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You can infuse your home with a sense of European style (without needing a trip to Ikea), making the bathroom the star.

What does a European bathroom look like?

What we associate with European style in New Zealand is a certain look and character. With simple, unadulterated lines and neutral colour palettes influenced by nature, a European bathroom is uncluttered and clean. 

Euro-inspired bathrooms are bright and airy with full use of wall mounted vanities and toilets that help give an impression of space. The bathrooms should also be highly functional. With a lot of thought put into the design of the space, you’ll find that beauty doesn’t mean a lack of function. 

A heavy focus on natural products and materials mean that Euro-style bathrooms utilise a lot of marble, granite, and stone. 

European bathrooms also commonly have bidets. Kiwis aren’t used to this concept, but many high-end homes and hotels now install these. They are a great way of saving toilet paper and being slightly more eco-friendly in your day-to-day life.

How can you incorporate European style in your bathroom?

Using products such as granite and marble is difficult and expensive in NZ where we don’t have easy or close access to hard stone. However, Kiwis can still incorporate elements of this in their bathrooms by using timber, concrete and resin based products.

Avoid heavily decorated walls or anything that makes a space look smaller. Use light colours and draw from natural inspiration to bring the look together; the grey slate, the cool white walls, the natural timber benchtop. European designers often employ monochromatic palettes that use the same colour in a range of formats. This creates a perception of depth and space.

In terms of choosing bathroom fittings, wall mounted sinks, vanities, toilets and taps remove clutter and make everything look more spacious. This is ideal for small bathrooms. You’ll also find glass is used a lot in European styled bathrooms, such as using glass vessel sinks or glass tops. 

Aim to find elements of style that you can repeat throughout the space. Consider the shape of your bathroom sink, bath, toilet and vanity. You can incorporate curves, or straight lines, but try not to mix unless you are strategic about it. And then, this look can be reflected in the tapware. Whether you have curved and naturally relaxed designs, or straight and strict, what you have in the fittings should match your other furniture.

Also carefully co-ordinate your fittings, whether the soft gleam of brushed nickel matches the black marble resin, or the matt black taps give an almost industrial look when paired with natural timber finishes.