Interior designers have ‘tricks of the trade’ that can make any room look better – including the bathroom.

I’ve been trawling the internet to find all the advice I can, and these seven tips are the most interesting and relevant if you’re renovating your bathroom.

1. Plan the space

Good rooms don’t just happen accidentally. If you want your bathroom to function well and look great, you need to plan it out.

Measure the space, draw it to scale on some graph paper and then plan where you’ll position your bath, showers, toilet and sink.

Make sure you get measurements from the manufacturers so you can make an accurate plan.

You want to make sure that there’s enough space between fixed items so you can move around properly, and check that you’re not preventing yourself from opening the door properly, for instance.

And as interior designer Nina Campbell explains here, it’s better if you aren’t confronted with the loo as soon as you walk in!

2. Go for luxury

There’s one thing that interior designers know how to do very well, and that’s create a luxurious environment.

Sometimes it’s just little things that make all the difference.

For example, Kirstie Allsop, when she was decorating Meadowgate, her country property, positioned an armchair in the bathroom. This is such a nice touch if you have the space – it really makes the room seem like a luxurious pampering space.

Matano back to wall toilet from BathEmpire

3. Hide the technology

If you’ve ever looked around a show home, you’ll notice that there are no trailing power cables or unsightly adapter sockets anywhere – all the technology is hidden away.

The same can apply in the bathroom.

Choose pieces that have concealed pipework so the bathroom takes on a streamlined look. At BathEmpire, for example, there are toilets with concealed cisterns and built—in baths.

Even sinks can be neatly positioned within cabinets so the underneath isn’t visible and storage is maximised.

4. Choose the unusual

Interior designers manage to go beyond the bare minimum of creating a safe but boring interior scheme – they tend to add quirky and individual touches that show character and creativity.

One way to do this is to use wallpaper in your bathroom.

People tend to be concerned that wallpaper won’t work in a bathroom because it’s a damp environment, but wallpapers can actually be pretty tough.

Mae bathroom wallpaper from Graham & Brown

Obviously, make sure you protect areas that are likely to get really wet – using tile splash-backs around the shower and sink, but other than that wallpaper should be fine.

These days many suppliers have realised that home owners want to use wallpaper in their bathrooms, so they’ve created ones with waterproof coating that won’t be ruined by damp or steam from the shower. Take a look at this range on Graham & Brown, for example.

5. Colour it pretty

Colour co-ordination is easy in bathrooms as there are towels, bathmats and blinds available in all the colours you can imagine.

For an interior designer twist, don’t choose an obvious colour combination – you could go for red and orange, for example to give a hot, Moroccan look, or you could keep it cool and contemporary with lime green and grey.

6. Frame the best bits

Interior designers know to shine a spotlight, metaphorically (or literally!) on the most attractive aspects of a room.

If you’ve bought a gorgeous roll-top bath, for example, then showcase it by having an accent wall of coloured tiles or even wallpaper, behind it.

If the architecture is gorgeous, use up-lighters to direct the eye towards the period features.

Stainless steel mirror cabinet, BathEmpire

7. Tromp l’oeil

…or trick the eye.

A classic trick of the interior designer is to use mirrors to make spaces appear bigger than they actually are.

It’s now easier than ever to do this in a bathroom. Not only can you fix a huge mirror to the wall, you can buy mirrored furniture – which we stock at BathEmpire – to reflect the room, and hence make it appear bigger.

Charlotte wrote a blog post a few weeks ago about the new bathroom trend of bright jewel colours.

I thought for my blog post this week I’d also run with the colour theme. Except this time I’m looking at walls!

So if you feel yourself drowning in a sea of white whenever you step inside your bathroom, read on…

Bright Wallpaper

How about taking advantage of the huge choice of wallpaper designs on the market and use these to inject a bold splash of colour?

This example uses a glass splashback to protect the wallpaper around the basin. via LivingEtc

Glass Tiles

If you love the look of tiles in your bathroom, how about the bold colours and shapes in these glass mosaic tiles from Evit.

Available in a choice of 69 colours, you can choose from 300x98mm or 300x295mm sizes. via Trendir

Bold Splashbacks

Generally you think of kitchens when it comes to splashbacks, but with a little creativity, a splashback can be the perfect way to add a splash (pun intended!) of colour around your basin or bath.

As well as a choice of colours, you can even add sparkles and metallic effects.

Have I missed anything out? If you have any great ideas for adding colour to your bathroom, please leave a comment below.