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.

Front Door Fabulous

I always love to see what colors people paint their houses - particularly if they are interesting and fun.  My husband has a problem with this when I’m the one driving…he’d much rather I watch the road then stare sideways (and sometimes backwards) to get my color fix.  Sometimes you come across a house that is so fun you wonder if the mailman needs migraine medicine in order to deliver. 

There are many houses more simple in detail that don’t call for a multiple-color paint job.  I find that for these houses a fabulous front door does the trick.  You have a single focal point, an idea of some personality and a fun little zing to appreciate as you go by.

My last house was an Italianate Victorian from 1847 with tons of detail- we had fun with the colors of that house:

Melissa Gulley Style

My husband and i have gotten quite good at fixer uppers and have one we are in the middle of.  Our current house is a more simple Victorian from the 1890’s.  I will not stain your brain and risk injuring your eye’s with a photo of its exterior, but it is BUTT UGLY!!!  It has aluminum siding from the 1950’s that covers every single inch of it- even over the window and door moldings.  If that’s not bad enough we accurately named the color: Pallor.  Our house is the color of pasty English people’s skin (I can make fun of this, I’m English by descent) when they have never been in the sun, don’t exercise, smoke two packs a day and don’t eat vegetables (perhaps just minutes away from contracting full blown rickets).  There is not much that I can do to improve this until we rip off the siding and reface the whole huge place, and we have SOOOO many other things to do first.  The only thing we’ve done is paint our pretty double Victorian front doors Turquoise.  Within a week I’d gotten a positive comment from everyone in the neighborhood - they were obviously desperate for something to be done.  This little festive color upgrade did so much, I then added various turquoise planters and flowers.  Sometimes it’s just a little touch that makes it:

The best part of having fun with the front door is being able to easily change it.  It only takes about an hour, so it is a great project for the commitment-phobic!

Books Books Books

Organizing books can be very personal.  Really the person who’s books they are needs to be part of the organizing.  Now some of you may be saying to yourself- “yeah, of course who else would do it?”.  Well as an Interior Designer, I am asked very frequently to reorganize peoples built-ins to look really Fab.  This is tough if the person is really into books.  Which have they read, which are in cue to be read, does this person need them by subject or author?  This is very important to most people, and is very different to how the book shelves will look best.  They look best if arranged by color:

When they are arranged by color there is a visual calm that's achieved.  Otherwise they seem chaotic and visually cluttered:

If you need your books to be by topic, author, or been read or not, then making smaller collections of those categories and separating them with some interesting objects is a great way to visually organize them:

or spread the arranging to other areas of the room as well, like the mantle:

 

Or the coffee table or console/hall table:

When people visit your home they are unconsciously looking for personality cues on the people who live there.  Who are they, what are they passionate about, where have they traveled?  By giving them those cues (books,accessories,art) your home instantly has more character, depth and warmth, not to mention instant conversation topics.  Without these things your home resembles a furniture showroom void of all human touches.

I am also (very often) asked to shop for all accessories, picture frames, art and books for a home owner that currently does not own anything.  This can be interesting, I am essentially creating the personality of the client, which people will see and adopt as the client’s identity.  Usually by this point in a project, I have a very detailed idea of who these people are so I’m not pulling personality out of thin air. 

There is the rare client who makes me wish there were more books on garden variety sociopaths – that way I could help them portray their true personalities to their visitors.