6 Modern Bathroom Style Tips You Need

The modern bathroom style is elegant, sleek, and minimalistic. Think clean lines, geometric shapes, minimal colors, and top quality. Whether your bathroom is large or small, modern bathroom design can turn it into a luxurious sanctuary for relaxation.

Blog, Bathroom

Modern bathroom freestanding bathtub stone

By Pooja Pillai Images by Andrea Platzer

Since you use your bathroom every day, it should be designed to suit your personal style. If you are a fan of clean, uncluttered spaces and sophisticated design, a modern bathroom style may be just right for you. Some of the key elements of this style include:

A freestanding bathtub
Streamlined mirrors and lighting
Minimalist faucets and fixtures
A floating vanity and toilet
Geometric tile shapes
Neutral color scheme

Check out these ideas and tips to help you transform your bathroom into a beautiful, modern oasis.

A Freestanding Bathtub

A freestanding tub is a key element in a modern style bathroom, so if you have space, plan to include this iconic feature. With contemporary, artistic styling, a freestanding tub creates a strong focal point for the room, like a piece of sculpture.

Modern tubs may be oval-shaped, rectangle, or even designed for corner placement. Key design elements to look for are clean lines and flat slender edges. Stay away from pedestals, clawfoot tubs, or intricate curves and details if you are going for a modern style.

The tub faucets should be clean-lined without embellishments. If your tub is freestanding, they may be wall or floor-mounted.

Streamlined Mirrors and Lighting

Bathroom mirrors and lighting must work well together to create a functional solution for performing bathroom activities such as shaving or applying makeup. For a modern bathroom, you’ll of course be looking for clean lines and geometric shapes for both the mirrors and the lighting.

Modern Bathroom Mirror

For your vanity mirror, a great choice is one of the new high-tech frameless styles with integrated lighting. A backlit mirror is a great choice because it eliminates shadows around your face. This choice is a space saver as you don’t need to add additional lighting around the mirror.

Modern bathroom interior with shower and bathtub

If you are going for a more standard mirror or mirrored medicine cabinet, choose a modern frame style and shape. Modern-style mirrors will either be frameless or may have a thin, metal frame. As for shape, geometric styles work well. The top modern shape is a rectangle with either straight or rounded edges.

Other choices are round, asymmetrical, and oval. Again, you are looking for classic shapes without a lot of embellishments.

If your bathroom mirror does not have integrated lighting, then you’ll be looking for vanity lighting, as well as lighting for your bath or shower, and overall bathroom lighting.

Lighting for modern bathrooms

For your vanity area, you can place sconce lighting on the wall above the mirror, or on either side. If you plan to place lighting on either side, try to choose a mirror that is 60%-70% the width of your bathroom vanity to give the sconces enough space to frame the mirror.

For the modern bathroom style, bar lighting is a popular choice, which is long and narrow with clean lines. It can be mounted horizontally above the mirror or vertically on either side.

Most modern bathrooms also feature recessed ceiling lights. They offer ambient lighting throughout and can also be used for specific zones. For example, you may have a recessed light over the toilet area or in the shower stall. Consider lining the border of the bathroom ceiling with these lights to illuminate the entire space.

As you plan your bathroom lighting, don’t forget the natural light in the room. Windows and skylights are great options to add a fresh and functional edge to the modern bathroom.

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Minimalist Faucets and Fixtures

The rule of thumb for designing a modern style bathroom is simplicity. Avoid the temptation to add overly sophisticated faucets, instead, stick with minimalistic hardware that aligns with your bathroom’s overall theme. Consider faucets that use clean lines and simple silhouettes.

Also, choose faucets with durability and quality. Typically, American Standard offers scratch and tarnish-resistant finishes so your faucet will stay beautiful from beginning to end.

Here are a few more things to consider when faucet-hunting for your modern bathroom:

Wall-mount or deck-mount – A wall-mounted faucet is mounted to the wall, while deck mounted faucets sit on top of the counter. Economical and easiest to do, deck-mounted faucets come in more style options than wall-mounted faucets. Wall-mounted faucets best suit bathrooms that have limited countertop space.
One-handle or two-handle – Two-handle faucets are considered a little more traditional than single-handle faucets which offer a sleek, modern look.

It’s okay to mix finishes and styles in your modern bathroom. All the hardware fixtures and elements in your bathroom don’t necessarily have to match. However, they should be compatible.

For instance, you cannot choose a vanity faucet that’s very modern and straight-lined and pair it with traditional-style shower handles. Select a style — in this case, it’s ‘modern’ — and make sure all bathroom fittings are in that style. If you don’t trust your ability to mix and match, go with a single manufacturer’s line and they will do the matching for you.

Modern bathroom style idea with large shower

As far as fixture materials, chrome is currently one of the most trending finishes due to its versatility. Chrome fixtures work well with the simple neutral palette in a modern bathroom.

Chrome is also typically the most inexpensive finish and is very easy to clean and maintain. Other common modern bathroom choices are matte black or even gold.

A Floating Vanity and Toilet

With their clean, minimal look, floating vanities instantly take a bathroom from outmoded to a la mode. Wall-mounted vanities give the illusion of added space and create a chic style that’s distinctly modern.

Opt for floating vanities with useful qualities like cabinets and counter space. Having enough storage in the vanity allows you to free up wall and floor space, to make even the smallest bathroom appear large and luxurious.

As far as materials, light or dark wood colors are popular, as is a shiny white gloss paint finish. Choose a clean marble or quartz countertop with minimal grout lines.

Wall-mounted toilets are another element of the modern style bathroom. Floating toilets work well in spacious or compact bathrooms to keep things simple and clutter-free.

Without the cistern on top and footprint of the pan, they add an overall feeling of lightness and space and make even the tiniest of bathrooms feel larger and more modern.

Geometric Tile Shapes

Geometric tile patterns are good choices for the interior of your modern bathroom. Clean lines and interesting shapes add visual interest to a space without any over-the-top embellishments or frills.

When it comes to going trendy with your modern bathroom flooring, backsplash, or shower walls, hex tiles are currently in vogue and will help you take your geometric game up a notch. Other suggested tile patterns for modern bathroom floors include herringbone, penny, stacked, and staggered. Large-format tiles help enhance a serene vibe.

Modern bathroom style with freestanding stone bathtub

One creative approach is to add an interesting backsplash in the shower. Additionally, instead of using mosaics, consider cutting out geometric shapes of wood and creating an interesting wall, like a puzzle. You can use the same idea for the floor.

A Neutral Color Scheme

You can’t go wrong with white when it comes to the modern bathroom style. White brings a light, organic vibe to the bathroom space. Consider adding marble tiles to an all-white bathroom to soften the look and yet keep it luxe.

You don’t have to stick to the white, gleaming look for a modern bathroom. Those who prefer more than one color can combine black and white to create a striking contrast. But, that isn’t all. Here are the top color combos you can use in your modern bathroom:

Neutral shades of brown and beige with wood accents

Hues of brown and beige are the way to go to create a modern bathroom that looks calm and earthy. Shades of brown create a tranquil, stress-free, spa-like atmosphere. Dark chocolate brown gives a more dramatic feel but when paired with metallic gold accents it makes your bathroom look sleek.

On the other hand, medium tones pair well with lighter tones and can be more soothing. Softer light brown blends perfectly with neutral backdrops and accent colors like beige and wood.

Shades of gray

Gray is neutral with an edge. The gray color palette can be mixed with cooling colors of concrete and granite to bring about a soothing vibe. Gray goes well with almost every color. So, you can either mix dark wood elements to balance out the cool tones or add accents with pops of color like a patterned shower curtain, and bright towels to make your bathroom look vibrant.

Black and white

Nothing adds contrast and drama like a color palette of black and white. A trip to the black side with white gives a graphic look that’s still so bold and bright. With the dark and light hues, you are guaranteed a moody space perfect to unwind.

Dark Shades

Contrary to what you believe, dark colors recede. Painting your bathroom in darker shades can make it appear larger. Go for darker shades of blue, gray, and hunter green and make your small bathroom bold and modern.

Modern bathroom style with blue accent colors

Top RoomSketcher Tip
Add pops of color to your modern bathroom in the form of towels, accessories, or plants. Blue, green, teal, red, and gold are common choices. Just don’t go overboard! The modern look is neutral with hints of color.

Design Your Modern Bathroom Today

Modern means different things to different people. Some of the most common elements used in modern-style bathrooms include clean lines, minimal clutter, geometric shapes, and neutral or basic colors.

If you are planning to remodel your bathroom to give it a modern touch, why not use the RoomSketcher App to visualize your design ideas. You can check out various options, discuss ideas with your partner or decorator, and ultimately save time and money while you achieve your dream modern bathroom.