Photography: Alana Landsberry / Styling: Lucy Gough
Striped bathrooms are having a moment— the nostalgic bathroom trend is sweeping through the interiors world with some polarising reactions.
While interior designers have been experimenting with striped tiling in bathrooms for a while now, many Australians got our first glimpse of the returning trend on the 2024 season of The Block, when Courtney and Grant went with a terracotta coloured striped shower in their ensuite.
The bathroom left the judges divided, with interior designer Darren Palmer believing it was right on trend while real-estate expert Marty Fox described it as walking into the Phillip Island maze. The online reactions were also just as polarising, with some viewers loving the bold choice and others feeling it too ‘circusy’ for a bathroom.
While Courtney and Grant’s bathroom felt very new, Courtney later explained that she found inspiration for the stripes in a photograph of an old Italian hotel with thin stripes through its bathroom.
Through this lens, it’s more obvious that the trend has its roots in more vintage interior styles. Stripes fall into the same category as checks, florals and other more maximalist patterns that are quickly replacing the sleek, minimalist design styles that have reigned throughout the 2010s and early 2020s.
These patterns are generally more playful, colourful and vintage-inspired, taking cues from traditional British interiors. With their nautical roots, it’s not exactly a surprise that stripes have found themselves in the bathroom, where coastal motifs have always been favoured.
Stripes were also the right choice for Chloe Brookman’s children’s bathroom, where pink and white Teranova tiles were laid to form candy stripes around the bath to create a sweet, whimsical look. Matty J and Laura similarly used stripes in their vintage-inspired renovation of their South Coast holiday house bathroom.
Like Courtney and Grant’s striped bathroom, the Matty J and Laura’s bathroom has been similarly polarising, with the couple even describing it as their “rage bait ensuite” on Instagram in reference to the onslaught of negative responses to their bathroom design choices. For their striped tiles, Matty and Laura opted for a soft green shade inside the shower and along the lower half of their walls.
Should you have a striped tile bathroom?
Even if you’re enjoying the striped trend, bringing the look into your own bathroom requires a deeper passion for stripes than simply admiring an interior designer or celebrity’s striped bathroom. Anyone considering adding striped tiles into their bathroom will likely be debating whether they will still love the look in five years time.
Founder of Sage Interior Design Studio and sought-after celebrity interior designer, Renee Richmond, does warn of the trend’s potential to date quickly.
“Striped bathrooms can date quickly if the design leans too heavily into bold, trend-driven choices,” Renee explains. “However, with a thoughtful approach like opting for a timeless colour palette, they can remain stylish and enduring. Ultimately, it all comes down to how far you’re willing to take the look.”
Those with a small bathroom may actually find that stripes help the room feel larger—but the trick, according to the Renee, “is to choose the stripe direction carefully to compliment the room’s proportions.”
For a small bathroom, verticle stripes can be used to create the illusion of high ceilings by drawing your eye upwards, while horizantal stripes can make the room seem wider.
“When creating a striped tile bathroom, it’s important to consider the scale of the space, the colour palette, and the direction of the stripes,” says Renee. “These elements all contribute to making the room feel stylish and inviting without becoming overwhelming.”
Renee also points out the importance of selecting the right grout for your striped tile design.
“For a bold, graphic look, go for contrast for something more refined and seamless, match the grout to your tile,” Renee recommends.
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