10 Ways to Give Your Cloakroom Character
Surprise visitors with a cloakroom that's packed with spirited colour, beautiful wallpaper and luxe materials
Lara Sargent
25 November 2014
Houzz UK contributor. Freelance interiors journalist with over 20 years' experience writing for national magazines, newspapers and websites.
Houzz UK contributor. Freelance interiors journalist with over 20 years' experience... More
Looking for a place to try out some of your wilder decorating ideas? The compact proportions and tucked-away nature of a cloakroom make it the ideal place to unleash your creative energies. And as one of the most-used rooms in the house, your efforts will not go unnoticed…
Experiment with plucky colour, add a blast of wild wallpaper or splash out on an opulent vintage vanity basin. These ten cloakrooms all show how to create a big impression in a small space.
Experiment with plucky colour, add a blast of wild wallpaper or splash out on an opulent vintage vanity basin. These ten cloakrooms all show how to create a big impression in a small space.
Drench with colour
Cloakrooms are the perfect spot to get creative with bold colour and daring wallpaper. While most of us might not have been brave enough to go for opulent jade green on both the tiles and patterned wallpaper, the jaw-dropping result shows that being daring pays dividends. And by adding a mirror to the whole of one wall, the rich jewel shade appears to go on and on.
Be inspired with more green walls
Cloakrooms are the perfect spot to get creative with bold colour and daring wallpaper. While most of us might not have been brave enough to go for opulent jade green on both the tiles and patterned wallpaper, the jaw-dropping result shows that being daring pays dividends. And by adding a mirror to the whole of one wall, the rich jewel shade appears to go on and on.
Be inspired with more green walls
Create an installation
Letting your imagination run wild doesn’t just have to mean using punchy colour. This highly original cloakroom is an oasis of calm thanks to a single panel of woodland wallpaper and an ingenious lighting scheme. There is no real colour, but the room is creative and intriguing.
Letting your imagination run wild doesn’t just have to mean using punchy colour. This highly original cloakroom is an oasis of calm thanks to a single panel of woodland wallpaper and an ingenious lighting scheme. There is no real colour, but the room is creative and intriguing.
Find new ways with white
Space-enhancing white is always a good bet in a cloakroom, but adding a subtle pattern ups the style ante no end. Bookworms will love this library-print wallpaper which adds a fresh, whimsical feel to the contemporary sanitaryware and practical dark flooring.
Space-enhancing white is always a good bet in a cloakroom, but adding a subtle pattern ups the style ante no end. Bookworms will love this library-print wallpaper which adds a fresh, whimsical feel to the contemporary sanitaryware and practical dark flooring.
Make your vanity unit the star
The cloakroom is the ideal place for an opulent design that you really love, as you don’t have to commit to the whole range – with no shower or bath to consider, a decadent vanity unit can take a starring role. Choose a design that’s wildly ornate or sensationally sculptural and, if you dare, pair with a striking wallpaper for maximum impact.
The cloakroom is the ideal place for an opulent design that you really love, as you don’t have to commit to the whole range – with no shower or bath to consider, a decadent vanity unit can take a starring role. Choose a design that’s wildly ornate or sensationally sculptural and, if you dare, pair with a striking wallpaper for maximum impact.
Make it monotone
You can’t go wrong with black and white in the bathroom - it is a timeless combination that’s incredibly easy to pull off. Steer clear of a clinical feel and go for a super-sophisticated look by layering pure white with milkier tones, and hunt down matt charcoal paint for touch-me walls.
You can’t go wrong with black and white in the bathroom - it is a timeless combination that’s incredibly easy to pull off. Steer clear of a clinical feel and go for a super-sophisticated look by layering pure white with milkier tones, and hunt down matt charcoal paint for touch-me walls.
Go halves
If you’ve fallen for a full-on wallpaper but are worried it will be too overwhelming, why not try this clever solution? Dark painted tongue-and-groove panelling provides the perfect contrast to the powerful wallpaper above it, creating the perfect balance between pattern and plain.
If you’ve fallen for a full-on wallpaper but are worried it will be too overwhelming, why not try this clever solution? Dark painted tongue-and-groove panelling provides the perfect contrast to the powerful wallpaper above it, creating the perfect balance between pattern and plain.
Play around with mirrors
Mirrors are an interior designer’s best friend when it comes to small spaces. The mirrored wall at the end of this skinny cloakroom give the illusion that the room goes on forever. A fuss-free, wall-hung trough basin and long, linear wooden planks on the floor and ceiling also fool the eye into believing that the room is a lot larger than it really is.
More ways to work magic with mirrors
Mirrors are an interior designer’s best friend when it comes to small spaces. The mirrored wall at the end of this skinny cloakroom give the illusion that the room goes on forever. A fuss-free, wall-hung trough basin and long, linear wooden planks on the floor and ceiling also fool the eye into believing that the room is a lot larger than it really is.
More ways to work magic with mirrors
Remember lighting
Good lighting is crucial in a cloakroom, especially if the room doesn’t have any windows. A series of recessed spotlights embedded into the floor and ceiling will wash the walls with a calm, subdued light, and create a pleasing shimmer and shine against brushed metal tiles.
Good lighting is crucial in a cloakroom, especially if the room doesn’t have any windows. A series of recessed spotlights embedded into the floor and ceiling will wash the walls with a calm, subdued light, and create a pleasing shimmer and shine against brushed metal tiles.
Turn to the dark side
With white very much the norm in bathrooms, this inky black scheme comes as something of a dramatic and most welcome change. Mix up rich slate floors, charcoal paint and even jet-black towels to make the white sanitaryware really stand out. (And best of all black interiors need far less cleaning!)
With white very much the norm in bathrooms, this inky black scheme comes as something of a dramatic and most welcome change. Mix up rich slate floors, charcoal paint and even jet-black towels to make the white sanitaryware really stand out. (And best of all black interiors need far less cleaning!)
Fit in luxe materials
Take advantage of the compact proportions of a cloakroom to splash out on luxurious materials – the small size means you won’t need to buy as much, and you can use them in creative ways. Rich, tropical woods look fantastic against pale stone and clean white ceramics, and remember to go for a back-to-wall wc and counter-top basin to maximise every last inch of space.
TELL US…
Do you have a fabulous cloakroom? Share your ideas and photos in the Comments below.
Take advantage of the compact proportions of a cloakroom to splash out on luxurious materials – the small size means you won’t need to buy as much, and you can use them in creative ways. Rich, tropical woods look fantastic against pale stone and clean white ceramics, and remember to go for a back-to-wall wc and counter-top basin to maximise every last inch of space.
TELL US…
Do you have a fabulous cloakroom? Share your ideas and photos in the Comments below.
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What a great idea! Love it!