How to Reinvent a Powder Room With Tile (With a Little Help From a Graffiti Artist)
Written for Huffington Post (By Gail Green)
Powder rooms are often the last spaces people focus on in their homes. They pick a color scheme, buy some towels and a soap dispenser, and call it a day. However, designing a small space doesn’t have to be so… lackluster. Spicing it up can be as easy as picking the right tiles. By designing with tiles, you can easily reinvent a small bathroom that is visually appealing while remaining functional. There’s a reason tiles have been used in design since 4,000 BC!
I love incorporating tiles into my designs for multiple reasons. They are durable, easy to clean, versatile, and can be made from a range of materials–glass, stone, metal, porcelain, ceramic, plastic, and even leather. Providing aesthetic variety with color, patterns, and shapes, tiles can turn dull into fantastic, boring into exciting. They can also help a space appear more expansive and balanced.
TOP TILE TIPS AND TRICKS
Here are a few of my top tile tips and tricks illustrated with images from the powder room I recently designed for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House (an amazing annual charity event that helps raise critical funds for the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club). Inspired by the art of Keith Haring, I used a new line of tiles, produced by Ascot and carried by Hastings Tile & Bath, depicting Haring’s poignant graphics which created an unpredictable “splashily energetic but also coolly minimalist” space.
Don’t Be Distracting
In small spaces, it is best to use the same size tile all over. Too much distraction with different sized tiles will make the bath appear smaller.
Be an Illusionist
If the ceiling height is low, paint the ceiling a light reflecting white, even if the wall tile is a light color. It will give the illusion of the ceiling being higher than it is.
Update July 15, 2015:
Since posting this article, we have gotten some wonderful feedback and comments, including a note from Theo from Artsy, letting us know that they have a dedicated Keith H page on their website. Artsy’s mission is to make all of the world’s art accessible to anyone online and their Keith Haring page provides visitors with Haring’s bio, over 250 of his works, exclusive articles about Haring, up-to-date listings of exhibitions, as well as publication and collection listings to provide further context. Haring is also featured in their recent editorial about artists who paved the way for marriage equality.
While we are at it, here is a fun Keith Haring quote:
“Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic.”
– Keith Haring
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