The One Detail That Makes Or Breaks A Blue-And-White Bathroom

The classic color combination of blue and white establishes a timeless look in many rooms, including your bathroom. The balance between neutral white and fan-favorite blue establishes a breezy and calming feeling that is regularly used in bathrooms. But if blue and white are applied to the bathroom incorrectly, the space could feel cold and unwelcoming. A pale sky blue may look washed out when combined with white while a navy can appear too dark. Deep teal could be so overpowering that even white tones won't be able to ground it. There's an important element that is often overlooked but must be considered to create the perfect blue and white bathroom: temperature.

Temperature makes all the difference in establishing the comfort of a space and should help guide you to finding the perfect shade of blue paint for your dream bathroom. This will also help determine the ratio of how much blue should be used compared to white. But how does color correlate to a bathroom's climate? It has a lot to do with how light enters and hits the room. 

Sunlight can influence how the room should be painted. Observe the temperature of your bathroom on an average day, and let that lead you to the right variation of blue. Blue should compliment how the bathroom feels — if your room already feels cold, it is best to select a warm tone of blue to balance the space. Adding lots of cool blue into the space can make it feel even cooler and even unwelcoming. In comparison, a sweltering bathroom can be cooled down with blues that have a green saturation.

When you design a bathroom, you usually focus on the spacing of objects and placement for fixtures and decor along with the color scheme. Those elements are important, but getting the shades just right, even after you choose a color, affects the overall look. Once you decide on a blue and white color scheme, understanding the overall temperature of the space is also part of the conversation. 

In general, blue itself is considered to be a cool tone, but it's available in an unlimited number of hues that range between warm and cold. The undertones of the color are what impact whether a particular shade of blue is considered to be warmer or cooler. Blues with yellow or purple undertones have a warm feeling to them while green undertones establish a colder blue.

Consider the direction your bathroom faces to make the overall temperature feel right. In general, bathrooms that feel cooler are ones that face north or east, as well as those with small windows that bring in the least amount of sunshine. You'll want to avoid cooler shades of blue in those spaces. South-facing bathrooms will feel warmer, so avoid blues that have a hot red or yellow undertone as they can make the bathroom feel even hotter. Instead, pull in the cooler shades with green undertones. That's perfect if you want to embrace what is trending at the moment — cool blues are back and make the perfect companion to a crisp, fresh white.