You walk into a bathroom, take a deep breath, and let it out. It isn’t because the decor is luxurious or high-end. It’s just. . .right.
Clean. Calming. Timeless.
Ninety percent of the time, I find that gray and white bathrooms are the ones giving me these serious spa vibes. For years I believed that gray and white bathrooms were blah.
Basic.
Ick. Like ordering vanilla ice cream when salted caramel is staring you right in the face. That all changed when I came home from school one weekend to visit my Aunt Jennifer and noticed her “oh so special” powder room… complete with burgundy walls and gold glitter wallpaper that looked like it was from the Renaissance Faire.
Ever since that incident, I began to appreciate just how foolproof gray and white bathrooms really are. I have seen it done beautifully in a tiny rental hovel with molded-in subway tile and a pedestal sink. Hell, I’ve even seen it done right in a $3million suite featuring marble floors, walls, and a freestanding claw-foot soaking tub that cost more than my car (not even exaggerating).
It just works. Gray and white bathrooms work with your fixtures, your lighting, and even your unfortunate architectural choices. Here’s how I did it in my own bathroom… A few years back I renovated my powder bathroom from the ground up.
The space wasn’t massive (likely around 6’ x 8′ feet) and it was filled with original (read: atrocious) avocado fixtures from the 19 seventies. There was no removing these behemoths from the walls, so I had to work with what I had. I painted all the walls Benjamin Moore’s cloudy day gray {NOT too blue, NOT too purple, and so very neutral} and painted the ceiling crisp white.
The room instantly felt twice the size, and 10x cleaner. For the flooring, I scored some gray and white hex tiles on clearance. They were simple ceramic tiles with nothing extra going on, but the hex pattern helped to add some interest without being too busy.
And let me give you a hot tip when it comes to pattern mixing in a gray and white bathroom: don’t be afraid! With such a neutral base, you can get away with almost any combo. Subway walls can pair with hexagon floors, large wallpaper patterns can go with fluffy white towels, and vertical stripes can look oh-so-good against a gray sink vanity.
Texture also plays a large roll in any gray and white bathroom. There are no bold colors to add contrast, so you can have fun with different fabrics and materials. A fluffy white bath mat, gray linen shower curtain, and woven gray and white baskets helped add texture to my bathroom without being overwhelming.
I thought I had purchased the whitest gray towels ever sold at HomeGoods. Wrong. Those towels had blue undertones like you would not believe, and paired with my warm gray walls it looked terrible.
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I returned them the very next day and opted for a slightly beige gray instead. Lesson learned. Swap out your bright white LED light bulbs for warmer toned bulbs.
2700K is my jam and really helps bring out that relaxing, yet spa-like vibe of any gray and white bathroom. Gray and White + Traditional = Carrara marble subway tiles with charcoal gray grout and polished chrome faucet fixtures. Gray and White + Modern = Large format gray tiles with white subway tile behind a floating white vanity topped with all brushed nickel fixtures.
Gray and White + Farmhouse = White shiplap walls, gray paint on your vanity, and black iron hardware. Use classic white hexagon tile with a charcoal gray border for your floors. Hang large rectangular gray tiles in your shower with white grout lines to give your bathroom a more modern feel.
Go with white subway tiles and paint the grout dark gray for an old-timey apothecary vibe. Pattern mix like crazy. Gray and white geometric tiles on the floor, white subway tiles on the walls, and add a pop of pattern with a striped shower curtain!
Add white floating shelves on gray walls to create the illusion of more space. Store your hair products and towels in gray woven baskets on crisp white shelving. Gray and white is a timeless color palette.
Remember when everything was suppose to be “spa-like” and covered in sage green walls and bamboo? Yeah. Me neither.
Or how about everyone’s darling coral bathrooms? OK sure, gray and white bathrooms might not wow you at first glance. But boy, do they serve you well.
Once you strip your bathroom down to the basics you’re able to change out your towels, shower curtain, and décor with every season without feeling like you need to repaint or re-tile every time you get bored. Gray hides watermarks and handprints like white paint doesn’t know how. I keep mine white however, so cutting boards and towels are always in arms reach when my toddler decides she needs to wash her hands.
Soap scum is way less noticeable on light gray tile versus pure white tile, yet your bathroom will still feel sanitary fresh.
Yes, you will have to deep clean your white grout every few months to keep it looking fresh. But opt for dark gray grout {we used charcoal} and you can get away with way less upkeep.
Start small if you’re not ready to commit to a gray and white bathroom just yet. Grab some gray and white towels and a bath mat. Or paint one accent wall gray and leave the rest of your walls white.
You can always add color through artwork, greenery, and fun toilet paper later! My nephew Lucas just turned seven this month and let me tell you… if those weird little minions have an opinion on your design choices, it’s my nephew. We were hanging out in my newly renovated bathroom the other day and he said, “This bathroom looks like a fancy hotel.” He proceeded to ask if he could use the “fluffy gray towel” hanging on the rack instead of the hand towel I had placed strategically for him.
Guys. I died. If it can make my toddler excited about cleaning her hands, then it’s worth it.
