Bathroom Design:

How to Tackle the Planning Process


The planning process for bathroom designs, or any design project or remodeling job, is an integral aspect of an interior designer's role. Your interior designer will provide you with well thought-out details—from concept and design drawings, to material and finish selection. You can become more involved in the process by reviewing their concepts and looking at sample materials to help you visualize the end result.
 
As you embark on the planning process with your interior designer, here are some tips and tricks to help ensure you are as successful as possible.
Bathroom with freestanding bathtub, wall-mounted fireplace, white marble look porcelain wall slab with gray veining, and white hexagon marble floor tile.

Get Inspired by Photos

Interior designers often look in magazines and online for design inspiration. This helps them develop creative ideas for the design layout, materials, tile patterns, colors, and details such as lighting and hardware. Search for inspiration yourself, since it will help you gain a better understanding of the direction you want the design to go.

 

When your interior designer presents their initial ideas, provide feedback that expresses your own thoughts and needs—from functionality and usage, to what you may or may not like in terms of color or style. It is important to communicate effectively so your interior designer can incorporate your ideas into the design.

Elegant bathroom with cream with gray veining quartzite covering vanity counter and wet room shower walls, free-standing tub in front of long shower niche, marble mosaic wet room flooring tile.

Complete Design Drawings

Once inspiration concepts are selected and reviewed, the next step is for your interior designer to complete the design drawings. These drawings are used to convey the design plans to both you and your contractor, and others involved in the process, such as tile installers—especially in terms of tile pattern and size.

 

These drawings should reflect all of the design plans. This will help your interior designer plan specifics, such as the layout of your tub and shower, toilet, vanity, and tile. They should also include elevation in their drawings, which shows the front or side of the elements within the design plan. Elevation should be used to plan the bathroom vanity design, shower and tub configuration, tile pattern and sizes, and backsplash tile design for any vertical surfaces.

SELECT COLORS AND MATERIALS

After you have considered inspirational photos and offered feedback of the completed design drawings from your interior designer, they will begin to select the colors and materials that will be featured within the design. When choosing elements, such as tile, they may visit a store to view samples to explore the range of options. Take-home samples will offer you a sense of how colors will work in the actual space, how they will look next to adjacent, existing materials, and how different colors coordinate with each other.

 

Today's bathroom designs, as with most design projects, require dedication during the planning process. With the help of your interior designer, you can gather the right inspiration, collaborate to create realistic drawings, and then execute the overall design. Use these tips to be successful in creating a design you will truly love.


Related Information

Elegant bathroom with gray marble floor tile, marble & mirror wall tile behind soaker bathtub, and marble mosaic shower wall.

Bathroom Renovations

Chip gives his top 3 tips for maximizing your return on investment.

Modern bathroom with marble-look white and gray large format floor tile and shower tile, brass fixtures, and chandelier over soaker tub.

Shower Tile Do's & Don'ts

Avoid these common mistakes for a long-lasting, waterproof shower tile installation.

Bathroom quartz countertop with double sinks, brushed brass faucets, marble mosaic backsplash, and lighted vanity mirrors.

Best Bathroom
Vanities

What's the best bathroom vanity countertop? Chip Wade answers this common question.

PAN_CalacattaAries_COM_01_11web

Hot Trends


Learn what’s trending in tile and spark creative ideas for amazing, stand-out design.

X
By using our website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, which explains our use of cookies and similar technologies.
Got it!