Bathroom Design Tips: Choosing Towels

Bathroom design can often require coordination of odd or multiple colors. Because they come in every shade, texture and print available, towels are a great way to easily tie together unusual colors.

Consider the Bathroom’s Shade

Unfortunately, a bathroom can house many of the more unusual colors, such as bright pinks, blues or yellows. Depending on the bathroom’s age, these colors can be quite difficult to match. Prior to beginning your search for bathroom towels, consider the bathroom’s current color scheme and whether it requires exactly matching, contrasting or subtly related towel colors. A bright pink or blue bathroom, for example, might need white towels with colored pink or blue hand towels to tie the colors together without being overwhelming.

Consider the Bathroom’s Size

A small bathroom requires smaller towels, and a larger bathroom can accommodate towels of almost any size. Smaller bathrooms may not fit sheet-sized towels on the racks or hooks. If this is the case, consider buying smaller or fewer towels so that they do not overpower the room. Additionally, the size of the bathroom affects how you will store your towels. In a smaller bathroom you may have to hang your towels on hooks rather than a towel rack so they are more accessible; this would mean that you would not need an entire full set of towels.

The bathroom’s size also affects the color of your towels. Small bathrooms are unable to handle brighter colors as well as larger bathrooms because they will make the room appear smaller or more cramped. Because of this, you may choose neutral colored rather than deep or brightly colored towels.

Consider the Towel’s Care

When picking a towel color also consider how you plan on washing them. Dark colored towels will certainly bleed their color onto other fabrics for at least the first few wash cycles, if not longer. If you do not want to have to separate your towels into a separate load avoid bright or dark colors. Neutral colored towels can be tossed in with your regular light colored items without causing damage.

Don’t Stay Too Neutral

If you are decorating a small, neutrally colored bathroom, do not be afraid to use towels to incorporate color or patterns into the room. White walls, white countertops and white floors can suddenly come alive with the addition of a patterned towel, even if the pattern’s colors are themselves neutral. However, avoid using really bright colors in the room. A brightly colored towel against an entirely white room will create an eyesore. Instead, use delicate or light colors.

To choose a pattern or color, consider the theme of your apartment or house and your residence’s location. A house with a neutral, small bathroom in Florida will look great with hand towels containing beach scenes or palm trees. An all-white bathroom in a New York loft could easily handle bright patterns or designs on a few towels mixed with other, solid-colored towels.

Choosing towels for your bathroom requires you to analyze what the bathroom needs, can accommodate and what patterns and colors will blend with any existing décor. With colored towels, always go more subtle than brighter and wash before use to reduce any future color bleeding.