As we look ahead to the new year, it’s a great time to take stock of what trends are in, and out. If you’re remodelling your entire bathroom or just looking to refresh the paint colour, taking inspiration from the incoming trends will help you to create a space that doesn’t look dated overnight.
Much like the rest of an interior, bathrooms are heading to the bolder side in 2025. With interesting tile play, richer hues and creative bathroom layouts taking centre stage.
We’ve just recently renovated our own bathroom, and have already dipped our toes into some of these gorgeous trends. I’ve caught up with some of the leading experts in the bathroom industry to get the low down on what bathroom trends we should be following in 2025.
Bathroom Trends for 2025: Expert-Approved Trends to Follow
If there’s anything to take away from the incoming trends, it’s that bolder, richer hues are in. We are seeing this through paint choices, wallpaper, and tiles. This isn’t exclusive for just bathrooms either, it’s a running theme through interiors.
There’s a big spotlight on tiles, and we’re challenging the ’tile norms’, seeking different designs, fun ways to install tiles, and ones with texture for further interest.
Creating spa like spaces pulls everything together, and an on-trend bathroom should balance both aesthetic and function perfectly for a space that works, and makes you feel good. Here are a round up of 9 of the hottest bathroom trends for 2025.
Bold Tile Choices
Tiles have always been a popular choice for wall and floor coverings in a bathroom, but we’re dialling this up even more this year, and the arrival of bold tile choices is a welcome surprise.
Very soft, muted colours or your traditional whites and greys have been ever popular for a number of years as they are a fail safe option, but what we’re seeing with the paint trends for 2025 is that these warmer, richer and bolder colours are starting to seep their way in. This is definitely shared with tile trends.
Grazzie Wilson, Head of Creative at Ca’ Pietra said, “Your coffee browns from milky latte to long black, those terracotta tones that warm up a room in a nanosecond, and even more pigmented colours like deep blue that takes its cue from ocean depths. 2025 is about investing in classic colours but taking them down a richer route to before. They’ll anchor any space in a heartbeat and will have you nailing a trend but also putting down roots because that’s the best thing about classics – they just don’t ever date”.
“The tones that spark joy and boost your mind and those tiles that grab the eye, hold it, and have you looking back for more. These are the tiles that want to be talked about, causing a stir every single day. They could be tiles with a less-than-usual shape like arabesque or picket tiles; they could be stand out shades like jade green, azure blue or a mega mustard; or they could be unexpected mix and match tiles like pinstripes aside florals that shouldn’t work but really, really do. To end on another quote: “we’re not looking to anyone for permission on how we use colour anymore.” And who are we to argue with Elle Decoration?”.
Take inspiration from some of Ca’ Pietra’s leading tile choices below. Along with bold hues, high gloss or zellige tile finishes are bang on-trend. The beauty of this style is that they engage you visually no matter what angle you view them in, they hold your interest and create added visual depth to a bathroom.
Richer, More Pigmented Colours
Bold tile choices are making a statement in 2025, with this trend extending into bold paint and wallpaper selections that transform bathrooms into expressive, stylish spaces.
Interiors have been stuck in a ‘beige’ hold for a long time, and of course, past trends do influence this. But we are holding are arms wide open for these bolder, richer and warmer colours that are coming through.
As Grazzie Wilson mentioned, red, blue, brown and earthy shades are firmly in. Colour drenching, and the new term ‘double drenching‘, coined by Little Greene are effective paint techniques which involve the use of bolder hues, they’re a great way of creating a cosier bathroom space if you’re experimenting with bold colour.
If colour still feels like an alien approach to your interior, try incorporating it into a vanity unit or an accent feature, it will completely lift a bathroom scheme and you can pull from this colour in any way you like. Whether that’s adding deeper hues of the shade on decor, or going for a contrasting shade.
Take note from the below with the perfectly colour matched paint colour to the wallpaper, and contrasting black sink which beautifully grounds the scheme.
Interesting Tile Play
Tiles are a design accent in their own right, and the rise of interesting tile play is fun and adds a different dimension to a bathroom. If bold colours aren’t enough, we’re going one further this year with breaking the boundaries on how you install them.
Using one type of tile throughout a bathroom can make a space feel cold, but introduce two or even three different types of tiles and this can help to increase visual interest, and add depth to the space.
Take for example, this Ca’ Pietra bathroom below. They’re two very different types of tiles, the lower half is much more defining with a grey vein, whilst the juxtaposition against the zellige square tiles completely works. It’s fun, and a great example of how neutral tiles can feel, and look more interesting.
You don’t have to follow the rule book when it comes to tiling. Vertically stacking tiles instead of a traditional horizontal look draws the eye up, giving the illusion of a bigger space. Or instead of taking one tile from the floor to ceiling, break it up by creating a border around the perimeter of the room with a different type of tile.
Challenging the norm with how you position and layer tiles adds a fun, unique outlook to a bathroom, and it’s something that won’t date.
Mixed Materials For Depth & Interest
Mixing materials in an interior design scheme is key to creating a layered and interesting room that doesn’t feel flat. Mixing metals through hardware was a trending design element last year, and we’re seeing a continuation of that this year through materials used across a bathroom space.
Bekki Griffiths, Senior Marketing Communications Manager at Wetwall added, “Mixed materials will become a defining feature of bathroom design, where blending various textures will craft a rich, layered feel”.
“Expect to see inventive pairings, like marble vanities set against concrete walls or wooden accents combined with glossy finishes. Mixed materials will be used to create focal points and add dimension, making bathrooms feel more bespoke and thoughtfully designed. By incorporating a variety of textures, designers can create spaces that are both contemporary and inviting, ensuring your bathroom stands out with a unique and stylish flair. This effect is easily achieved with wall panels, which are available in a range of styles, are cost-effective, and perfectly complement the opulent, layered looks of modern bathroom renovations”.
If you’re planning a bathroom and not sure where to start, the best place is to start at the beginning. Once you have an idea on the style of space you want to create, order samples for all of your finishes, this should include tiles, wall panels (if you’re going down this route), paint samples and hardware.
Positioning everything next to each other on a board will allow you to get a grasp for how it will feel blown up in the bathroom. Don’t be afraid to go for bolder choices that you might not normally consider, being brave pays off!
Biophilic Design Re-emerges
Creating serene, spa like sanctuaries in our bathrooms continues to be a pressing trend. Perhaps, we’re wanting to lean even closer into the natural world around us, and biophilic design is going to inspire our bathrooms even more as we head into 2025.
You also don’t have to be opting for a complete remodel to lean into this trend. Incorporating natural elements into our bathroom design to help us feel more at one with nature could be as simple as introducing a bunch of air purifying plants into your bathroom.
Bekki Griffiths said, “The influence of biophilic design will continue to shape bathroom design in 2025, drawing inspiration from the natural world to create calming and restorative spaces. Elements such as earthy textures, irregular shapes, and natural colour palettes will bring the outdoors inside, fostering a sense of tranquillity that is increasingly important as people spend 90% of their time indoors, according to World Health Organisation statistics“.
“To enhance this connection to nature, features like stone-like tiles, wooden accents and integrated plant elements will be prominent. These elements echo the soothing effects of natural environments, which have been shown to improve mental wellbeing and reduce stress”.
Incorporating natural elements could include opting for wood effect bathroom panels instead of traditional tile choices, they’re great for introducing natural warmth and they are a crossover with Japandi style bathrooms which continue to be a rising interior design trend across all rooms of a home.
Bold Design Choices With Vanity Units
Spacious, gorgeous vanity units are in, and in a big way. Findings from a survey of 228 UK homeowners on Houzz about their recent or planned bathroom renovation projects revealed that nearly two-thirds of homeowners upgraded their vanity cabinets during primary bathroom renovations (63%).
The survey also revealed that vanities are stepping into the spotlight as focal points, providing one of the few opportunities to add a splash of colour to bathrooms. Choosing colour is a daunting thing for many homeowners, and opting for an accent colour on a piece of furniture such as a vanity unit is a step forward to celebrating colour.
Wood remains the top choice for vanities, with 1 in 5 homeowners opting for this natural finish, followed by popular shades like grey (14%), blue (8%), green (6%), and brown (3%). Personalisation is key, with nearly 1 in 5 homeowners (19%) investing in semi-custom or custom vanity options to create a truly unique look.
I can vouch for the fact that in interior design projects, I am seeing more of a lean into making vanity units the focal feature of the bathroom.
In our recent bathroom renovation (Image below), I found an old unit on Facebook marketplace for £15, I sanded, and painted it in Parma Gray by Farrow and Ball, polishing the hardware and adding a large sink to the top.
Large vanities usually come at a price, but buying second hand and going for an option like this means that it can become more accessible, I am a firm believe that there shouldn’t be a barrier to anyone who wants a trendy, stylish space. If you use colour on a vanity, this is a perfect opportunity to bring it through the woodwork in the bathroom too, it creates a more intentional feel of using the colour.
3D Effect Tiles Are In, & In A Big Way
There’s lots to get excited about around tile trends this year, and there has been a huge rise in almost 3D effect, fluted tiles that add much more texture and visual interest to a bathroom scheme.
Fluted tiles have risen in popularity and are a fun way to add verticality to a bathroom. These types of tiles can be butted together to look like they are much larger scale tiles, adding a sleek format to a bathroom that works in modern, Japandi and coastal style bathroom schemes.
Generally this style works best in a smaller format, such as on a half wall tiled setting, or in a shower enclosure.
Round Rain Waterfall Showers For The Ultimate Spa Like Experience
I always think that designing your bathroom is the most important room of the home. It’s that space you want to relax and unwind in, and a room that makes you feel good!
The need to create spa like sanctuaries continues to be at the forefront of decisions (it hit the 2024 bathroom trends round up), and making updates to your shower setup is one of the best ways to update how the space feels when you use it.
Waterfall showers haven’t always been the most attractive fixtures in a bathroom, but packaged with a curved body and they bring beautiful softness to a shower enclosure.
According to the Houzz’ study, a whopping 80% of homeowners who have added, replacing, or have replaced a shower as part of their planned bathroom renovation during 2023-24 opted for a rain or waterfall shower head.
Brass finishes remain a popular choice on these types of shower heads as they add instant warmth against a cool tile scheme, whilst bringing a touch of luxury with it. The below bathroom is ticking all of the trend boxes with zellige tiles, a waterfall shower and a juxtaposition between tiles, and tongue and groove panelling.
Cosy Alcove Baths
Whether you’re dealing with a sloped bathroom ceiling in an attic or want to create a cosier feel in a bathroom, Houzz’ survey revealed that when choosing the type of bath, 40% of homeowners are opting for one that is bordered by three walls, otherwise known as an ‘alcove bath’.
Not only is this great for smaller spaces, but it creates a much cosier setting for standalone baths. There’s been an even greater pull towards creating a feature out of these ‘alcove baths’ by adding a a border around the sides of the wall and across the ceiling. It delivers a more traditional approach to the space and is great for making cavernous, tall bathroom ceilings feel cosier.
It’s one of the most perfect solutions for hard to please spaces such as attic bathrooms. You maximise the space you have, but don’t encroach on head space where a shower wouldn’t be a feasible option. We love this trending bathroom feature!
What are your thoughts on the 2025 bathroom trends?
