Recreating the Traditional Bathroom

     Before deciding to remodel your bathroom to become more traditional, you want to make sure that it is going to fit in with the rest of your home.  If you live in a home decorated with modern design, you shouldn’t design your bathroom to be contrary to that style. 

     Depending on when your house was built, a traditional bathroom can mean different things.  The term traditional also means different things to different people.  What matters is not the label, but that you are happy with the design that you have chosen.  The colors, styles, and technological advances change from era to era; however, there are some things that will remain the same and will help you to achieve an old fashioned look to your bathroom.  

     Many of these traditional bathrooms have mosaic tile floors in common.  Oftentimes when bathrooms were first introduced into a home, they were built in converted closets or unused portions of the home.  The flooring may not have been even enough to hold larger tile, so as a result, mosaic tiles were a good solution.  Along with floor patterns, you should look for hexagons, octagons, basketweaves, and dots.  These flooring materials can be produced of glazed or unglazed porcelain or marble.  If you are trying to add a more modern twist to traditional design, you may wish to consider using patterns that are made from slate, onyx, or even unusual color combinations. 

      The second thing you may want to consider in a traditional bathroom is having claw foot tubs and pedestal sinks.  The fixtures of your room are just as important as the tile in your bathroom.  Claw foot tubs and pedestal sinks are elements of classical design.  You can use traditional five foot bathtubs with the tile reaching wainscot height throughout the room to achieve this traditional look.  You can find a sink and a toilet to match to complete this look. 

    When designing a traditional bathroom, it may be best to stick with just two colors for the painted walls.  Strong blues, browns, maroons, and greens will be nice for your traditional bathroom.  Often the mosaic tile will already have two colors, if not more.  One idea is to use those colors in the paint colors in the room, and have one of them serve as the wall color, and the other serve as the border. 

    Be sure that you have adequate lighting in your bathroom.  This may include having a lavish chandelier.  Additionally, having your accessories in antique gold may look better than chrome.  You want to have curtains for wall treatments, not blinds. 

     A traditional bathroom has a more cluttered look than a modern look.  This means that you can put a lot of accessories in the room.  It makes it more comfy and lived in.  Feel free to put lots of pictures on the wall, such as family portraits.  You can add flowers, either real or silk, as well as scented candles.  Having a large framed mirror will also give your bathroom that traditional look you are searching for. 

     Other than this, you also may wish to consider having your radiators or piping visible in your bathroom. Now you can see just how easy it is to create a traditional bathroom!