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Top Tips to Create Your Contemporary Bathroom Style

Are you looking for inspiration and ideas for your dream bathroom? If you are a fan of clean lines and minimal clutter, then a contemporary bathroom style may be for you. In this article, we’ll take a look at this popular style and give you our top tips on how you can create the style in your own home.

Blog | Bathroom
Contemporary Bathroom Style 3D Photo
Trine Bretteville

What is a Contemporary Bathroom?

Contemporary style is about the here and now. Often found in modern style homes, key elements of a contemporary bathroom include:

  1. Sleek, Open Design with basic shapes, horizontal planes, and straight/clean lines.
  2. Minimal to No Clutter with storage options to put everything away.
  3. Neutral Color Scheme and authentic materials.
  4. Minimalist Hardware also in straight, clean lines.
  5. The Latest Tech such as digital shower controls, smart mirrors.

Let’s take a closer look at these tips…

Go For a Sleek and Open Design

One of the first things you’ll notice in a contemporary bathroom is the straight/clean lines and a general feeling of calm and spaciousness.

Glass Shower Enclosure and Freestanding Bathtub 3D Photo

The Vanity 

In most contemporary bathrooms, the vanity will be floating to give a sense of lightness. The vanity itself will have sleek horizontal lines. Cabinets and drawers will have simple flat fronts – you won’t find moldings or shaker style. The sink basin is often a rectangular shape, but this is one area in the contemporary style bathroom where you may see a curved shape.

Contemporary bathroom Color Scheme and Materials 3D Photo

Shower and Tub

Shower enclosures will be either glass or open, to keep the feeling of lightness. Most tubs in contemporary-style bathrooms are freestanding. The bathtub, like the sink basin, is another area that may be more rounded, however, it will still be sleek and simple.

Latest Technology Minimalist Hardware 3D Photo

Keep the Space Uncluttered

Are you the type of person that likes minimal clutter? Do you put things away after each use? If so, a contemporary bathroom style can work for you. You’ll find sleek drawers and cabinets that allow you to store soaps, lotions, shampoos, etc. completely out of sight.

Key Elements and Features of this style 3D Photo

The walls in a contemporary-style bathroom are also uncluttered. Rather than pictures to provide visual interest, the design elements come from the visual lines of the fixtures, the use of materials, and the color contrasts.

Use a Neutral Color Scheme

Most contemporary-style bathrooms are neutral with shades of white, beige, and grey.

They may include a mixture of light and dark elements to create an interesting visual contrast. Plants can add a bit of green to the color scheme.

Latest Technology Minimalist Hardware 3D Photo Neutral

Materials are often simple and natural-looking without a lot of color variation within each piece. The flooring is often constructed from durable stone, wood, concrete, or tile. You’ll see quartz or marble countertops with minimal pattern. Vanities and cabinets are often wood, bamboo, or painted wood. In general, the material is the star. Contemporary style is about being authentic and allowing the material to showcase its natural beauty.

Try Minimalist Hardware

Opt for hardware with sleek lines without unnecessary decorative curves.

Faucets and Shower Sets

Chrome is a popular choice for fixtures because it blends in, keeping the open look. Another popular option is black, to provide visual contrast and interest.

Drawer and Cabinet Hardware

Many contemporary-style bathrooms forgo the hardware and instead use hidden pulls for a clean and minimal look. Options include push latches, which allow the cabinet to open after you give it a small push, built-in handles that are part of the actual drawer or cabinet material, and hidden pulls which are almost invisible.

RoomSketcher bathroom ideas bath design modern wall hung round edge vanity

Add the Latest Technology

Contemporary is all about the now and the future. While sleek and simple from a visual perspective, the latest contemporary bathrooms may have cool technology behind the scenes. Some of our favorite ideas:

Towel warmers

Who doesn’t love a warm towel when they come out of the shower or bath? A sleek towel warmer fits right into the decor of a contemporary-style bathroom.

Automated lighting

Imagine soft nightlights that automatically illuminate when you enter the bathroom for a midnight visit. Or brighter lights during the day. Even automated lights in vanity mirrors to help you apply the perfect makeup, day or night.

Latest Technology Minimalist Hardware 3D Photo Neutral White

No-touch and timed faucets

The type of no-touch faucets that you’ve used in offices and airports, are now available for home bathrooms. Just wave your hands near the infra-red sensor to start the water flow – much cleaner than touching your dirty (or germy) hands to the faucet. Some faucets even include timers, for example, for brushing your teeth. The water starts for enough time for you to wet your toothbrush, then turns off for the appropriate length of time to brush your teeth, then turns back on for your rinse.

Smart toilets

The latest toilets have sensors to open the seat cover, warm seats, night lighting, and wash and dry capabilities to lower your use of toilet paper.

Electronically controlled water temperature

Now you can have the perfect temperature for your bath or shower, with no worries about it being too hot or too cold.

Latest Technology Minimalist Hardware 3D Photo Bathtub

Top RoomSketcher Tip!

You can easily update an outdated bathroom design with new fronts and hardware. Use minimalist hardware, or change the vanity drawers or doors with fronts that don’t have any profiling.

How to Visualize Your Contemporary Bathroom

These days, it’s easy to visualize all your design ideas on your computer or tablet. It’s a great way to try out colors and styles without committing to anything until you are sure of your design. Take a look at this overview of how you could use the software app, RoomSketcher, to visualize your bathroom online.

Contemporary Bathroom 3D Photo Black Tiles

Get Started

All of the photos in this article were created in the RoomSketcher App. With RoomSketcher, every user can access the RoomSketcher App and take snapshots for free, so you can start planning your contemporary style bathroom straight away.

Once your bathroom design is ready, upgrade to a paid RoomSketcher subscription for awesome 3D features such as – 3D Photos, 3D Floor Plans, and interactive Live 3D!


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