From colour to tiles, to baths and handleless vanities, here’s what’s shaping tub time.
With the popularity of hotel-style bathrooms and shift towards creating a spa-like experience at home, the latest bathroom renovations are all about creating a distinct zone and getting the designer look.
Indeed, the latest Houzz UK Bathroom Trends Study 2026 reveals how homeowners are investing in practical design with an eye for creativity, and reconfiguring layouts to accommodate a larger space.
To give you a heads up ahead of planning your dream bathroom, home and design platform Houzz has shared the key trends shaping bathroom design right now….
Colour is making a statement
While people are still choosing a largely neutral scheme for their bathroom walls, they’re becoming much more adventurous, highlights Kiya Kelly-Paine, Houzz home design trends expert.
Incorporating greens and blues to create a focal point, such as adding or updating an accent wall, with colour headlining can be the most popular way to make it stand out.
This suggests we’re looking for ways to introduce personality without committing to bold colours across the whole room.
“We’re definitely seeing clients become more confident with colour, although that doesn’t necessarily mean creating an entirely colourful bathroom,” says Tolu Finn, creative director and interior designer at The Finns Group.
“Often it’s about a considered statement, whether that’s a feature wall, coloured tiles within a shower or a beautiful vanity, balanced with more neutral elements.”
“We’re seeing greens, browns, oranges, blues and teals – and what’s exciting is the variety of tones now available, from soft and muted to much bolder shades.”
She says it gives clients the confidence to introduce colour in a way that feels personal and timeless, rather than simply following a trend.
“And it’s not being limited to just paint and tiles. The colour palette is expanding over time and it’s something our clients are loving at the moment.
“A burst of colour, or pattern, and how you unite them in a room is very important… being able to balance them, allowing them to marry well and how you tie them in,” says Finn.
Baths are holding their ground
Despite a rise in spacious walk-in showers in recent years, Kelly-Paine says baths continue to play an important role in bathroom renovations.
Whether it’s adding or replacing a bath, she says the number of people removing one altogether has fallen compared with last year.
“Even as bathroom needs and layouts evolve, many still value the flexibility and comfort a bath provides,” underlines Kelly-Paine.
Finn says: “We’re still seeing a real desire for baths, particularly with families who have young children and clients who genuinely enjoy that quiet time to unwind.
“For us, though, it’s never simply about including a bath because it’s fashionable. We look at how the household actually lives and what will work practically for them.”
Where a bath makes sense, she says their role as designers is then to elevate that functional requirement.
“Whether through a beautiful freestanding bath, considered lighting or finishes, so it becomes part of that relaxing, hotel-inspired experience at home… it’s that spa vibe.”
Tiles are trending
The way we’re decorating with tiles is changing and rectangular tiles have increased in popularity this year, especially for shower walls – while metro tiles have fallen back, notes Kelly-Paine.
She says they’re also seeing seeing grid and vertically stacked layouts coming through strongly, with people favouring a clean and contemporary look.
“We have definitely seen a shift away from smaller metro tiles to using large format tiles on walls and floors in bathrooms,” says Caroline Nicholls, managing director of Slightly Quirky, an interior design studio that specialises in bespoke interiors and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
“We like using the really large format tiles, and they’ve become more and more popular because they give really good impact.
“And because it’s large format, you’ve got really minimal grout lines which adds to the impact, and easy to keep clean.”
“I think that’s also really important – we’re quite practical people, and you’ve got to be able to clean it. You don’t want it to look tired after six months.
“It’s got to have longevity in looking fabulous and stand the test of time… as well as not just looking great the day it’s finished,” adds Nicholls.
Handless vanities keeping things streamlined
As Kelly-Paine points out, vanity units do a lot of heavy lifting in the bathroom… providing essential storage while also helping to establish the overall look of the room.
“This year, handleless designs are the clear favourite, and we’re seeing contemporary designs in wooden tones, often featuring fluting, coming through in the most popular photos on Houzz.”
Nicholls says: “Storage is so crucial in a bathroom because it’s the place where you’ve got stuff you don’t necessarily need, or want to be on show all the time.
“But if you haven’t got the space to store it, where does it go? We see so many properties that don’t have any storage at all, so we really love using a vanity.”
She says wood gives a different texture to the scheme, as well as adding warmth and a beautiful tactile quality.
“We like using ones that don’t go to the floor because that gives you an opportunity for lighting, but it also opens up the space. It leads your eye in and makes it feel bigger.
“And the handleless [feature] does give quite a nice, clean look.”
Bathrooms are getting bigger
The trend towards larger bathrooms continues this year, “Whether they’re extending the home or taking space from a nearby room, it shows homeowners are rethinking the layout to create a bathroom that works better for how they want to use it,” says Kelly-Paine.
Finn agrees: “We’re seeing clients willing to reconsider existing layouts to create a better bathroom, whether that means moving a wall, borrowing space from a hallway or reworking part of a bedroom.”
She says this is where good space planning becomes really important, because bigger doesn’t automatically mean better. “The layout is carefully considered, and I’m looking at everything as a whole.”
As Finn highlights: “A smaller, well-considered bathroom can work beautifully, while a larger room can still have wasted space if it isn’t planned properly.”
And with the importance of wellbeing and creativity in bathroom renovations, she says bathrooms are no longer seen as purely functional spaces.
“Clients want to enjoy them, so our approach is to understand how they live first, then design the space around that,” she says confidently.