How To Turn Your Bathroom Into A Tropical Oasis
Any home's bathroom should be a spot of great relaxation and rejuvenation. It is the place where you get ready to tackle the day each morning and end your evening in preparation for a good night's sleep. As a result, your bathroom can set your mood for a day full of productivity or one that starts off on the wrong foot and gets worse from there (via Maxine Brady). The time you spend in this room is immensely important, yet sadly many people fail to recognize the value that this space can provide to a daily routine.
Reimagining your bathroom as a tropical oasis is an amazing way to recapture the energy and ambiance of this space, making it work to set the tone for a great day every day. One key change you can make to this space is incorporating a bathtub. Built-in bathtubs can be used as either a shower unit or a bath, making excellent relaxation additions to this space. The ability to soak in the bath is simply one of those features of lavish living that many people are searching for. If you already have this facility in your bathroom, revitalizing the space so that you can use it more effectively (and more often) is essential.
Starting with the bathing space and working outward will give you an effective means of transforming your bathroom from bland into a unique oasis that's perfectly suited to launching countless fantastic days.
Incorporate tropical plant life to set the mood
One of the first things that you can do to transform your bathroom space is an effort of simple addition: Placing indoor tropical plants in the room will give it a much-needed mood boost, according to Boston Magazine. Unfortunately, these spaces often suffer from a distinct lack of these types of decorations. It can be easy to overlook the importance of natural foliage in any part of the home, but this void is especially prevalent in bathrooms. Often, homeowners think of the washroom as a separate and closed-off space in their property and don't style it the same way they would any other portion of the house.
Bringing indoor plants to your bathroom will transform the energy and ambiance of this space. With the help of tropical-specific plant additions, you can set the mood in this home area and provide it with a powerful new decorative spirit. Greenery makes a bold statement no matter where you place them, and houseplants are often very affordable when it comes to decorative options. So using tropical varieties in your bathroom will immediately elevate the space's spirit.
Make use of bamboo features as an ambiance enhancer
In the same way the tropical plants take center stage in your decorative rebrand of the bathroom, build features work in tandem with these efforts. Bamboo is a hardy plant, and it's found in virtually all locations that might be classified as tropical (via One Tree Planted). It provides an immensely satisfying visual addition to a garden space and interior décor as a planted ornament. However, you don't only need to use it as a potted plant.
Since bamboo is a highly versatile material for constructing all kinds of different things, items made of it are making their way into the marketplace in various segments. Homeowners use this as a medium for their chopping boards, shelving needs, and even as a wall covering. Using bamboo products in the bathroom will augment the introduction of tropical plants and any other efforts you make to reimagine this space as an exotic oasis.
To make matters even more appealing, bamboo products are often very reasonably priced because the wood material grows rapidly and it's easy to work with as a manufacturing resource. In addition, bamboo is highly water resistant and makes a perfect addition to virtually any bathroom format.
Don't be afraid of stone veneers
Stone is another element that can be used as a highly effective means of transforming the ambiance of your bathroom. A stone veneer wall or slate tiles for the ground can create the feeling of a tropical grotto carved out of a sheer rock face just for you. Homeowners might be hesitant to incorporate stone elements because oftentimes, these can be a bit darker in color than a more traditional tile format.
However, when working to create a tropical-themed environment for your bathing and daily preparation needs, a mixture of green plant matter and dark stone backdrops can make for a wonderfully inviting space that will set you up for success day after day. Salvatori notes that this addition is the height of elegance, and matched up with other tropical themes, it can provide the spark you need to make this the perfect area of relaxation and the launchpad for many fantastic days to come.
If you're thinking of incorporating stone but don't want to go all in on slate tiles or a wall segment, utilizing stone elements for the countertop to go along with your vanity and sink space can bring this feature in with a bit more restrained modesty. Additionally, stone is a natural element that frequently compliments plants, and utilizing these two features together in your bathroom can make for an intimate and tropical environment that looks and feels fantastic.
Make the most of natural lighting and match it with soft bulbs or candle additions
Lighting is a complex part of the equation. In order to create the perfect tropical setting, you'll need to find ways to bring ample natural lighting into the space. One thing that all tropical environments have in common is a kind of geographic centrality; most exotic landscapes are found near the equator (via National Geographic). This makes them warm and inviting, but it also means that they experience some of the longest daylight hours of anywhere on the Earth at all times of the year.
In order to truly embrace a tropical oasis in your bathroom, you'll need to account for this natural lighting that prevails in the tropics themselves. One option here is to use large windows or even skylight additions to allow ample sunlight to flow into your bathroom throughout the day.
Another important feature is the lighting element that will make this space useful even at night. Clinical lighting is never a good idea in a home setting, so soft white light bulbs are a must for the bathroom. Another good option for critical ambiance in the space is the use of dedicated candles. Candlelight provides a more intimate setting and can go a long way to set the mood when you're getting ready for an evening out with friends or simply want to wind down at the end of a long day with a hot bath.
Consider scent additions
Lastly, scent is an important feature of the human sensory experience. The sights and sounds that prevail throughout your home can prime you for certain kinds of emotions or feelings, but there is something that's just special about the human sense of smell (via Fifth Sense). Smells go above and beyond when it comes to setting a mood; yet, the bathroom can easily smell dirty clothes, body odor, and worse. Tackling the smell of this space is a great way to finish the transformation from a drab and simple room into a tropical oasis.
If you're planning on bringing candles into the space, using scented options can give you an enhanced ability to create the environment of a jungle, seaside town, or any other tropical clime. Alternatively, scented sprays and other means of fighting the odors that can creep into a bathroom will serve you well as you work to retool this space for greater relaxation and a specialized ambiance that takes its cue from more tropical parts of the world.