11 Minimalist Bathroom Ideas That Aren't All White Everything

Do you know why almost every hotel has white bedding and towels? Because when you can see how crisp and spotless they are, you automatically believe the room is clean. Minimalist bathrooms have a similar effect. A tight color palette, a sleek round mirror, a curbless shower—these are the types of elements that give you that squeaky-clean feeling (well, that and a good sudsing). The 11 minimalist bathrooms we’ve rounded up below are by no means immune to bronzer powder dust gunking up the sink or wet towels being flung on the floor, but they do look orderly through it all.

Create Clear Sight Lines

In a bathroom as small as the one in this Manhattan apartment, designed by Silvana Vergara, a minimalist aesthetic can make the space feel much larger than it really is. It all starts with the right shower divider. While a patterned curtain would read as too busy, a clear glass partition looks sleek and lets light shine through. FYI: It’s not an expensive upgrade. You can find a similar-looking metal-framed panel on Wayfair for only $500.

Walk Into a Wet Room

The idea behind this L.A. bathroom was ease: You can hop underneath the showerhead without stepping over a curb or moving a sliding door. The only time you have to crouch down is when you want to get into the Madre Perla stone–clad tub. “You’re able to have that European spa bathhouse feel,” says Alison Wilson, one of the home’s designers.

Swathe the Walls in SureCrete

Instead of retiling her old Pacific Palisades bathroom to achieve a brand-new look, Leanne Ford coated the walls in SureCrete, a decorative concrete resurfacing material. The treatment, which has the consistency of pancake batter and can be applied with a drywall knife, trowel, or spray gun, instantly transports the skylit shower to Santorini.

Separate the Shower and Vanity

The kids’ bathroom in designer Dana Lynch’s Georgia cabin works smarter, not harder. She put the vanity in the hallway and separated everything else with two doors; that way you can have someone using the toilet, someone showering, and someone brushing their teeth all at the same time. When actions are isolated, so is clutter.

Go Monochrome, Part 1

You can have zellige tile, tadelakt walls, and a mix of hardware finishes and still call your bathroom minimalist as long as they stick to a tight color palette. In this space, designer Elspeth Benoit landed on deep shades of blue. Even though there is a glass shower door dividing the space, it looks like one wall surface bleeds into the next.

Go Monochrome, Part 2

In case you needed another reminder that not all minimalist bathrooms need to be white, peep film director and visual artist Loïc Maes’s space, designed by architecture firm Re-ad. The different tones of black lend a sense of depth to the room, and they continue down to the stained concrete floors and even up to the ceiling, which happens to be painted a medium gray hue.

Make Bold Moves With Curves

Scratch that maximalist itch with exaggerated shapes. In this Park City, Utah, bathroom, an enormous round window and curved shower wall clad in chalky white Stone Source tile create the wow factor.

Hone in on the Medicine Cabinet

Maybe it’s because homeowner Cheryl Mainland describes her style as “industrial beach chic,” or maybe it’s because her son’s name is Cobalt—either way, her medicine cabinet ended up with a lick of blue around the base and on the handle. The detail introduces some much-needed personality to what otherwise could feel like a sterile space without being overwhelming.

Babyproof the Zenlike Shower

Minimalists by nature, Natalia Swarz and Armando Mesías make living in a 700-square-foot home (with a toddler) look easy thanks to a tranquil grouping of materials. In the bathroom, they combined olive green zellige tile and dim lighting to set a relaxing mood for nighttime baths with their little one. The way the shower is open without a glass door or curtain makes it easy to slide their daughter's bathtub in there, too.

Become One With the Bedroom

Chef Nasim Alikhani did the most minimalist thing one can do: She didn’t put a wall up between her bedroom and bathroom. Even though her friends joke she’ll never be able to sell the New York City apartment due to the open sinks perched above her bed, she stands by the setup, as she loves to wash her face in fresh air and natural light. Plus being forced to look at your bathroom sink even when you’re not in there would make anyone a tidy person.

Warm Things Up Without Doing Too Much

This Brooklyn Heights bathroom, designed by Claire Hung, almost seems to glow thanks to its buttery yellow sink, custom limewash walls, and flowy linen shower curtain. "To really make this small bathroom feel minimal, we used a wall-mount sink that is completely open below," says Hung. "We coupled it with a wall-mount faucet, and the look is supremely clean and free of bulk and clutter."