7 Tips for the Perfect Powder Room

This (below) is your basic run of the mill powder room.  Seriously boring- actually painful!  But, you go in quick, you get your business done and you’re out.  Utilitarian, no great experience, just getting the job done.  But why just ”Get by” when you can really “LIVE”.  Spiffing up a powder room can be very affordable and easy due to it’s small size.  It the perfect room to “LIVE LARGE” even if you don’t have the courage to go big in the rest of the house.

Virginia sweet pea
I think Powder rooms are one of my favorite rooms to design.  They are usually small, cozy and you are generally only in them for a few minutes at a time.  Thus you can go all out and a few minutes of appreciation a day is not long enough to get sick of anything.  I think of them as the little jewel box in a house, they almost demand high drama and decadence.



Elle Decor

Veranda


Melissa Warner

Poebe Howard

Brook Giannetti

Brook Giannetti

Alina Apteker



Domino

Desire to inspire


The advice I have for you when thinking about Powder room design is:
1) Lighting- go crazy!  An awesome chandelier looks so fun in a tiny space (if you have the ceiling height).  Use a fixture over the mirror only as an absolute last resort (it makes you look like an old hag even when you’re not, highlighting all your bags and wrinkles)  First choice for sconce placement is 66-68” from the floor at the sides of the mirror- lighting the sides of the face evenly.
2) If you are limited on space don’t go for the elongated toilet- get the regular/standard bowl or even an in wall or tank-less option.  You can also find a plethora of ultra tiny sinks (you’re not washing your hair in it – just washing your hands, tiny is more than fine)
3) Big color or big/wild prints on wallpaper do well in a small powder room.  Make the experience really fun, let your imagination run wild!
4) Don’t forget about the ceiling- does it need wall paper?  How about a bright lacquered paint?  Or even better, how about a mural on the walls and ceiling?
5) Storage- you need storage (under the sink, over the toilet???)  Try to find somewhere to stash the basics- extra toilet paper, tampons/panty liners, room spray, dental floss, breath freshener- you get the gist.
6) A fan… preferably a loud one.  You read the book ”Everybody poops” right?  Well, you know where I’m going with this.  When you have to do your business the last thing you want is for anyone to hear.  Most people are so concerned with finding the quietest fan made - What?!?  No, No, No- wrong thinking!  You want loud.  Now I’m not talking jet engine loud but loud enough to drown out other mild noises without driving you crazy or sounding like the house is falling in.
7) Last but not least- stay away from rugs and carpets right by the toilet (bad memories of the 1970’s with the shag toilet covers and matching toilet surround rugs).  I have an eight year old son - so cute but the worst aim.  We do want the room sanitary and fresh smelling.

going postal doing laundry

Doing laundry is like being a mail man, or I’ll say mail person and keep it PC.  The mail just keeps coming everyday, no matter how much you delivered the day before there is more again today.  Even by the time you’ve walked your route and get back to the post office, lo and behold, there’s more already.  I TOTALLY understand how someone goes postal!!!  The laundry just keeps coming every day no matter what - gather it up - wash - dry - fold - sort - put away.  Sometimes I’ll announce to my family that as of this very minute everything we own is clean.  But then someone changes and BAAM it’s over - more laundry to do.  I must admit I have a really crappy laundry room- basement- cement floor- yucky.  This is something I plan to change.  I wanted to show you some dream laundry rooms.  Would laundry be more fun if you did it in one of these rooms?  Probably not but I’m going to believe it would be.


For me it’s about doing it as fast as possible, so the idea of two washers and two dryers is terrific!








I have a friend and wonderful interior designer, Nanette Ambroze Chandler, that keeps a proper hamper in each person's room.  When that hamper starts filling up, she puts just that load in the washer when she gets up in the morning.  Then switches it to the dryer before leaving the house and folds when she gets home.  All the clothes go to only that one person's room, so no sorting.  That person puts away their clothes once a week.  Great idea!

For my clients I traditionally use kitchen cabinets, big sinks (so they can also wash the dog), some closed upper cabinets and some open shelves for easy reaching of the detergent.  I often do a flooring that can get wet, wallpaper and a great roman shade - sometimes a cute chair.  There are some great wallpapers and often matching/coordinating fabrics for laundry rooms- this gives a super cute instant fun touch.  A little kitsch goes well in this room.

Check These Out

And These





Really the wallpaper and fabric don’t even have to do with laundry to give you that more sophisticated, “pssst, I’m secretly doing laundry” effect!