How to use the dark bathroom trend in your home, according to interior stylists

The black bathroom is dead, long live the dark bathroom. Dark bathrooms are everywhere this season – even Kendall Jenner now has one in her home. The rise of the dark rather than black bathroom is no wonder: why be restricted by just one colour if you can have a choice of many?

If you are already taken with a dark bathroom read our dark and dreamy bathroom ideas. Here's what the trend looks like this year – and how to use it in your home, according to interior stylists.

Deep greens dominate the dark bathroom palette this season, with the Architectural Digest leading the trend with a stunning photo of Kendall Jenner's green-tiled bathroom from her Los Angeles home. This is a dark bathroom of dreams, shimmering with tones of sea green and teal – dark but vibrant. Surrounded by this colour scheme, it's almost possible to imagine that you are swimming in the sea. Carefully chosen bathroom tiles are the easiest way to benefit from colour, texture, and iridescence at the same time. 

On the other hand, this dark bathroom by Sognado Casa takes inspiration from the green of forests rather than oceans. The mix of different textures is both calming and stimulating, and not unlike a walk through the forest where emerald mosses complement light foliage. The unique effect is achieved with the use of green marble, the 'noblest and rarest [of] marbles.'

Are dark bathrooms for everyone? It partly depends on the aspect of your bathroom, says stylist Sally Denning:  'Dark bathrooms can work if you have a good natural light source, as they can cocoon and envelop the room making it feel more like a relaxing sanctuary rather than a functional space.'

Sally also favours forest greens where it comes to choosing the colour scheme for a dark bathroom, but she also advises to try 'deep blues or rich clays': 'these quiet, bolder shades will keep the bathroom welcoming, rather than cold.'

If you don't have a great deal of natural light coming into the bathroom, Sally advises to place lighting and sanitary ware strategically: 'Install task lighting near mirrors to brighten up areas where you’ll need it and keep sanitary ware pale or white to help reflect any light around the room.' 

The main thing we've learned about the dark bathroom trend this year is that dark needn't mean plain or severe; dark bathrooms are the perfect spaces to play with textures and prints – they're prime candidates for contrasting paint with wallpaper, adding plenty of wall art, and even trying out a stencil. The dark bathrooms of 2021 are opulent and eclectic not minimalist. 

And if you're not sure you're ready for the dramatic impact of an all-dark bathroom, try with just one wall, says Patrick O'Donnell from Farrow & Ball: 'If the thought of committing to too much dark feels overwhelming, try one wall and blend in with some complementary [sic] mid-tones.'