How to Create a Contemporary Victorian Bathroom

As you know if you follow me regularly, our house is a Victorian semi over 120 years old, with a loft conversion and my own take on contemporary decor.

You may also know that we have a TINY main bathroom which had a little paint revamp recently so I’m always on the hunt for ideas on how you can design a small bathroom effectively.

For this post I’ve collaborated with Tile Giant to bring you my take on a Victorian styled bathroom, through creating a moodboard showcasing my ideas.

Whilst I may live in a Victorian home, the traditional Victorian look isn’t for me. I much prefer a more contemporary take on this era but I still love to make the most of any Victorian features (it’s unlikely you’ll have any original ones in a bathroom apart from high ceilings and maybe some cornicing if you’re lucky).

So without further ado, let me show you some of my ideas on a contemporary Victorian style bathroom using a couple of beautiful tiles from the Tile Giant Deep Metro range.

Moodboard

I’ve opted for rich greens and blues, a complementary scheme which is warm and inviting and doesn’t offer too much controversy I don’t think. Most Victorian period colour schemes were dark and moody, often quite dramatic and bold, so I wanted to bring a sense of the era to the design, without  being overwhelming.

When I’m doing a design like this I usually start with one point of inspiration. In this case, it was the magazine image in the top left corner and I started to think how this look, with the dark painted Victorian bath and gold accessories could be used with the metro tiles.

I started looking around for more ideas in magazines and came across a few images using metro tiles in these rich, lustrous hues.

Pairing them with metallic accents in the hardware and shower accessories started to bring the look together, but I felt there was still something missing.

Victorians loved using bold, busy patterns in their fabrics and wall coverings, so for this design I’ve incorporated some dramatic wallpaper and coupled that with plenty of greenery, plants and foliage to bring the look bang up to date.

If you really wanted to give the room a dark and moody feel, you could paint the walls dark too, but keeping them lighter and brighter would still work.

Add textures through your towels – and pattern too if you want to mix it up even further – to soften the scheme but also add a contrast to the strong colour scheme and bold print.

Plants and foliage work so well in a bathroom. Firstly, most plants love the more humid environment and secondly they soften a scheme giving it life and a more natural, organic feel. You can never have too many but if you’re not green fingered there are some excellent faux plants about now where you can hardly tell the difference.

The use of a few real life pieces in a mini moodboard help convey the look and feel of the images in the larger moodboard.

Plants play a big role in defining the feel of a space; the environment feels so much more organic when they’re part of a scheme, and they played a big part in Victorian decor too.

Many conservatories and parlors contained large feature plants like ferns and palms so it’s interesting they’ve come back into vogue over a hundred years later. They probably never went out of fashion to be honest, but they’re definitely front and centre in interior design schemes today.

What do you think of this contemporary Victorian bathroom look? Could you adopt a design like this into your own home? I think it’s something that could work in any style of home, modern or older.

Brief History of The Victorian Bathroom

Most Victorians actually didn’t have a bathroom in their house. 

Queen Victoria’s rule lasted from the 1830s all the way through to the beginning of the 20th century, and it wasn’t until the end of the period that bathrooms became commonplace.

Most of these bathrooms were rudimentary, consisting of porcelain fixtures and tiles, or wood panelling. Yet for wealthier Victorians, the intricate decoration and ornamentation of the Victorian style was also applied to bathrooms. 

To create a modern Victorian bathroom in your house, some creative liberties have to be taken. If you wanted complete historical accuracy, there might not even be a toilet!

Essential Elements of Victorian Design

While our contemporary view of Victorian interiors might not be completely accurate, it is inspired by genuine Victorian design principles.

Rapidly advancing technology together with Victorian opulence ushered in a new era of design and interiors. 

1. Rich, Dark Colours- With the invention of new, synthetic dyes, bold and rich reds, blues, and greens became popular in Victorian home interiors.
2. Wallpaper – Owing to mass production, wallpaper became a design commodity now available to the middle and lower classes. Naturalistic designs were popular, and designs became more complex as techniques improved throughout the period 
3. Floor Tiles – Geometric floor tiles gained huge popularity in the Victorian era, and can still be seen in Victorian homes today.
4. Gothic Revival – the popularity of the architectural style lead to elaborate features such as spires, arches, and intricate detail. 

Design Ideas For a Victorian-Inspired Bathroom

There is so much beautiful design to draw from when designing your Victorian bathroom. Here are a few ideas I’ve put together to get you started.

Victorian-Style Bathtub

The bath is the focal point of your bathroom. Amp up the luxury with these opulent bathtubs.

Roll-Top Bathtub

A roll-top bathtub is a classic of Victorian style. 

Please pin this image so you can easily find it later:

Jen x

In collaboration with Tile Giant – do check out their Spring Sale with 50% off at the time of writing. 

All images my own