Bathroom Workbook: 8 Elements of Contemporary Style
Knowing your style isn’t always cut and dried. For example, your home’s current style might not be the one you would have given it if you’d had the choice. Perhaps you purchased things that were practical and fit your budget, instead of as part of a larger design scheme.
So when you’re remodeling a space for the first time and tasked with settling on a vision that reflects your personal taste, it’s not uncommon to wonder, “Just what is my style?”
In this series we’ll look at various bathroom styles to help you narrow your focus. Is your style contemporary, modern, transitional, rustic, industrial? Once something feels and looks right to you, then you can start going through more photos of spaces in that style to help guide you — and your designer — to the bathroom of your dreams.
Here are eight elements of contemporary style. See if it’s right for you.
1. Clean lines. Unbroken horizontal lines feature prominently in contemporary bathrooms. Curvy, undulating planes have little relevance here. Cabinet hardware is kept basic as well. Think rectilinear.
2. Authentic materials. “Materials should have authenticity to them,” says architect Lisa Little, who designed this bathroom. “If the material is wood, it should be expressed as wood. If it’s concrete, it’s concrete. So you’re not hiding or altering the materiality; instead you’re celebrating it.”
You won’t find moldings or face frames on cabinets or any other sort of ornamental accents. There are just the essentials here; everything is stripped down to rudimentary forms and materials. Vanities and cabinet doors are single planes and have smooth surfaces. Edges are sharp and clean rather than distressed or beveled. Tile is crisp, and grout is “absolutely flush,” says architect Sally Anne Smith. “Restrain everything.”
“When tile starts to get patterning on the wall or an individual tile becomes ornate or complex, then it’s starting to get away from a cleaner, simpler design,” Little adds.
That goes for countertops, too. “People usually stick to the quartz line so there’s not a lot of movement,” says John Klacka, design director at Lars Remodeling and Design.
More Elements of Contemporary Style
Bathroom Workbook: 8 Elements of Contemporary Style
