Farmhouse-Inspired Ideas for Your Bathroom

You don’t have to live on a farm to have a farmhouse bathroom. These vintage-inspired bathrooms harken back to a simpler time with a warm, inviting, and slightly lived-in feel. When looking at farmhouse design ideas, you’ll see natural materials like wood and durable metals like galvanized steel. Rustic meets quaint meets stylish with these amazing farmhouse bathroom ideas. 

If you’re considering a farmhouse bathroom remodel, then this list of rustic bathroom ideas will get you inspired. Maybe you want to add a farmhouse bathroom vanity. Perhaps a freestanding tub is the perfect farmhouse touch to your bathroom. Whatever you decide when it comes to farmhouse decor, this design aesthetic will have you scouring your local thrift stores and flea markets for the best pieces to complete your home’s look. 

1. Small Farmhouse Bathroom Ideas

If you have a small bathroom, this is the perfect place to create a modern farmhouse bathroom aesthetic. You need to choose the right pieces to keep the bathroom feeling open while also feeling comfortable and welcoming.

Start with a rustic farmhouse bathroom vanity as it’s the largest piece of furniture in the room. Choose one with legs and open shelving. This will open the space up below and keep the bathroom feeling large. Choose a rustic wooden vanity with porcelain drawer pulls. Then place a vessel sink on top.

If you want to take things a step further, skip the vanity altogether and mount the sink directly to the wall. This will cut down on the space required while still providing people with the essentials.

You might consider visiting a vintage shop and choosing a sink that has been recovered from an old building. This will give your bathroom a bare essentials vibe that will inspire the rustic aesthetic of a farmhouse. Hang a curtain from the bottom edge of the sink to hide the pipes below.

2. Elegant White Designs

All-white bathrooms are on-trend and a popular choice among bathroom decor ideas. You can combine the farmhouse and all-white trend to create a beautiful bathroom makeover. The trick to creating the perfect all-white farmhouse bathroom is to create texture and accent it with non-white elements.

You could use a white subway tile in the shower. Then create a white shiplap wall on the walls outside of the shower or tub area. Finish the white theme by installing a white wood vanity and farmhouse sink.

Now that you have a monochromatic white canvas to work with, you can accent it with different textures, materials, and colors. A great choice is to use black hardware for the vanity, bathroom cabinet, light fixture, and towel rack. Look for pieces that emulate wrought iron in design for a classic look.

Keep your bathroom from becoming too white by using wood instead of white tile for the floor. This will help the bathroom to feel warm and inviting. You can use reclaimed wood to help inspire the rustic bathroom aesthetic.

Another option is to choose a floor tile with a pattern in white and gray. This rustic bathroom design idea will add detail and interest while not taking away from the all-white look of the rest of the bathroom.

3. Embracing Rustic Charm

When creating your rustic bathroom decor, not everything needs to be rough and tumble. You can have a few rustic key pieces to inspire the feeling throughout the entire bathroom. Rustic pieces look slightly used or aged. They’ll have imperfections and embrace the use of natural materials.

For example, you could place a rustic framed vanity mirror that you find in a thrift shop. This is a focal point in the bathroom and makes a significant impact.

Place reclaimed wood open shelves above the toilet. This is another area that people look at when they enter a bathroom. Another option is to find a rustic or vintage dresser or other furniture to use as the vanity. This is a large piece of furniture in the bathroom, so using something rustic will certainly set the tone.

If you don’t want to commit to a whole rustic vanity, then you can place a rustic sink on a modern counter. A hand-hammered copper sink will be both rustic and stunning.

4. Creative Farmhouse Tiles

When it comes to the tile in your farmhouse bathroom, stick with plain white subway tiles. This classic tile is simple, durable, and easy to care for. This is the embodiment of the farmhouse aesthetic. If this sounds a bit boring, don’t worry, all is not lost.

If you plan to tile the floor, this is your chance to embrace color and pattern in your design. Having a patterned tile floor allows you to breathe life into your simplistic bathroom. You’ll want to choose a tile and pattern size that matches the scale of your bathroom. A tile and pattern that’s too small looks busy on the floor. A pattern that’s too big looks overwhelming and will not repeat enough.

5. Incorporating Shabby Chic Elements

If the farmhouse aesthetic is a bit too rustic for you, try taking your bathroom remodel in a shabby chic direction instead. You’ll combine rustic farmhouse elements with more glamorous and luxurious touches to elevate your farmhouse style. This works well for a master bathroom where you want it to have some elegance.

Instead of just adding any old tub, add a freestanding clawfoot tub. Then hang a vintage-inspired chandelier in gold or silver with crystals above it.

Continue this glamorous look by choosing a framed vanity mirror. Choose one that has ornate detailing and intricate designs. For subtle decor, choose one with a whitewash finish or wrought iron look. For more glamor, pick a mirror with a gold frame.

Try placing sconces around the vanity mirror. This is a lighting fixture that’s typically associated with high-end homes, so putting them in your farmhouse bathroom will add a sense of style to your rustic bathroom.

6. Enhancing Your Space

Wainscoting on the bottom half of your walls is a traditional interior design element. For a country feel, use shiplap wainscoting. The most common method is a vertical design to your shiplap. But if you’re looking for something different, you can also create a horizontal layout.

Traditional wainscoting is white, while the wall is painted a color above it. But that doesn’t mean yours has to be. Another option is to leave the wainscoting white and use a colorful or patterned wallpaper. You could flip the white and color so that your wainscoting is painted and your wall above it is white.

To finish the look of your wainscoting, create a top railing to finish off the edge. The traditional height of this edge is a few feet off the floor (just above your toilet’s height) and is commonly referred to as a chair rail. But in your bathroom, you have more freedom. You could have it extended higher to equal the height of your shower.

7. Inspiring Farmhouse Decor

When decorating your farmhouse bathroom, look for items that have a simple and functional feel. Mason jars are terrific for holding smaller items. Metal or wicker baskets are perfect for holding larger items. A few plants will add natural color while also improving the air quality in the room.

You could hang shelves made of reclaimed wood. Then place a candle or two on them. You also can’t go wrong with a simple sign that blends with the theme of the room, such as a sign over the toilet or one by the sink with a witty statement.

8. Modern Twists on a Classic

It’s a delicate balance to create a farmhouse bathroom that also has a modern feel. This is because farmhouse bathrooms generally have a traditional feel, which is the polar opposite of a modern bathroom. To make this look a success, balance the elements of the two decor approaches.

Pair your freestanding farmhouse tub with a modern walk-in shower enclosed in glass panes. Then pick plumbing fixtures that are traditionally styled but in a contemporary finish like gold.

You can choose a traditional subway tile for the farmhouse element, but then skip the classic white and choose a color. Or instead of laying your subway tile horizontally, arrange it in a herringbone or other modern design.

Another modern touch is to choose wood tile instead of using actual wood for the flooring. The tile mimics the look of real wood, but it’s impervious to water and more durable. You can also add the modern touch of heating coils to warm the floor below.

9. Stylish and Functional Vanities

We’ve discussed how to choose a farmhouse vanity to help your small bathroom feel bigger, but what if you have a larger bathroom? Then you have a lot more freedom when selecting your vanity. You could install finished cabinets that you then accent with vintage-inspired hardware.

If you want to stay true to the farmhouse look, then consider repurposing a piece of furniture for your farmhouse bathroom vanity. A common tactic is to find an old table or dresser and repurpose it as a bathroom vanity. You’ll need to cut a hole for the plumbing fixtures and place a sink on top. But the advantage is that you gain a lot more drawers.

When it comes to color, you have a lot of freedom. Woodgrain is the obvious route, but you could also paint it white, black, or any other color.

If you want to give your vanity a bit of an upscale feel and increased durability, consider replacing the top with something other than wood. The wood on a dresser isn’t meant for the constant wetness it’ll experience as a sink countertop in your bathroom. Replace it with marble or granite for an upscale and durable surface for your vanity.

10. Relax and Unwind

Showers are more of a modern bathroom trend, so in traditional farmhouse bathrooms, a tub is a must. To balance your farmhouse-style bathroom with modern design ideas, plan to have a tub and a shower. This is an excellent opportunity to combine modern and traditional styles. Plan to have a modern walk-in shower and a freestanding bathtub.

The simplest bathtub option is a plain white freestanding tub. But for a bit more farmhouse style, look for one with claw feet in white, black, gold, or some other metal. Another nice touch is picking a wood bathtub.

When choosing your tub, it needs to be big enough for an adult to sit comfortably. Modern trends dictate that your tub has a small footprint and is deeper. This can work out well because your tub also needs to proportionally fit into your bathroom.
Complete your bathtub’s look by installing a vintage-inspired faucet with a removable handheld showerhead. This keeps with the farmhouse theme while also adding functionality.

FAQs

How do I create more storage in my farmhouse bathroom?

Look at your local flea market or thrift shop for vintage wire or wicker baskets. Then place these baskets on shelves. You could place wicker baskets under your vanity in the open space created by the legs. Or you could find wire baskets that you can mount on the wall.

Do I have to buy vintage items?

No. The beautiful thing about the modern farmhouse style is that you don’t have to buy authentic vintage fixtures to create this aesthetic. There are plenty of fully modern plumbing and lighting fixtures that are fabricated to look vintage. This lets you enjoy modern conveniences like water efficiency and LED lightbulbs while also having an old school farmhouse style.

What if I want to use color instead of having an all-white bathroom?

You can have a farmhouse bathroom that uses color. The easiest color palette would be a neutral one. You could use a combination of tans, greys, or browns. If you want something more colorful, stick with a soft blue, sage, or blush pink. These softer variations of color will help keep your bathroom bright without being overpowering.