Make A Windowless Bathroom Feel Lighter With Expert-Approved Hacks

Bathrooms are often decorated in a way that makes them look light and airy, offering a fresh and clean feeling for guests and home dwellers alike. But how do you get that same feel without natural sunlight? Windowless bathrooms can be a hard nut to crack, and can sometimes feel like dungeons if they aren't decorated correctly. Luckily, there are some great tips for brightening up your windowless bathroom, most of which focus on various accents and supplemental lighting choices that bring light, life, and color into the space so guests don't even notice the lack of windows. 

Cristiana Crin, Founder of Perpetuum Designs, spoke exclusively with House Digest about how to make a windowless bathroom feel lighter. If you're worrying about how your dark and potentially dull bathroom can look good without spending money and time adding a window yourself, Crin has some comforting words. "Windowless bathrooms don't have to be boring or feel tight," she told House Digest. "If accents are used correctly, the space can be a fascinating place to be." The accents she has in mind include ways to jazz up your walls and increase your light in the space — so, put down that sledge hammer and keep reading to get the full run down of simple hacks that don't require you putting a hole in your wall. 

One way to add some brightness to a windowless bathroom is by using interesting visual techniques that put accents on multiple surfaces of the bathroom, instead of just the walls. In her exclusive interview with House Digest, Cristiana Crin recommended using colors to liven up an otherwise dark bathroom area, and also applying them to the flooring and/or ceiling of the room. Crin suggested doing this by "Choosing a colorful floor tile, that continues as a wall accent all the way to the ceiling will create a visual that will distract the eye." There are plenty of great bathroom tile colors to try instead of white, like yellows, greens, and blues, which can make a space feel light. 

If tile isn't your thing, fear not. "Another successful way to distract the eye is by installing a wallpaper on the ceiling," Crin added. She noted that opting for a "bold and rich" wallpaper will help focus guests' eyes on the patterns and beauty of the wall décor instead of on the lack of windows. And, if you'd prefer to go with a simple coat of paint, that's a possibility, too. Just be careful about choosing your color. "As a general rule for bathrooms when it comes to paint, it all depends on the size of the space. If it's a small bathroom, especially one that does not have windows, the safest choice is to choose lighter colors," Crin told House Digest, noting that you can still have a "deep undertone" like in Blackened and Hardwick White from Farrow and Ball.

Another great way to make a windowless bathroom lighter is to, well, add lights. There is plenty of research done about the best lightbulbs for windowless bathrooms, and other simple tips and tricks for choosing lighting types. Décor expert Cristiana Crin gave some crucial insight in her exclusive interview with House Digest. She started off with a pretty good rule of thumb: "When it comes to lighting, it's safe to say that the general rule is that we need to have lighting next to the mirror, for obvious reasons," Crin said. However, she noted that the "fun begins" when looking into accents. She specifically recommended a "hanging pendant light right next to the mirror" as a finishing touch in a wallpapered bathroom, and "interesting wall sconces" in tiled and painted bathrooms.

You can also add vanity lighting, and it's not too hard to pick out the perfect size light fixture for your bathroom vanity that will offer lighting close to the mirror that then gets reflected throughout the room. Crin also mentioned that there are certain types of rooms that can offer even more space for creativity: "If it's a powder room (aka a half bathroom), we have a little bit more flexibility and we don't have to go for the traditional route installing a vanity light." So, in smaller bathrooms, things like wall sconces and accent pendants can also liven up the space. Regardless of your choice, pay attention to the little things. "In a windowless bathroom, the more we pay attention to the little details, the better the final result will be," Crin said.