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The bathroom is often the last room people think about when it comes to buying blinds or generally giving the room a bit of a makeover, but whilst having your whole bathroom redone can cost an arm and a leg, just buying a new blind can give it an instant refresh without leaving you eating spaghetti hoops for the rest of the month.
Blinds for bathrooms should be waterproof or at least, water-resistant depending on how steamed up and soggy your bathroom gets, which means you should rule some types of blinds out from the get-go; but this caveat aside, there are still tonnes of bathroom blinds ideas to consider in terms of colours, styles, patterns, designs and so on.
I’m going to start this blog post off with a quick round-up of the sort of styles/colours/themes that are on the up in bathrooms for 2023-2024, and then cover some suggestions and ideas of the best blinds for bathrooms of different types, along with some links to specific blinds that work well in certain bathrooms or themes.
Contents:
- 1. What’s hot in bathroom blinds ideas for 2023?
- 2. What blinds should I rule in (or out) for bathrooms?
- 3. Bathroom blinds ideas on a budget.
- 4. Bathroom blinds ideas for bathrooms that get really steamed up when in use.
- 5. Bathroom blinds ideas for bathrooms that tend to stay fairly dry and airy.
- 6. Bathroom blinds ideas for modern homes.
- 7. Bathroom blinds ideas for traditionally styled homes.
- 8. Bathroom blinds ideas for tiny bathrooms.
- 9. Bathroom blinds ideas to get the kids into the bath.
1. What’s hot in bathrooms for 2023?
- Pale/pastel blues and greens (think duck egg and willow kind of shades) were all over every kitchen a couple of years ago, and they’ve now shaken down into bathrooms too.
- Non-white neutrals have always been popular in bathrooms too, particularly light colours like stone/beige and so on.
- Darker themes like slate, granite, and marble bathrooms have really come into their own in this last year or so too, and I have to say I absolutely love this look. It has a certain polished gravitas to it, but unless your bathroom is dim and poorly lit anyway, this comes off as elegant and prestigious rather than kind of dungeon-y!
- Adding in something really vibrant and on-trend like a living wall would be the absolute icing on the cake here.
- When it comes to neutrals from either end of the dark/light spectrum, if you think this through, you can use a base neutral bathroom theme and add in a colour theme in things like your towels, soap/toothbrush holders, door handles, light pull and so on, and update the accent colour to refresh the look (without spending a lot) any time you like too.
- Contrasting minimalistic lights and darks in the big areas like floors/walls/fixtures/window dressings and so on, all made cohesive by the addition of a lot of plants, is something else that getting a lot of love of late. This is a look that I have always been a fan of, or at least, was, until I knocked a flowerpot full of soil into a bath full of water.
- Also, Victoriana-style claw-footed feature baths absolutely never go out of style, but this style itself is lightening up somewhat and moving away from the usual fairly stark monochrome enamel and metal groundings into something a little softer and warmer, with wood-effect floors and trims rather than floor-to-ceiling tiles and iron fittings.
- In a similar vein, very classically styled feminine bathrooms (the type that we might formerly have referred to as “chintzy,” and not as a complement) have undergone something of a revamp too, maintaining the key design elements but losing the fuss and tchotchkes, and most definitely losing the nets and frilly curtains… Like so.
Moving on, I tend to find that most people tend to fall into one of two camps when it comes to their bathroom and how they use it. (I hate that whole “there are two types of people” thing, but sometimes there really are two types of people…)
There’s the get in, do whatever you need to do, and get out asap crowd; and then there’s the candles, magazines, pretty visuals, “I want my bathroom to look like it belongs to a Kardashian only less trashy” ones, who want to make the space plush and welcoming and somewhere to enjoy being.
If you fall into the former camp; honestly, I’m impressed that you’ve read this far. Also, no judgement but maybe if you made your bathroom a bit nicer, you’d like spending more time in it? Just a thought…
If you fall into the latter camp, you might want to think about spending the time (and ok, money) to get a really shamelessly luxurious feature in there (or even a whole new suite/redesign) that will make your eyes widen in the good way every time you see it.
For me personally, brushed gold effect is the hottest thing in bathrooms I’m seeing this year, but I can totally see how you could go OTT with this sort of approach and get it badly wrong and end up with a bathroom looking like something you might find in Trump Towers, only smaller.
This is a good example of it done well/correctly, to my mind; you absolutely cannot stop looking at that burnished gold bath, but everything around it is discreet/subtle enough to ensure that the end effect is WOW rather than EEW.
Here’s another take on this (massive blingy feature baths-r-us) and whilst I admit I think that the bath itself is going a bit far, I do love the blind with its contrasting metallic bottom bar and the large feature light shades.
2. What blinds should I rule in (or out) for bathrooms?
Bathroom blinds should be waterproof for (hopefully) obvious reasons, but lots of people like to colour outside the lines in this respect, with varying degrees of success. As a blanket rule, I would strongly advocate for choosing only fully/properly waterproof blinds for bathrooms if possible.
However, if your bathroom isn’t overly humid and your blinds definitely aren’t going to get splashed, you can consider water-resistant options too.
- Fully/truly waterproof blinds that you could quite literally put in the bath or shower are PVC or vinyl roller blinds or vertical blinds respectively. These will usually just be sold as “waterproof blinds” rather than by material, but you might want to double-check this, and also, ensure that the blind is designated as waterproof rather than just water-resistant or moisture-resistant.
- For all but the dampest of bathrooms, faux-wood blinds are also perfectly suitable (particularly if they have lift cords rather than ladder tapes) as their slats and fittings are waterproof, and only the fabric cords and/or tapes are not. The same applies to Venetian blinds
- Water-resistant (rather than waterproof) blinds are also suitable for many bathrooms, and so your options expand to include some other types of roller blinds and vertical blinds that are made of say, a non-waterproof fabric but with a water-resistant coating.
- Blinds that I would not recommend for bathrooms because they will suffer from exposure to steam and water sooner rather than later are Roman blinds, wooden blinds, and day and night blinds respectively. All of these are also fairly pricey and so, not something you’d really want to take your chances with!
3. Bathroom blinds ideas on a budget
The lowest cost bathroom blinds that are up to the task are almost always going to be waterproof roller blinds, with waterproof vertical blinds coming a close second. The nice thing about this is that these are also the two most common/popular and suitable types of bathroom blinds overall too, and so you needn’t feel like you’re low on choice or going to miss out on something due to budgetary constraints.
Good quality made-to-measure waterproof roller blinds in plain colours start from around £48 (as of April 2023) for a 120cm by 120cm blind in a plain colour like this Multi Lux Granite bathroom blind, or under £60 for the same size window in patterned options like this Inara Sorbet waterproof blind.
4. Bathroom blinds ideas for bathrooms that get really steamed up when in use
If your bathroom is more-or-less tropical when in use or if it seems to break out in a sweat if you so much as wash your hands for the government-instructed virus-beating time of 20 seconds, you need to make sure you narrow down your options to bathrooms blinds ideas that are fully/truly waterproof, rather than just water resistant.
This means waterproof roller blinds or waterproof vertical blinds respectively. Loads of options available to you here, as both of these types of blinds come in a huge range of colours and textures/patterns, and roller blinds can be made in a number of different designs too.
For waterproof roller blinds, the option I’m currently hoping has an order misfire that I can benefit from soon is this inky blue Multi Lux imperial roller blind, and I’m also kind of into this Royale Basalt patterned bathroom roller blind too, partially because I’m really loving the stone bathrooms trend at the moment and this type of interiors theme is what gives me the warm fuzzies.
Looking to waterproof vertical blinds for the bathroom, my two favourites are kind of polar opposites.
They are this bright Multi-Lux topaz vertical blind, which would work in any cream, grey, white, or stone bathroom just for starters, and this gleaming white Multi-Lux vertical from the same product family if, like my OCD BFF, you like everything in the bathroom to look snow white and pristine!
(This would work better for her if she and her family and even dog were not dark haired, but it is what it is… The good news here though if you’re a fan of very white fixtures and fittings but not a fan of cleaning everything daily is that these blinds will just wipe clean.)
5. Bathroom blinds ideas for bathrooms that tend to stay fairly dry and airy
If your bathroom doesn’t get overly steamed up while in use (which generally means that it is large, high-ceilinged, aggressively ventilated, or only used on high days and holidays) then you can expand your range of potential options to include the types of blinds that are correctly referred to as “moisture resistant” rather than truly waterproof.
When it comes to roller blinds and vertical blinds, this means water-resistant blinds that can handle a level of atmospheric humidity and the occasional splash without wilting, but that won’t remain in good working order if they spend most of the time damp or get a bath every time the kids do.
You can also consider Venetian blinds and faux-wood blinds respectively, both of which are waterproof in terms of their slats, but the fabric parts of them (the lift cords and potentially ladder tapes) are not.
You’ve also got the choice of both of the types of fully waterproof bathroom blinds I mentioned above, being PVC or vinyl roller blinds and vertical blinds respectively.
Looking at water-resistant blinds for bathrooms alone, my favourites from our 2023-2024 ranges are these faux-wood blinds in a driftwood effect (always popular for bathrooms) with steel ladder tapes, and this popping metallic electric blue Venetian blind.
6. Bathroom blinds ideas for modern homes
If your home and/or bathroom are modern in style, you have your pick of any type of waterproof blind, all of which will have an option to suit the sort of theme and style you’re going for.
Venetian blinds in a bright colour can add a real pop to a modern bathroom blind, or make a minimalistic bathroom stand out.
I’m really liking this luxury purple Venetian blind for pretty much any neutral or one-colour bathroom, as well as some of our newer dark-coloured roller blinds like this marble effect Planet Black with metallic silver.
Vertical blinds for bathrooms are really becoming a thing at the moment too; we’ve taken more orders for waterproof vertical blinds for bathrooms in the last year than we ever have in the past, and these are the perfect fit for a modern shower room or bathroom, particularly if you’ve got a very tall or overall large window to contend with.
In fact, if your bathroom does have a really big window, vertical bathroom blinds might be your only viable option in terms of what will be available in the size. A bright, glowing white vertical blind or a steely almost-black are probably the most popular options at the moment, which I think is due to the dark, shiny marble/slate bathroom builds that we’re seeing a lot of interior designers and higher-end property developers creating at the moment.
7. Bathroom blinds ideas for traditionally styled homes
If your home is traditionally styled and you want your bathroom to have a classical look to it that is more about elegance than cutting-edge modernity, I would suggest that the bathroom blinds ideas you need to choose between are roller blinds and faux-wood blinds respectively.
Roller blinds come in a huge range of colours/designs and patterns and can be matched to a room of any era or style; faux-wood blinds can be made to emulate real wood blinds very closely and so, have a timeless appeal that enables them to fit into even period rooms and homes.
Vertical blinds and Venetian blinds are both rather modern in both design and origins, and so these aren’t a good pick for bathrooms of this type.
To get you going, I suggest starting with this Multi Luxe “butter” waterproof roller blind if you’re thinking along the lines of plain neutrals. If you’re looking for a design or pattern for your bathroom blind, this waterproof ivory roller blind with a subtle leaf print might be a good start, whilst this faux-wood natural oak bathroom blind is virtually indistinguishable from real wood!
8. Bathroom blinds ideas for tiny bathrooms
Tiny bathroom? More of a closet, really? Dog has to do a three-point turn to get out of the room, and he’s only a Yorkshire terrier?
No problem. So, small bathrooms tend to either have small windows, which can limit the amount of light they get (and make them look dingy and pokey too) or have one comedically large window that’s fully out of perspective with everything else in the room.
My bathroom blinds ideas for tiny bathrooms depend on which of these two options/challenges you’re facing, so I’m going to tackle this one in two parts.
If you have a dinky bathroom with dinky windows, the things you need to think about are:
- Not losing any more of the available light than you absolutely have to and so, choosing a blind that doesn’t occlude the window when the blind is open.
- Getting the perspective right, so that you don’t end up with a blind that looks like it really belongs to the window’s older, hencher brother, or like it is swamping the window in terms of its design/construction.
Basically, to maximise the light through a really small window, you want to avoid blinds that take up space over the glass when the blind is open. This means that a slatted or louvred blind will probably do you dirty, as the stack of slats or louvres will need to go somewhere when the blind is open; over the glass, if inside of the window recess, or encroaching onto your preciously small amount of wall space if outside of it.
Similarly, louvres or large/wide slats on a blind on a narrow window will give a skewed perspective, appearing too large for the window. A roller blind with a very big print or pattern will have the same effect.
I’d suggest then ruling out wider-slatted faux-wood blinds and also vertical blinds for tiny bathroom windows, and instead looking to roller blinds (in plain designs or small print patterns) and potentially, Venetian blinds too, this latter only if the depth of the stack of open slats won’t be an issue.
I would also suggest you think carefully about adding a faux-wood or Venetian blind to a very small bathroom in terms of the sort of level of humidity that will build up in a small space, as the lift cords of Venetian blinds aren’t waterproof and may suffer over the long term.
So then. A waterproof roller blind it is, with a small or subtle pattern like this Arcade Graphite…
For a dinky bathroom with one large window, I suggest making the window the feature. In this instance, I’d be tempted to contrast the blind with the theme of the room as a whole; a dark with a light theme or vice versa, and a bright or statement colour in a neutral room, like this Multi Lux lime.
9. Bathroom blinds ideas to get the kids into the bath
And finally! Having nautical/fish/seaside-themed blinds in the bathroom has been absolutely done to death, and nobody knows this better than me (and our fabric reps); but there is a reason why the whole “ahoy shipmate” thing is so popular in bathrooms, and this reason is usually under twelve.
Making your bathroom fun/interesting for your kids will go some way towards encouraging them to actually use it; which can be a valuable incentive if your child is a bit of a soap-dodger or not really taking to the whole potty training malarkey.
It is entirely possible to make your bathroom cheerful, interesting, and a suitable backdrop for some kind of bath-related splashing game without also making it look like it was designed by a five-year-old, and the way to do that is to pick the right blind.
Said blind should also be waterproof (see above ref. splashing game) and this means picking a waterproof roller blind basically; particularly if you really were not kidding around about the splashing.
Waterproof vertical blinds are fine for humid or steamy bathrooms, but remember, if they get hit with actual water, this is apt to move the blind/go through the louvres and make a mess of the windowsill and/or window and everything in range of it.
Waterproof roller blinds with a child-pleasing pattern are overall the way to go here.
