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Powder Room Playbook: Update Your Tiniest Rooms With These Trends

By Talia Hart On

Designing a powder room?

Even in the tiniest rooms, trends come and go. From skirted sinks to single sconces, here are the looks to consider for your smallest bathroom.

1. Skirted Sinks

The maximalism trend isn’t going anywhere, and the powder room is not immune to its charms. Adding a ruffled skirt to a sink top or vanity is an easy way to up the wow factor and give the space a feminine touch. Cherry Blossom wallpaper and a pink marble vanity top are paired with a simple skirt accented with black grosgrain ribbon. The ornate Venetian mirror is tempered by contemporary sconces that add another hit of black.

  • Photographer Lauren Miller
  • Designer Sabrina Albanese

A Searsucker stripe plays up the preppy vibe of this lively powder room. Note how the sink backsplash cleverly echoes the shape of the mirror.

  • Photographer Laura Resen, Otto
  • Designer Lauren Weiss

In this powder room, a sink skirt in a blue moiré stripe neatly attaches to the underside of the tabletop vanity. Graphic wallpaper, which the designer had been in love with for years, is a fanciful counterpoint.

  • Photographer Paul Costello, Otto
  • Designer Casey Hill

2. A Single Sconce

It’s common to see two sconces flanking a mirror in a powder room, but what happens if you only use one? The effect can be quite dynamic, especially if you pay attention to the way the mirror, sink and sconce interact. Instea of centring this monumental stone sink in the space, the designer pushed it to the left wall, leaving room on the right side for a single sconce. The unique layout creates a pleasing triangle of elements.

  • Photographer Niamh Barry
  • Designer Justine Alexandra Dunk

Though not technically a sconce, this pendant creates the same asymmetrical effect and brings a bit of edge to this contemporary white powder room. The pill-shaped mirror is echoed in the basin’s form.

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  • Photographer Ema Peter
  • Designer Sophie Burke

In this powder room, the directional potlight sconce is a functional choice that lets the artful custom mirror be the star.

  • Photographer Lauren Miller
  • Designer Clare Forndran and Danielle De Francesco

3. Wall-to-wall Sinks

The latest sinks span the width of the room, forgoing a traditional vanity altogether. Since most powder rooms don’t require much storage, this is the perfect place to try the trend. Faux-finished walls created using black paint and gold leaf beautifully complement a dark marble sink. The sink’s ribbed apron adds a welcome hit of texture.

  • Photographer Alex Lukey
  • Designer Karen Shearim, Ashley Sleiman and Shannon Thompson

Stretching between walls panelled in shiplap, this black quartz sink is punctuated by brass fixtures and paired with a custom towel bar.

  • Photographer Patrick Biller
  • Designer Tiffany Leigh

A showstopping piece of marble takes centre stage in this powder room. The moody plaster walls reflect the light in mysterious ways, creating an ultradramatic space.

  • Photographer Joe Schmelzer, Otto
  • Designer Una Malan
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