Attractive, good-looking bathrooms are everywhere these days. For so long the bridesmaid of home decor, our bathrooms are finally enjoying the limelight, with fitted and functional no longer where it’s at.

We soak in ammonite painted roll-top baths beneath beautifully curated wooden shelves, brushed brass or black taps. And it looks fab! Hell yeah! Who doesn’t love a bit of Insta bathroom porn.

But sometimes, just sometimes, you yearn for something more. To be stopped in your tracks. By something different, a little je ne sais quoi. That cool, unexpected twist.

Of course ‘coolness’ is in the eye of the beholder. But we know it when we see it. It turns our heads, its confidence, individuality and don’t give a damnness drawing us in; that indefinable mixture of conviction and calmness making us wish we’d thought of it first!

Can you bottle cool? Probably not. But I’d argue it’s easier to achieve cool in a bathroom than anywhere elsewhere in the home. Because the rules here are stricter, the limits more defined. To some extent the bathroom is where we still play it safe. How many times have you heard, ‘But what if you’re sick of it in five years? Then what?’

Except isn’t that the point of cool? It doesn’t care, it knows its own mind. It’s not worried, but calm and laid back, confident in its own choices.

As we prepare to enter 2021, there are a number of cool and confident choices you can make in the design of your bathroom. Below are a few examples of the key looks the coolest bathrooms are rocking right now. The only rule is you have to love it. If you really love it, then it already works!

Coloured Washbasins

I’m saving up for this beautiful concrete basin, the Walter Rectangular in Deep Corn Yellow from the Cast Iron Bath Company. Basins come in a huge range of hues these days. Use one to splash a spot of unexpected colour in a monochrome scheme; lift an all white or all grey bathroom; tone or clash colours with your tiles; make it your own.

Textured Tiles

Add depth and interest to a pale or otherwise plain colour scheme with a textured tile like this Dubai White wall tile from Porcelanosa (image from aguccistopa on Instagram). Tiles can provide texture in several ways – through mixing matt and glossy surfaces; through how they’re laid out; through subtle colour contrasts; or through the use of 3D or embossed tiles like this.

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Bathroom Art

This is the image from a domestic bathroom in Antwerp (pictured by No Glitter No Glory) that inspired my own bathroom. But what really elevates it is the amazing Audrey Hepburn wall mural. There are so many ways to bring art into the bathroom – through tiles, wallpaper and accessories yes, but also via lighting, fabric, even the sanitaryware.

Terrazzo

Terrazzo has been big in the most cutting edge bathrooms for a couple of years now, which means retailers are stocking a bigger variety of patterns and colours than ever. It looks amazing supersized like this (image sourced from elysiumhome.com); wrapped seamlessly around a bath or shower and across the floor; in shades of red and pink; mixed with coral and terracotta; or backgrounding black taps or a black showerscreen.

Remember… Be cool!!