Based on the (small) photo, I'd be concerned that the dark brown would be too much with your dark-wood vanity and accessories (shelves, mirror, shower curtain, etc). There won't be any contrast and the overall look will be very "heavy" even with bright pops of color. Now, if you were keeping the lighter tiles outside of the shower (or a lighter paint/wainscotting) and just painting the dark brown wall above it...that would keep the brown from overwhelming things.

Go for it! The room is already small and the white you have there now is not working to create an illusion that it is actually bigger. I have never really understood that thinking anyway...embrace the size of your space!

Lighten up your vanity and swap out the shower curtain for something a little more simple (maybe vertical stripes), wainscoting would be great and inexpensive , and the go for it!

I think if you're going for dark brown on the walls, you might want to use white tile on the wall and white sink/toilet, white shower curtain, etc. Right now the fixtures all look like that beige/bisque color - but not sure how much you are willing to change.

Go for it!

Bathrooms are great places to be daring. The money you spend on tiles etc. goes far in a small space. I think of washrooms as little jewels in the house; go dramatic. The little hits of orange and green will lead the eye where you want it to go. If you wanted to go super-rich, keep the wall/tile/fixutres color dark brown and instead of playing with color, play with the textures and reflectivity.

I had a very similar bath. Painted the walls Restoration Hardware's very dark brown paint, with white trim, white pedestal sink, white toilet, white tile floors, chrome and white wall sconces. Used bright chartreuse towels and a coral colored vase. Looked amazing. Dark walls in a small space tend to recede, and the space looks bigger.

Go for it.

The worst that can happen is you hate it and have to repaint.

I might paint the ceiling the same color so the room is like being inside a little chocolate box. And I like the idea of white wainscotting and a white shower curtain.

We painted our tiny bathroom dark brown about 3 years ago and we love it. The wall tiles are pale blue, floor is dark grey and our cabinet is painted a grey/blue. But all the bath, sink etc are white so there is enough contrast.

I say go for it. Everyone told me that our bathroom would look even smaller, but it doesn't. Its just a can of paint after all.

I once had a small bathroom that had darkish brown glossy ceramic tiles on the walls. Everything else was white. It looked pretty good. If you use brown paint, make sure it has a certain level of gloss to it.

Definitely! I love the sound of those colors together.

It might even work to get a color that has a little metallic sheen to it.

Do it. It sounds wonderful. I wouldn't worry about contrasting it with a lot of light elements.

While I wouldn't use brown because I lean toward brights and white my preferences are irrelevant here. Since it's a small room, trying brown probably would be better than feeling resentfully trapped by convention. Otherwise, you'll feel frustrated and keep wondering whether it would have been great. A person should be free to be creative at home, again my perspective.

NOOOO! The dark brown paint and dark brown trim will clash and make your room look like a cave.

If, on the other hand, you're willing to paint all your woodwork white, including the door, then go for it.

Absolutely - do it! Painting small rooms dark colors gives them drama and interest. As someone else pointed out, the room is small and you can't really hide that by keeping it pale and boring. If you want more inspiration, just Google "dark bathrooms" for some encouragement.

I personally think that bathrooms are the one place where some rules apply - namely that it be bright enough to really be able to see yourself in the mirror. Also, that the color is not so heavy in one direction that the entire light of the room is always skewed. That's just me, for this particular room.

My guess is if she's ditching the tile on the way she's probably ditching those yucky cabinets. Because those are way more dated then the tile.

So yah, go right ahead and paint that puppy brown. And I like the idea of a metallic sheen, or gloss to it like some others said.

Good luck!

on the wall*

I did, and it looks awesome - believe me, people know the bathroom is small (total 5x8) so it's virtually impossible to make it look any smaller. We used a rich, mid-toned brown w/a reddish undertone. Not as deep/dark as chocolate (it was the "2nd to last color" on the paint chip), but it goes well with the vanity, etc.

I would replace the high gloss beige tiles with whiter -- instant brightener -- and then do high gloss brown paint on the walls and get a HUGE mirror. Then use your accent colors as you wish. I think the white tiles will be better for resale value -- the walls can be painted spa like green or blue when you are showing the place -- and they will offer a good bright contrast to the brown. doing beige tiles again will make it feel really 70s and dated and a little grimy and dingy. And make the counter white.. ideally Carrara marble or silestone or similar. With good white hardscaping to make it feel clean and bright you can do ANYTHING with color.

I'm with @clampers, a metallic sheen, like a dark bronze might be cool... more interesting than a plain brown, and more reflective which is good in a small area. I'm also with everybody recommending a lot of white trim, too. The contrast would be sophisticated and make the colors work better.

My old house had that same sand beige toilet, and I discoverd that (at least at that time) you could order custom seats to match at Home Depot (and possibley Lowes, not sure about that one) so you didn't have that "saddle shoe" effect with a white seat on beige.

I did my small laundry room and a closet in a chocolate brown.

I think chocolate looks best in a satin finish. Anything with less of a sheen can come out looking dull, and I just don't think anything with more sheen looks good on walls (though it's perfect for trim).

In doing my research before choosing to go brown, I found that brown walls tend to work best when they're balanced with lots of white (flooring, trim, rugs, furnishings, accessories, etc.). The beiges and ivories in your bathroom should have a similar effect. I'd advise redoing/adding to the trim (maybe even adding some crown molding) to make sure the white is at its whitest. White beadboard in place of the tile would also help balance the brown. The accent colors you've chosen are perfect pairings for brown and will keep the color from coming across as drab or overly serious.

All in all, I say go for it!

Brown especially makes small rooms dark and cave-like. Is this your main bathroom? Do you use makeup? Ever go out at night to a club or get ready for work in this bathroom? You'll hate the problems of illuminating your face or dropping a bar of soap with the shower curtain drawn.

Then, when you've finally had it and decide to paint white, you'll spend a fortune and hours priming and re-painting to cover the dark color.

Match your decorating ideas to the house you're living in. Try white or light first with all the other colors that you've picked out. Want to test? Buy el cheapo flat sheets from IKEA in dark or a dark brown returnable shower curtain and pin up to the walls near the mirror and behind.

I don't know about brown so much, but definitely don't be afraid to go dark in a small room! You mentioned teal was part of your scheme, I think that would look terrific.

I have two bathrooms in my house, and the larger one is exactly this size. I covered the whole thing with dark grey wallpaper and it is amazing! Not cave-y at all. I am actually going to do it in the smaller bathroom too, which is only about 4x5.

I would warn you that the Dark Brown will make your bathroom even smaller. If I were you I would pull a similar teal color from your shower curtain and use that on the walls. It will help balance your color pallette. Just a thought. :)

Sure, pulling another color from your textiles would work. Or you could go for the gusto-- do the brown paint and switch out the curtain. I have a tiny bathroom I did in Martha Stewart's Brook Trout and did a light neutral curtain... I kept the ceiling an off-white and it looks great! Perfect backdrop for touches of a bold color in the accessories, which are easy to swap out if you want a change.

I think dark colors work in small rooms, but that brown is a tough one. You literally feel like you're in a hole underground. I speak from experience -- an old roommate always painted her room (through several apartments) in a deep red/brown. Even when she had a very light-flooded room, it felt oppressive and claustrophobic.

I'd be much more interested in seeing a deep blue/green that draws from the teal you'll be using.

2nd vote for teal. There's already a lot of brown happening. And with the vanity and trim and all, the room would be drowning in brown.

Hard to say how the tile would look, you say the tile in the bath is a light brown. But the white tile is going. Are you going to replace tile with just paint?

If you did half of the room in bright white tile, and upper half in brown, that could look nice.

Or beadboard.

Good luck!

NO brown. A light color is needed. A soft yellow would be good. Not a bright yellow or a mustard yellow, just a very light, morning sun yellow.

I know I am late to the party here, but I say go for it. I also have a tiny 5x8 bathroom. It has powder blue tile half way up the wall. I pained the room a dark grey and absolutely love it. It makes the 50's tile actually feel sophisticated.

One word of advice, paint the ceiling the same color too. At first I didn't paint the ceiling and I just seemed weird in there. After I painted the ceiling the entire space seemed to come together.

Hi,

I debated the same when dealing with our tiny half bathroom. I wanted deep, dark grey. It looks surprisingly awesome. I went for high contrast between very white toilet and sink and the darkness of the walls. Also- I have no tile at all on the walls. Not sure if that's your preference, but it exposes more color. Good luck!

I did 'go for it' at one apt. and used a ben moore chocolate brown..in satin..the 'sheen'..with glossy super white door and trim. White waffle shower curtain/white sink/toil./white floor. The color accessories were the little bright orange or hot pink handtowels..with baskets on shelf of an 'island' looking type straw/weave..no teal used..but a bit would look fun as well.I just went for the 'island' type of look with my chocolate brown little, tiny bathroom..

..and a large clear glass vase on floor in the corner with a bundle of skinny bamboo..it set it off nicely and I think I did have a tiny lime green 'something' on a shelf too..It didn't look all cavey and dark due to sunny window..

I am the last to caution anyone about being bold with color (you should see me house!) but my personal experience is that you should be very careful about dark colors in a bathroom. Or at least how you accessorize / use art.

We painted a very small bathroom (5x8 sounds right) a dark eggplant. It was lovely. BUT when I stood in front of the mirror with my hairdryer I couldn't see my hair. LOL! It blended into the dark color of the wall! Because of the way the door opened, we couldn't hang art on that space so we ended up repainting everything a bright lime green so there was more contrast. Also, it made us giggle. :)

I agree with the person who proposed countering brown walls with white: white wall tiles half-way up the wall, fixtures, flooring and vanity.
I would also suggest another cosmetic fix to this dated bathroom- paint the vanity if you don't plan on replacing it! I did this in all 3 of my bathrooms which had oak vanities that were anything but fresh and modern. After researching how to paint them properly, it took very little time. I also added new hardware and they all looked new.

So, if you go for brown walls, do white elsewhere- vanity and countertop/sink, floors, etc.