HGTV's Property Brothers Have A Tip To Add Boldness To Your Bathroom

A bathroom should be comfortable and practical, but it's also an opportunity to have fun with design and increase the value of your home. When you're taking on a bathroom update, it's important to choose the perfect design and style for your space. For some lucky homeowners, this undertaking won't be done alone. HGTV's Property Brothers, Jonathan and Drew Scott, are a sibling-duo who use their respective expertise in contracting and real estate to increase a home's function, style, and value through renovation. But even if you don't have the Scott brothers on hand, their advice can still guide your choices. In an interview with MyDomaine, Jonathan and Drew suggest boosting your bathroom's interior through choosing interesting tile. And in one episode of their show "Brother vs. Brother," they take that concept to the next level by using marble stone slabs for the tub and vanity countertop.

What distinguishes slab from tile is that slabs are smooth and in one large sheet, rather than cut up, so they give a different feel to elements such as your shower walls or vanity mirror backdrop. Some popular choices for stone slabs include slate, marble, granite, and onyx. The stone can also be customized to your preferences and cut to size for your space's needs. And while some people think the bathroom is the ideal place for color in the home, Jonathan and Drew point out that even small spaces can benefit from darker accents and additions.

Dark-colored stone slabs can enhance your bathroom's look and feel without making things feel weighed down or drab, and sometimes it's even true that a dark palette can make a small bathroom feel bigger because of the illusion of depth. Dark colors can also be better at hiding stains and imperfections.

Some options for dark slabs are black granite, black lotus quartzite, malachite marble, and some kinds of onyx stones such as ones with ocean blue pigments. Malachite marble might be an especially appealing choice because of its green tones, and according to the Property Brothers, green can promote feelings of "safety, hope, and revitalization." There's also an argument for onyx stone being a great choice because it's not only bold and dark, but it's also translucent and can also carry light into your space. Those qualities make onyx slabs highly sought-after, but it's found mostly in high-end homes because of its high price point and need for regular maintenance.

To further make sure that dark stone slabs don't overwhelm your space, prioritize harmony and balance in your decor. One way to do so is through using light paint on the walls to create a contrast. The Property Brothers also recommend keeping continuity in mind, and potentially using the same kind of stone slabs in other parts of the home, which might help elongate the dark tones throughout the house and make them feel less drastic.

Light-colored slabs might not carry the same reputation for drama as their dark-colored counterparts, but they can still add boldness to a bathroom by making the space feel larger. Plus, there might be more room to play with different patterns when you're using lighter colored stones because you'll have an airier space and more light. An exciting option is using pink quartzite or pink onyx, which add a light pop of color to the room.

It's also been said that soft tan hues, like those in travertine stones, can complement a greenhouse-inspired aesthetic and offer a great basis for bathroom plants such as eucalyptus, which is also good for your health. Another option is to use multi-color veronese stones which can have a mosaic look on a lighter colored background to create an interesting pattern and focal point.

There are other benefits to light stones, even beyond their aesthetic. They can sometimes be more cost-friendly, since quartz, which comes in colorways including bright whites and light browns, is one of the more affordable stones to use in a home. Quartz is also low-maintenance, which is why Drew and Jonathan call it a "must" for a bathroom area that might be prone to getting messy.