apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Gail--

Your white walls are perfect the way they are - I wouldn't change a thing.

I too like the white, but a very light gray might look nice as well.

I love it as is! I don't think any other color would contrast with that beautiful tile the way that the white does.

i agree but if you must change it i would suggest (oddly for me in this case) maybe a pearl off-white or silver?

I agree: grey or silver would be great: my first thoughts. Lovely bathroom! Otherwise, if it stays white it could use some accessorizing to complement the existing color scheme. good luck!

I agree with most that you should leave it light.
Try painting it the color of the grout. =)
Someone mentioned silver. Great idea! A metallic would be very cool!!

Silver.

Leave it white and add a large mirror above the towel racks.

silver if your walls aren't too lumpy like my bad plastering is. then some big white towels and accents.

The white looks pinkish on my screen but it could be the monitor. I was thinking a pale blue might look nice.

Apply a fresh coat of mud on the walls, then do the water-color pigment in a bucket-of water thing over it. Will give the room a dreamy under-the-sea look without being naff. In aquamarine.

White or http://www.farrow-ball.com/productdetails.aspx?pid=0239WW&cid=PC&language=en-GB

I think it's lovely the way it is...although if I think silver on the ceiling might be interesting...

pick up a blue or green from the tile - but it should be pale, not too dark that works with the glass sink too.

Keep it white and add some towels in the same hue as the tile, but vary the shade, so they're a bit darker.

I love the idea of a metallic of some kind I wouldn't leave it white because it just seems so plain with the gorgeous tile. I would use glass apothecary jars to store personal care products and I would definitely add a succulent or two to add a contrasting color.

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

try "beach glass" from ben moore - keep small accent walls and your ceiling white...

Hi Gail--I agree with the choice of a light gray. I just painted my bedroom a soothing shade from Ralph Lauren called "cool gray." It's very subtle. I think it would go nicely with the color of your tiles.

http://www.sohaute.typepad.com/

I agree with keeping it white, but putting in a large mirror over the towels. Preferably with a simple but substantial frame that balances the darker wood of the cabinetry.

I'll be the dissenting voice for white... too harsh. I'd paint the walls a very pale, muted yellow/green to pick up the wood tones in the vanity withut contrasting too much with the sea blue. Then white towels with just 1 or two accent items in orange. Try just putting a bird of paridise bloom in a vase in there see how just the single pop of orange picks up the interest in the room.

with such great tiles it would be a shame to keep it white. pick the shades and colours you like best in the tiles. If you want to have more contrast go for buttery yellow or light brown or you can go in the other direction and go for a blue or silver. I would also paint the ceiling either in the same colour or is lighter shade of the same colour.

prob not white-white, but what about a shade of it, like a warm light gray? it'll pick up the warm tones in both the cabinetry and (the yellow in) the green so the whole space feels more finished. we did similar green mosaic tiles in our guest bath too and it looks great with the warm gray. i think it softens the walls a bit so you look at the tiles more > (lower/right images) http://bp3.blogger.com/_hrcLr7-YR48/RkH10LPMbvI/AAAAAAAAAAM/ShzKYfADnT4/s1600-h/CIMG0077.jpg

It's to bad you couldn't just continue the tile up the walls, its such a gorgeous color. But I took your picture into photoshop and I took the real dark green from the tile and paint bucketed it up the wall. It looked great. You have so much light color in the tile, the floor, ceiling, fixtures, the dark green looked cool and relaxing. If you have photoshop, you should give it a try!

Good luck!

Aqua:
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/slideshow/slideShow.jsp?slideid=/templatedata/bhg/slideshow/data/Baths_PastelBaths_01012005.xml&page=5

Green:
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/slideshow/slideShow.jsp?slideid=/templatedata/bhg/slideshow/data/SSColor_Green_06152004.xml&page=2

Wall art:
http://tinyurl.com/2b3xwv

You can try wall colors with that framed print, I like the darkest blue-green, sixth from the bottom on the right.

Towels can be SPA WHITE. And perhaps mix tonal blues and greens that will tie in with the other colors, if you want:
http://www.thecompanystore.com/parent/Bath Towels Rugs/3601/VF97X/

Any color other than white is going to make your white toilet stick out like a sore thumb, since it will be the only remaining white thing in a sea of color.

this is remarkably similar to our own bath renovation! what we did was run the tile along the whole length (floor to ceiling) of the long wall, and painted the rest to match the white of the toilet (very little empty wall space left to paint, what with the mirror, etc., although we did not tile behind the toilet and sink).

Painting the walls a colour other than white will compete with or mute your lovely water-green mosaic tile and as nazrd points out, make the toilet too prominent; painting the rest of the walls white (if you can't tile the entire long wall) will let them shine. White and water-green is a classic and fresh combination.

Agree with the other 'white' posts...any other colour would detract from the mosaics. If you absolutely had to change though, maybe try different finishes of white. Over here there's a sandy, seude-y type paint...gives great texture.

believe it or not, we painted ours dark grey. It's all about the accents!

http://blueantstudio.blogspot.com/2007/06/batroom-renovation.html#links

-joel

pewter. it will add some calm mystery.

White is definitely the way to go.

I've used a similar tile in my bath (Hakatai Jade Blend) and found that wood trim between the tile and the white walls does a nice job of easing the transition and making the tiles pop. In my case, I used 1x6 oak stained to match the vanity around the shower and for baseboard, but I think you could get away with really thin strips (maybe 3/4 x 3/4 square) running along the horizontals and vertically next to the shower. Would finish the edge of the tile nicely and help pull together the nice green/brown colors around the vanity. Another option would be to use a larger piece on the horizontal and mount the towel bars to it.

The 6693 lily from Sherman Williams would go well with the tile IMO.

I'd choose a medium gray. Taking the color palette from Monet's waterlilies paintings is a great idea. Paler gray or white ceiling. Beautiful tile & sink.

I would almost never suggest a gray for anything, but it would probably work here. I like the Monet Waterlilies suggestion. How about a framed Waterlilies print on the wall. Not really "modern" style, but it would sure match.

I just googled monet Waterlilies and saw some prints that would give color choices.

Paint is more my artist-husband's thing but I wanted to comment on the vanity and sink top. I’ve been looking for something similar for our guest bath. My I ask where you found it or is it a custom piece?

Brrrrr!

White? Grey? Cold, cold, cold.

I agree with renngrrl. Warm up that space with something a little more yellow/green.

I agree with the pale/light grey suggestion. I just painted my bathroom a light grey and I'm in love. I'm now thinking of using it in my bedroom too. They shade I chose if far from cold. Quite the contrary.

I always cringe at the misspellings of others. Please forgive mine.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I definitely have some ideas in mind to start with now, it's a great help. I'll keep you posted.

If it's not to late, zip over to this thread:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/inspiration/monochromatic-bathrooms-045877

They have the darker tile, with about the same wall color from the print that I posted for you, the Monet's Waterlilies, with the silver frame (picks up your silver accents) and the French Blue/Marine Blue mats. http://tinyurl.com/2b3xwv

At that link, click on "Wall color" under the image, and scroll down in the color window, to the sixth from the bottom on the right.

You can try out all kinds of wall colors with that print. Or find a print that has the colors in your tile, that looks like the colors on YOUR monitor and try out different colors. That gives you an idea on how a basic color will look.

And I swear I posted a link or links to teak or other wood shower benches. I don't know where that went. I probably closed the window before hitting "submit comment".

That would pick up the nice wood tones.

And maybe a white vase on the glass counter top? Or white refillable containers for the niche in the shower?

Thanks, true blue, those links are really helpful. I was thinking a teak bench would be great, as well.

Unfortunately, I will have to cover a lot of the wall space with shelves, as it's our only place to store towels, etc. I think some nice wood shelves up high across from the toilet, and a few smaller ones over the toilet. I think some wood will really balance out the cold surfaces.

libbabb,
The vanity and sink come from local stores here in SF. I don't think either are a brand name you could find on the internet or anything. They're both kind of cut rate products, to be honest.

The sink came from best tile, and the vanity from floorcraft.

SFGail, have you thought about these HIGH on the wall, that might be about the same width as the towel bars:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19820320

With the mirror glass.

That gives you plenty of covered storage.

I wouldn't suggest shelves too low, or too deep on the towel bar wall, as those could be painful. One can only get out of the shower on the one side. OR step in/on the toilet (just like my apartment!)

You don't want to crack open your skull upon leaving the shower each time.

Or bash into shelves with towels and objects. You don't want anything below head height on that towel bar wall that sticks out any farther than the towel bars.

But above the toilet, there is often TONS of unused and available space. You could put in another of the mirrored cabinets up high, and then wood shelves.

Check this out too, the sand color works really well with that blue-green sofa and the wood tones:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/flickr-finds/flickr-finds-the-10-cent-designers-gradual-photo-composition-045723

not agreeing with the thing about trying to "hide" the white toilet with white wall color. everyone knows you have a toilet in a bathroom. they do too. and most likely it's white. just treat it like a big white vase :)

r0cky, you're funny. But if you have Peonies floating in your toilet, where am I supposed to go? Because I am NOT peeing in the vase.

I'm going to go out on a serious limb here and say a matte chocolate brown and a white ceiling. Good luck.