Powder Room Design
The one room you can afford to be brave in.
Nobody spends long in a powder room, and it has almost no wall area. Which makes it the one place in a house where you can use the paper, the colour and the mirror you would never dare put anywhere else. One powder room, designed and specified to the last detail — from $750.
Enquire about a powder room →
The five decisions that make a powder room
1 · The paper, and how much of it
A powder room needs so little wallpaper that a hand-painted or specialist paper becomes affordable here and nowhere else. The second decision is where it stops — full height, or above a panelled dado. Panelling below gives a busy paper somewhere to rest.
2 · Go darker than feels comfortable
Most powder rooms have no window, and pale paint in a windowless room reads grey rather than airy. A saturated colour in gloss or satin turns the same room into a jewel box, and the sheen doubles what light there is.
3 · Sconces beside the mirror, never above it
Light from above casts shadows under the eyes and nose; light from the side falls evenly across a face. Two sconces flanking the mirror at roughly eye height is the single biggest improvement most powder rooms can make, and it is usually the thing a builder got wrong.
4 · The mirror is a piece of furniture
Not a bathroom fitting. An octagonal or convex mirror in antiqued glass, or a gilt frame with some age to it, does more for the room than anything else you can hang. It is also the easiest thing to buy antique.
5 · The vanity, last
A marble console on brass legs, a fluted trough, a painted vanity — the vanity is the one large object in the room, so it should be chosen against the paper and the paint rather than before them. Most powder rooms are specified in exactly the wrong order.
The commission
The Powder Room
- A conversation about the room, the house it sits in, and how it is used
- The room designed and shown as a photorealistic finished interior
- Wallpaper, paint colour and sheen, mirror, lighting, vanity, taps and hardware all specified
- A complete shopping list — antique, vintage and new — with where to find each piece
- Two rounds of revisions
About two weeks. Order it yourself, or hand the specification to your contractor.
Enquire about a powder room →Questions
How much does powder room design cost?
From $750. That covers the room designed and shown as a finished interior, every material and colour specified, and a complete shopping list naming each piece with where to find it.
Can someone design my powder room remotely?
Yes. Photographs and dimensions are enough to begin, and commissions are taken worldwide.
Should a powder room have wallpaper?
It is the best room in the house for it. There is almost no wall area, so an expensive paper goes a long way — and because nobody spends long in the room, a bold pattern does not tire.
What kind of vanity works in a powder room?
A powder room vanity does not need storage, which frees you to choose furniture rather than cabinetry — a marble console on brass legs, an antique chest converted, a fluted trough, or a painted vanity in the wall colour. Choose it after the paper and the paint, not before.
Where should powder room sconces go?
Flanking the mirror at roughly eye height, not above it. Side light falls evenly across a face; overhead light casts shadows.
What colour should a small powder room be?
Darker than most people expect. A windowless room briefly occupied is the ideal place for a saturated colour in gloss or satin. Pale paint in a small windowless room tends to look grey rather than airy.
How long does it take?
About two weeks from the first conversation. Sourcing antique and vintage pieces takes longer than filtering a catalogue.