16 Simple and Airy Cottage Bathroom Ideas (2024)

22 Cottage Decorating Ideas to Add Cozy Character to Any Room

Colorful Additions

Cottage bathroom ideas traditionally include a lot of white to create the trademark airy and open ambience, but there's always room for color. In a bathroom, look to tile backsplashes and shower-tub walls to add significant personality with color and tile style. In this bathroom, subway tile in variegated green hues lends an updated look to a classic approach. Use towels and shower curtains to energize the space for less permanent color additions.

A Touch of Softness

Special touches up the prettiness of the classic cottage architecture of this bathroom. A leafy wallpaper softens the walls wrapped in beaded-board wainscoting and wide moldings, and the curved lines of a traditional console sink and claw-foot tub add more gentle touches.

Old Look for a New Space

Although this bathroom looks like a refreshed washroom in an old farmhouse, it's a newly constructed room. To add classic cottage bathroom ideas, 1x6 pine planks were whitewashed and nailed across the ceiling and walls. A chrome-and-granite vanity resembles an old-fashioned washstand, and galvanized light fixtures mimic a throwback style.

Casual Vintage Bathroom

Bathroom cottage ideas often reflect a vintage influence. In this newly remodeled bathroom, materials and fixtures appropriate to the era create the timeless cottage look with the pampering touch of modern amenities. A stunning marble-tile floor in a retro black-and-white design completes the aesthetic. Beaded board is a classic backdrop for matching pedestal sinks, while the faucets, medicine cabinets, and light fixtures continue the old-fashioned character.

Furniture with Character

Refurbished and repurposed furniture is a hallmark of cottage design. A bathroom offers many opportunities for this charming touch, starting with the classic claw-foot tub. Choose a high-quality reproduction if you can't find an old one worthy of restoration. A vintage dresser transformed into a vanity is another favorite for cottage baths. An old display case in this bathroom is a pretty and practical place for linen storage.

Architectural Details

Certain architectural elements are often associated with design styles. This cottage bathroom idea is inspired by the seaside cottages of Nantucket and other coastal towns, where beaded-board wainscoting and wide moldings are popular details in original homes. This primary bathroom integrates the popular woodworking and clean-lined, recessed-panel cabinetry that fits the simplified lifestyle.

Do-It-Yourself Bathroom Sinks

One of the charming components of cottage bathroom ideas is that just about anything goes. A simplified, go-with-the-flow lifestyle encourages creativity in its decorating. In this beachy bathroom, enameled washbasins set in metal stands were cleverly repurposed as vanity sinks, while a simple shelf adds counter space.

Pedestal Sinks with Purpose

Pedestal sinks not only fit the character and vintage influence of a cottage-style bathroom but also make clever use of a small space. A traditional vanity would have cramped this bathroom and blocked access to the shower, but a pair of pedestal sinks provides double duty while keeping the space open. The beaded-board walls and pitched ceilings help to make the small room bright and airy.

Lakeside Influences

While cottage style is most often associated with seaside white sand and crystal blue water, the wooded setting of a lakeside retreat evokes a casual cottage bathroom idea with a warmer color palette. This bathroom in the primary suite brings nature's hues inside, with creamy white plank walls and a custom vanity dressed in woodsy green.

Antique Table Vanity

Cottage style invites vintage influences, and the key to keeping it looking fresh is blending the old with the new. An antique table turned into a vanity gives this cottage bathroom unique character, while modern vessel sinks partner with vintage-style faucets to bridge the gap between yesterday and today.

Pretty, Peaceful Bathroom

Tongue-and-groove paneling gives this primary bathroom a sophisticated cottage look that's a bit more refined than casual beaded board. The soft blue paint color and cool limestone countertops reflect the home's lakeside setting and create a relaxing setting.

Casual Open Storage

Open shelving and cabinets emphasize this primary suite's relaxed, casual cottage bathroom idea. Substantial baskets for towels and pretty containers for toiletries combat clutter with simple style.

A Formal Touch

Fine details turn up the sophistication level of this light, bright cottage bathroom idea to create a luxurious retreat. Custom-made vanities boast a unique rounded front and upscale furniturelike styling with elegant marble countertops. Pretty framed mirrors and candlestick sconces dress up the paneled walls.

Black-&-White Contrast

Painting the vanity black in this charming, vintage-inspired bathroom gives the room's signature piece visual weight. The hints of black, gray, and beige sprinkled across the room's white base add formal flair to the cottage-influenced room.

Soft Fabric Accents

Pretty fabric treatments add subtle romantic touches to this cottage bathroom idea. Sweet florals, particularly in soft colors, bring an especially cottage feel. Look for ways to bring fabrics into the bathroom by dressing windows and adding a quaint upholstered chair at the dressing table or a covered ottoman for putting on shoes in the morning.

Cottage-Style Colors

While white evokes the bright, cheerful feel that cottage style embraces, soothing, muted colors are a perfect complement. Faint aqua-green on the plank wainscoting and claw-foot tub adds character to this bathroom. Another trademark cottage-style feature is the window shutters that open to allow in plenty of light.