Forget White: Use This Shower Curtain Color Theme To Make A Small Bathroom Look Bigger

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It's no secret that designers have employed light color schemes for years to draw natural light and make small bathrooms seem bigger. Joanna Gaines, after all, is a master of using texture and pattern to give white space more dimension and interest. However, too much white can get boring and leave your getting-ready space devoid of personality. On the flip side, filling an already tiny bathroom with bold colors and busy prints can be overwhelming to the eye — not what you need to encounter while half asleep in the morning. That being said, there's a much simpler solution to explore before you drench your walls in eggshell paint or DIY an abstract tile floor. All you need is a striped shower curtain! 

This shower curtain idea can make your bathroom feel bigger using the color-blocking method, featuring thick stripes in contrasting colors. One set of alternating stripes should be white, light gray, or another soft neutral, while the other stripes can be a fun color of your choosing. The blend of neutral and colorful stripes adds just the right amount of style while visually lengthening (with vertical stripes) or widening the bathroom (with horizontal stripes). It works so well because dark and bold colors by themselves can overpower small bathrooms or even create a claustrophobic feel, whereas light neutrals and bright shades of white on their own can be dull or stark in comparison. Together in a striped pattern, the two shades result in a balanced appearance that's pleasing to the eye. Not to mention, you can buy shower curtains for pretty cheap, and setup is a breeze — no remodeling or painting required! 

When choosing striped shower curtains for your bathroom, there are a few key elements to consider. First, stripe size. Very subtle or small stripes won't do the job as well as intentional large-scale patterns that emphasize the contrast between colors. The wider and more noticeable the stripes, the more effective they will be at visually expanding your space. Walmart sells cute retro vertically striped curtains that serve as the perfect example of what to look for. Next, you need to determine what is making your bathroom seem so small, because that will indicate the stripe orientation you need. Does it have low ceilings, or is it extremely narrow? Choose shower curtains with vertical stripes if you have low ceilings. The result is a lengthening effect that can make your walls look taller than they actually are.

Shower curtains with a horizontal-stripe pattern, however, will have a visually widening effect in super narrow bathrooms. Walmart's Mainstays striped curtains can serve as a reference for pattern size and orientation. Now, if your bathroom is both narrow and has low ceilings, there's a fix for that too. In this situation, you'll still want to stick with a horizontal-striped shower curtain to widen the room, but you'll want to hang it up higher than usual to create the illusion of higher ceilings. But even if your ceilings are on the low side, it's still a good idea to measure — hanging your shower curtain higher could necessitate extra-long shower curtains to make sure it still covers the threshold of the bathtub or shower enclosure.