3 Ways to Lighten Up a Bathroom for Summer

Your bathroom serves many purposes. It’s a private refuge where you can be alone, a workstation to primp and pamper, and a necessary stop throughout your day. In a room you so commonly visit, why settle for a dark and dreary space? As the summer days get brighter, your bathroom should too! This season, don’t let dull designs cloud up your space. Let the light in with these three summer bathroom ideas for brightening up your bathroom.

Give the Walls a Makeover

You would be amazed how much a coat or two of paint can do. While dark colors can look luxurious and romantic, they can also considerably shrink a room. Dark colors absorb light, so they end up dimming the whole room. If you want to brighten up your bathroom, this end of the color spectrum is your worst enemy.

Lighter colors reflect light much more effectively than dark ones, making the space look bigger, brighter, and breezier. Delicate colors like mint, baby blue, and light coral are great choices if you want to keep things light and airy without whitewashing the place. Summer is colorful, so these happy hues are perfect for the season. If you’re not a pastel person, consider modern neutrals like a cool gray or light taupe. These shades are mature and timeless, excellent for a guest or unisex bathroom.

Don’t dismiss the idea of white walls yet, though—white is a classic for a reason. A great pearly paint is one of the best ways to reflect light throughout a space. If you’re not willing to totally part with color, though, you don’t have to! Pops of color add interest and dimension to an otherwise monochromatic room without subtracting any light. Coordinate the towels, rugs, soap dish, and other accessories in your favorite cheerful shade (we love yellow, turquoise, and green) and bring in some plants for a little extra charm!

Open Up with Appliances

One of the most important features of your bathroom is the actual appliances in it. After all, what’s a bathroom without the bath stuff? However, your toilet, shower, and sink don’t have to be stale just because they’re standard. Almost all bathroom furnishings come in an assortment of shapes and sizes. Replace large fixtures with smaller, sleeker items with less detail to create more space and allow more light. Remember, pale colors are still your friend here! A compact, floating bathroom vanity like this one in white is perfect for opening up tight spaces.

Wherever possible, replace opaque room dividers with glass ones. Things like fabric shower curtains emphasize a sense of enclosure and absorb a lot of much-needed light. If privacy is no problem, install glass shower doors to give your bathroom uninterrupted light flow.

Bring In the Bulbs

Last but certainly not least, what better way to lighten up a bathroom than to add lights? Natural light is undoubtedly the best option, as the sun beats fluorescent lights any day. If your bathroom doesn’t have any windows, introduce daylight with a skylight; if you don’t have direct roof access, though, light tubes can add an infusion of natural light.

One trick to good bathroom lighting is overlapping light sources. Layer your light with overhead flushlights, wall fixtures, and even a soft glow under your vanity to illuminate the floor. You can also make up for a lack of lamps by using multiple mirrors. Mirrors not only make the room look bigger, but also can turn one light source into two or more with its reflective surface. Kill two birds with one stone with an LED mirror to deliver beautiful and bright light without unwanted shadows.

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