Modern is usually used as another way to express contemporary, up-to-date, stylish. What is known for sure is that Modern cannot equal contemporary. While the latter features the emerging state of any style at the moment, embracing the latest trends, Modern is a well-defined interior design style rooted in the early twenties. As a response to maximalism, which was reigning at that point in history, Modern penetrated the surface with an abundance of minimalist decisions, neutral color schemes, unobtrusive shapes, clean lines, and functionality. These features are among the most sought-after ones today, and yes, a modern interior can safely be considered an up-to-date and stylish one.
The style developed differently for each space in part, which is why we now tackle the peculiarities of a modern bathroom. Undoubtedly, this design approach works outstandingly for a space that puts shape and practicality over color and style, although we will show you how you can make the most of a pairing between those contrasting concepts. Considering reliable sources and professional design opinions, we compiled a comprehensive article on a modern bathroom’s key principles and features. Additionally, we came up with a list of the latest trends designers promise to prevail in the current season and for years to come. And a little bonus from us – a few original design ideas to spruce up your modern bathroom.
Key Principles and Features
The Modern style reveals itself in the bathroom as a new perspective on design that provides comfort through the simplest solutions that feel natural and up to date. Modern spaces suppose practical surfaces that look beautiful and a variety of textures used to separate the interior into functional areas. Relying on the clean lines of geometric shapes and strictly functional forms, such a bathroom manages to create a harmonious space that doesn’t cease to feel welcoming. To be specific, these are the key features you should consider:
Colors
Generally, Modern bathrooms work with neutral schemes. It depends on what result you strive for. Some opt for cooler palettes. Others like warm shades. There is still the soothing category of colors that falls in neither of the mentioned groups, meant to provide calmness and render the bathroom into a space for reflection, relaxation, and escape. You can as well take inspiration from nature. Still, the style allows bolder accents as well, such as a bright shade of blue, green, or yellow, on a fully neutral palette as a way to personalize the space. Overall, the following colors are perfect for a Modern bathroom:
Materials
For the wall finish, you can use any material, although preference is given to natural texture, such as wood or stone, be it panels or tiles. Using different colors and textures, you can effortlessly separate the space into functional areas. Many designers opt for wall paint to ensure a fresher result, while natural surfaces seem more imposing.
Floor finish supposes functionality to the fullest. Such surfaces as tiles work best. Still, you can opt for wood, although it should be waterproof. Among favorites are raw stone, delicate marble, and rich-grained wood.
Designers use white paint in the first place for the ceiling. Next come other light variations of color – simple, adjustable, and stylish. If your bathroom has a sloped ceiling, don’t hesitate to decorate it with an additional window that will flood the space with natural light.
Modern bathrooms like glass surfaces, which are welcome for the shower stall. Generally speaking, wood is a great asset, be it for wall paneling or vanity. Specialists recommend leaving it in its natural state. Don’t hesitate to use metals – silver or gold. The latter implies a wide range of possibilities – yellow gold, rose gold, brushed gold, copper, and brass.
Bathroom Fixtures
Clean-line, simply colored, and minimalist fixtures are the true friends of a modern interior. Floating fixtures have gained more popularity lately, impressing with their cutting-edge look and practicality since they leave the floor free, which makes the bathroom look spacious and works in your favor when you want to clean the floor.
You can safely consider straight lines and curved edges for the fixtures since Modern combines simple with unique. The important thing is that everything, from the vanity to the toilet, tub, shower, and bidet, should follow the same concept. You can smartly separate the wet area from the rest of the room if you want to ensure a freestanding environment in the space where the bathtub and shower reign. If you have a shower stall only, make it a walk-in one so that it blends with the space as a whole. In the case of a bathtub, consider a freestanding one and make it the main focus by choosing an interesting shape and materials, such as stone.
Lighting
Natural light is appreciated in modern spaces. Still, we cannot skip artificial lighting. Designers suggest installing minimalist yet sophisticated pendants with intricate geometric shapes over the bathtub and playing with LED light in the other functional zones, such as LED strips around the mirror or spotlights above the vanity.
Decor
It is quite a complicated part for modern bathrooms. They simply don’t like accessories. The same bathroom belongings you usually use should be stored in hidden places, and all surfaces should breathe with freshness devoid of unnecessary pieces. As for the decor, make it part of your interior through smart integration, such as luxurious soap dispensers, delicate toothbrush holders, edgy towel racks, themed hardware, and a few truly decorative pieces, such as vases with natural filling, candles, and greeneries. As regards the latter, you can make it a whole concept and decorate the space with green walls, large pots with big-leaf plants, or ensure an open view of the garden.
Modern Bathroom: 2024 Trends
Color Scheme Trends
We already stated that neutral and natural shades are the best options that suit a modern bathroom. Still, the range of shades is so wide that designers chose a few as leading this season and promise to stay on trend in the coming season. Let’s see what these color palettes are!
All White
The classy all-white interiors are surely on the top since white is always on trend. This color works well for modern bathrooms since it evokes cleanliness, freshness, and unobtrusiveness. Combine this color with silver hardware to preserve it clean and undisturbed. Glass surfaces, sharp lines, and no accessories also enhance the effect.
Balanced Warm Scheme
Regardless of what style we speak about, warm color schemes are a must for interiors since people seek comfort and security when they come home, and ensuring such a color board for the bathroom is quite a good idea. You should consider a small factor – those warm colors should be slightly soothing rather than imposing to stay within the Modern style limits.
Light Green and White
The natural hue wins its place in favorites, and it is not a surprise. The soothing green shade feels edgy and inviting, working well with white fixtures and bringing a vibrant splash of invigoration, which is not unwelcome in a modern bathroom since the color is inspired by one of the main principles this style follows – naturalness.
Light Blue
Another natural shade that serves as efficiently as the previous color, resembling the clear sky peace, the calm water depth, and the beauty of the simplest natural elements we usually don’t pay attention to, yet they bring so many feelings close to the heart. As the style supposes – natural, simple, and welcoming.
Dark Color Scheme
On the other side of the neutrals are dark shades, from deep black to true gray. They are as successful at interpreting the concept of a Modern bathroom. They collaborate the same way as light neutrals with minimalist solutions, although they resonate with more intriguing effects. A fully black bathroom would surely steal the attention.
Bathroom Fixture Trends
There are bathrooms with a tub or a shower only. There are bathrooms with both. Toilets, bidets, sinks – they also belong to bathroom fixtures. With the right composition and approach to style, you can invite Modern. These are the trends to start with:
Floating Fixtures
Modern knows how to combine comfort with style, and floating sinks, toilets, and bidets are the formula for perfect pairing between a cutting-edge look and impressively functional use. Without reaching the flooring, these fixtures add a contemporary air to the space and come in handy when cleaning the floor so you can reach every corner.
Double Sink
Double sinks have been trendy for a while and promise to stay the same this season. Why do they work for Modern bathrooms? It is firstly functional, particularly if the bathroom is for a couple. We know that functional equals stylish in Modern style. Overall, a floating vanity with two sinks is quite an imposing feature that adds interest in the simplest way – just like this style likes it to be.
Freestanding Bathtub
Round-edge tubs in white, black, or stone as the main focus is getting out of hand in terms of trendiness. Ensure a decluttered space, place the tub in the visible area, and enjoy its effect on the bathroom and the sense of relaxation it provides while taking a bath. With such a pearl, you don’t even need a shower stall unless you also like fast showers.
Ceiling-Mounted Shower Head
If you want your bathroom to have a shower stall, make it a walk-in one with glass walls and an ultra-modern ceiling-mounted shower head that doesn’t change the overall space appearance a bit due to its sleek silhouette. The important part is the best rainfall experience one can enjoy when taking a shower, and Modern completes its composition – functionality, comfort, and style.
Bathroom Tile Trends
For practical reasons, most bathrooms are decorated with tiles, which is a favorite in Modern interiors. Since the sea of possibilities when it comes to color, patterns, and texture is literally without limits, we would like to show you the best tile design you should consider in 2024 for your bathroom if you go with the Modern style.
Textured Tiles
Modern bathrooms like natural texture. If for any reason you cannot ensure it, you can always consider textured tiles, which supposes neutrally colored pieces with uneven surfaces that add shape to the space and make it seem more comfortable. The same all-white tiles with textured design can make quite a change.
Stone Terrazzo
The voguish Terrazzo pattern collides with the natural stone texture for a perfect neutral background that Modern decides to strike this season with. Full of character and grain, the Terrazzo tiles with a relaxing gray tone redefine the trendy design and adapt it to the particular style.
Large Scale Marble
As many articles we write on tile trends, as many times we refer to marble. Indeed, this trend is not ready yet to become a once-popular material. It prevails and tops the trends again and again. Still, a modern bathroom would thank you for large-scale marble tiles with imposing patterns that look expensive and luxurious instead of small tiles with repetitive patterns.
Wood Planks
Of course, we speak about ceramic wood planks – the same tiles, although astonishingly resembling natural wood. Be it on the floor, walls, or within the shower stall in combination with light-colored tiles. Such a modern bathroom feels specifically welcome and comfortable.
Bathroom Style Trends
The main style is Modern, although the latest trends show increasing popularity in combining Modern with other design styles for more authentic effects. This is what designers suggest to be modish now and in the following years:
Modern and Classic
A decluttered interior with a Classic background decorated with timeless molding in the company of Modern furnishing and expensive stone.
Modern and Art Deco
A minimalist layout spruced up through geometric shapes, calm variations of bold colors, and chic luxury details.
Modern and Industrial
Neutrally colored background with raw textured surfaces of wood, concrete, and stone underlined by sleek black hardware.
Modern and Biophilic
A spacious room flooded with natural light, preserving the simplicity of forms and revealing vibrant nature-inspired colors and textures.
Modern Bathroom: Stylish Design Ideas
One-Color Scheme
It is no secret that Modern is a fan of neutral color boards. Decorating the bathroom in one color only, yet using different variations, is a good decision for a start. Besides spreading a veil of modernity over the space, a monochromatic plan results in a peaceful design that evokes calmness. White, gray, and cream are some of the best choices you should look at since they prove one more time the belonging of your interior to the Modern style through their impartiality.
Gold in All Its Variations
An excellent way to improve the appearance of a modern bathroom is by redefining the well-defined style with gold accents. You can choose between yellow gold, brushed gold, rose gold, brass, copper, and literally any variation you like. Unlike other accents, gold will surely stand out on any background and lend the interior the slightest touch of luxe without being too obtrusive.
Walk-in Shower
Forget the shower stalls with floor delimitations that clearly show that you entered the wet area. Instead, opt for walk-in showers that blend into the general design and stand out with a glass wall. The bathroom will reveal a cohesive design that relies on simplicity, appreciation for spaciousness even in small rooms, and harmony.
Smartly Designed Wet Area
Some bathrooms have tubs and other showers. Modern bathrooms have a wet area that includes a bathtub and a shower at the same time. This usually works for those who want to emphasize this space and install a particular vibe that does not interfere with the vanity area. They should be separated from the rest of the space through a glass wall or avoid any partitions at all if you consider a minimalist interior.
One Shower Stall, Two Shower Heads
The installation of two sinks in the bathroom has become mainstream, although designers went further and suggested considering the same concept for the shower. Instead of one shower head, opt for two. The bathroom will surely look unique, and what’s more, it will definitely come in handy if we speak about a couple so that both can take a shower simultaneously.
Urban Jungle
Life plants used to decorate the most practical spaces are still trendy. You should definitely make them part of your bathroom. We don’t speak about tiny greeneries in a corner. We speak about big-leaf plants all over the space, which work fantastically on a white background or spreading plants on a stone background for a real-like replication of a jungle in the middle of an urban setting.
LED Underlining
Reshape the bathroom by underlining the clean lines of your modern interior with LED strips around mirrors, across specific parts of the wall, emphasizing the border between the walls and ceiling, or throwing light on particular accents. The important part is that you consider neutrally colored light.
Colorful Drops
Keep everything neutral till you reach the details. Choose bright colors for accents, such as an accent wall, vanity, floor, or bathroom belongings, and consider a courageous color. Think blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, or burgundy.
New Sources of Light
Organize a full outdoor view for your bathroom with a full-length mirror for more natural light to penetrate your space. It works fabulously if your window can open a garden or forest view so that your usual showers and baths can transform into moments spent alone with your thoughts in the appealing natural company.
A New Version of Marble
We all are familiar with marble and its use in bathrooms – always up to date. To preserve the effect and add a unique touch, designers suggest decorating the bathroom with marble of another color than classy white or black. Try green, blue, or even pink. With a sophistication way further than the natural stone already radiates, the unusual colors add character, personalize, and reshape.
Bathroom with a Seat
If you want your modern bathroom to stand out among thousands of bathrooms alike, look from new perspectives. Decorate the space with a lounge zone. Of course, you would not just come in there to sit on the bench in this room. It is more of a decoration, yet what an impressive one. From as small as an accent chair to as big as a lounge chair, polish the design with luxurious powder. Such a design trick works for those who want a luxury bathroom.
Raw and Ultra-Modern
Consider a strictly gray color palette, choose natural stone tiles or quality replications, and define your bathroom with sharp lines and awe-inspiring edges. This is the formula for an ultra-modern bathroom – in a few words, Modern style with its basic principles undiluted with updates yet definitely on trend.
Calm and Relaxing
The opposite of the previous option, this one implies the softest, the most powdery, and most thoughtful colors, such as soothing blue, pale pink, or foggy orange. The raw surfaces are replaced with a warm wood texture. Only the decluttered feature is preserved. A modern bathroom with a neutral yet peaceful color board, besides the clean lines and minimalist layout, is everything most homeowners look for – an escape from the daily routine.
