I played by the 'rules' and painted my bathroom ceiling white – but I regret it and here's why I'll be changing it in 2025

There comes a point when you're renovating that you look back on the first few rooms you 'finished' (I use that term lightly) and realize there were a few snap judgment decisions that were perhaps a little misguided.

As all the professionals tell you, you really do need to live in a home for a while to get an understanding and feel of a space before making too many decisions. But that isn't a luxury afforded to those of us who are not only renovating an entire home – but living in it at the same time.

So, as 2024 comes to a close I've found myself sitting back and assessing all the home renovation projects we've completed in somewhat of a hurry this year. And among the list of things I'm being slightly nit-picky about, I've noticed a bathroom renovation mistake I made that I'm now plotting to tackle in 2025.

You might have heard me talking about my bathroom renovation here on H&G. It was the first room we tackled in our slow renovating journey because there was simply no way I was moving into a property without running water and a proper toilet to use first. Not a big ask, I think.

Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but now having looked back at all the things I've learned over the past eighteen months of DIY and project managing, there have been a few bathroom ideas that I have since come to regret.

The first and most obvious one was the bathroom design rule I wish I had never ignored that messed up the bathroom layout entirely, then the popular bathroom window treatment that didn't work for me which thankfully was an easy switch.

Now, I'm setting my beady eyes on my bathroom paint.

I must preface this by telling you I in no way regret the bathroom color scheme. I painted all three walls (one is entirely tile) in Edward Bulmer's Lilac Pink which is neither super lilac nor that pink and more of an understated plaster hue that perfectly complements my rosso and white marble checkerboard floors. However, it is the bathroom ceiling that lets the entire space down.

When I first painted my bathroom ceiling white, it felt like the safe, sensible choice. After all, isn’t that what most of us are told we're supposed to do?

It is a small space – originally a large bedroom, now split in half to create a bathroom and home office – so a white ceiling, I thought, would make the room feel light and airy. But over time, the white overhead began to feel stark and more like an interruption to the warm, cozy, and cohesive design I had envisioned.

So I’ve decided it’s time for a change and the solution lies in the color drenching trend.

Color drenching – the technique of painting all walls including the ceiling in the same hue – has been popular for some time. The brilliance of color drenching is that it eliminates visual breaks, making even small spaces feel taller and more cohesive in design.

In fact, it is such a tried-and-tested method that the bathroom is the only room in my house with a white ceiling. And I should've stuck to my guns with this one.

'Color drenching brings an enveloping, cozy feel to a space, an approach that can be particularly effective in a bathroom where it will bring a sense of softness to a room that is often filled with hard, white surfaces,' explains Ruth Mottershead, creative director at Little Greene, who explained why this technique is such a great idea to adopt when I sought out her professional help.

'Bathrooms benefit from the addition of colors with warmth and character, whether you opt for a color-drenched finish, or opt for the more recent ‘double drenching’ approach – a.k.a using two or more related colors with differing undertones on every paintable surface – the result will be an inviting atmosphere that feels both sophisticated and calming.'

A painted ceiling can visually expand the height of my small room and wrap the space in a cocoon of color, which is exactly what I'm looking for.

Similar to the bathroom scheme above designed by Mouse Interiors alongside BC Designs, which actually has the exact same floor tiles as my bathroom, I'm looking to take my paint above and over the ceiling.

The goal? To create a space that feels less disjointed and washed with warmth. It’s a shift that feels both intentional and exciting, and I am excited to see how it breathes new life into one of the most used rooms in my home.

Sometimes, interior design rules are made to be broken. Moving away from the traditional white ceiling and embracing a bolder, more cohesive design feels like a step toward creating a bathroom that truly reflects my goals for the space: for it to feel cozy, warm, and totally on-trend. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.