your lifestyle. So, first ask yourself if you need everything your bathroom is currently storing? If you do not, lighten the load and design for a space where you can comfortably get to everything you need and want in your bathroom.

Utilize the wall space above the toilet by adding floating shelves. If you do like to hold a lot of your makeup and toiletries, along with towels for yourself and guests in your bathroom, we suggest a vanity with drawers where you can add various sized baskets organize your things.