7 Bathroom Color Ideas With Paint

When it comes to a bathroom refresh, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. There are several things you can do to give your bathroom a makeover on a budget. You can replace cabinet hardware, hang a new mirror, get a new shower curtain and paint the walls.

New paint on the wall is an instant game changer. It can change the whole look of your bathroom. Go from a meek pale yellow to a bold Sienna red. Trade in your greige walls for a rich, golden hue. Say goodbye to white walls and hello to beautiful sage walls.

When you’re considering bathroom color schemes or paint colors for the bathroom, think about the array of paint shades available to you and how they make you feel. We have a few paint ideas for the bathroom to get you started. Regardless of what color your bathroom walls are now, view them as a clean slate. Remember, you can paint them any color you want. Which shade are you contemplating?

The sophisticated earthiness of taupe brings warmth to any space. The taupe in this bathroom (right) has warm gray undertones that complement the pale gray vanity, creating a look that’s in sync. Taupe is a neutral, versatile color, so pairing it with a bolder color, like navy or even fuchsia, won’t upset the well-balanced look and feel of the room.

Paint: Artistic Taupe, HGTV Home^® by Sherwin-Williams

Wainscoting adds a classic touch to the bathroom and works especially well for older homes. Typically, the lower part of the wall is painted in a light shade and the upper part of the wall is painted in a darker hue. This contrasting look makes the room feel more balanced. A few color combinations include charcoal and cream, mint green and white, or navy and soft gray. This bathroom pairs a beautiful shade of blue and with creamy white wainscoting.

Paint: 
Top Wall: Nostalgia, HGTV Home^® by Sherwin-Williams
Lower Wall: Snowed In, HGTV Home^® by Sherwin-Williams
Vanity: Encore, HGTV Home^® by Sherwin-Williams

If you’re a fan of cotton candy, your day just got a little bit sweeter. Imagine your bathroom swathed in this soothing, cool-toned hue. This beautiful soft, pale shade makes a colorful backdrop for any bathroom. It’s the perfect hue to impart a sense of calm and tranquility when you need to relax and unwind.

Paint: Lilac Lane, Valspar^® 2022 Color of the Year

Whether your bathroom is large, small or somewhere in between, there’s one wall that can have that wow factor. Enhance the look and feel of your bathroom with an accent wall. Your accent wall will have a personality all its own with a bold color, pattern or texture that brings the bathroom to life. The black accent wall shown here (right), not only adds a distinguishing focal point, but it’s contrast with the other walls adds depth to the bathroom.

Paint: Tricorn Black, HGTV Home^® by Sherwin-Williams

You’d be forgiven if visions of puffy clouds and cotton balls come to mind when you walk into a bathroom with walls painted in a beautiful shade of light blue. This soft, washed indigo color with gray undertones (right) has cool denim influences, balancing warm and cool tones. It’s the perfect accent to the gray-streaked veins of the marble tile.

Paint: Aleutian Paint & Primer, HGTV Home^® by Sherwin-Williams

Stripes on walls create an illusion of space: horizontal stripes make the room appear wider, while vertical stripes make the ceiling look higher and the room appear taller. This bathroom (right) features wide, cool sage green stripes with slight blue undertones and half-width off-white stripes. The vanity is painted the same shade of green, which is a bold color choice, but we’re here for it.

Paint:
Quietude, HGTV Home^® by Sherwin-Williams' 2025 Color of the Year
Snowbound, HGTV Home^® by Sherwin-Williams

Being intentional about your wall color choice is important. Knowing the look and feel you’re going for helps inform your decision. You can select one color to paint your bathroom but use different hues of that same color to add depth and visual interest. Here, we went with two very different shades of blue: the accent wall is painted a bold yet muted blue with green undertones and the opposite walls are painted a much lighter shade of blue with a hint of green. Two looks that come together in harmony.

Paint:
Accent wall: Blue Grass Jazz, Stainmaster^®
Walls: Blue Sky Thinking, Stainmaster^®