Cloakroom Design Ideas

Interior design inspiration - a guide to decorating your Cloakroom

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From an interior décor perspective these small spaces offer a brilliant opportunity to make an impact on your home.  They are the wildcard spaces, somewhere you can scratch an interior design itch, you cant go wrong!...and if you feel you have its not too much work to change things given the size of the space.  This approach works in other small spaces within the home too such as Utility Rooms, Pantries, Boot Rooms etc, but for this article we are focussed on the 'Cloakroom'.

The word 'Cloakroom' originates from a time when people would enter a building and leave their cloaks and hats at the door.  Although we still use this word today we are now referring to it as the toilet or washroom area, usually downstairs.

Designing and implementing a 'Cloakroom' is a fantastic starting point if you have dreams of renovating your entire home and are unsure where to begin.  It’s a launchpad boosting confidence, proving to yourself you can do it and an opportunity to begin understanding the process of; concept, layout, moodboard, samples and implementation (see our ‘Interior Design Process Series’ which runs through the every stage step by step).  The cloakroom is probably the simplest room in the home to begin your interior design journey as very often the layout is chosen for you, and the main features of the room don’t tent do vary too much - a toilet, a sink and not much more.

In this article we encourage you to deep dive into bold choices with colour and or design, if every there were a space to get away with something daring and creative the 'Cloakroom' is it. As well as temping you into something different and exciting in your design we will guide you through the basics icluding elements to consider from a practical perspective..

As with all interior projects begin by thinking about the layout. What have you got to work with, if this is a new space (newbuild or extension) you have a bit more flexibility and can discuss options with your builder as to the best and most functional layout. Consider the following questions as part of the layout and design process:

What job does this room need to do?

How high is the traffic/ usage of this room?

How hardwearing does this room need to be?

Who will use this room the most?

How can you make the space work best?

If you are renovating an existing space and the layout works well, you wont want the expense of moving fixtures like toilets and sinks around and can work with what you have.

There are some limitations you might consider, is the space likely to be a high traffic area where you expect lots of people within the home or guests from outside the home to use your 'Cloakroom' regularly? If this is the case you might want to think about using hardwearing materials and finishes that can sustain a high level of ware and tear.  Similarly if you have small children regularly using your cloakroom, you may need to think about the practical elements involved such as sink and toilet height, storage for children’s paraphernalia, hardwearing paint for water splashing, easy to clean and hard wearing flooring etc.  If you are in doubt most suppliers of paint, flooring, wallpaper etc wold be happy to respond to general enquires, you could always reach out and ask if their products are likely to measure up to your expected usage. Alternatively, if you have a less high traffic space and most likely going to be using the space yourself, you can afford to take a few more risks in terms for the the materials you use, such as textured wall papers, wooden floors, white fluffy towels etc.

Fear not even if you need your cloakroom to be completely bullet proof in terms of ware and tear, there are still clever ways to achieve a bold, daring and fabulous design for you and your house guests to enjoy.

Now that you have thought about the practical usage of the room and any possible limitations, as well as the layout. The best place to house your initial designideas continues to be Pinterest (follow Millands Home on Pinterest for hundreds of inspirational pins that should get your creative juices flowing, there is even a section called 'Cloakrooms'). Also see our 'Interior Design Pricess Series' article called 'Ideas'. There you will find a step by step guide to setting up inspirational boards on Pintrest as part of the design process.

Hopefully you found the Millands Home guide to making an ideas boards on Pinterest useful and now have a Pinboard designated to ideas for your 'Cloakroom' design. If you haven't had a chance to read the article but feel content building up a Pinboard full of ideas and creative thoughts freestyle, that’s great too. Either way you should have a good few visuals to hand, which can begin to influence your design choices. To understand what you are drawn to and influenced by, try looking for some sort of pattern within your collecion of Pins, for example have you gravitated to bright colours, pastel colours, dark, light or neutral tones, are your pinned images more contemporary or traditional styles etc. If you can see patterns emerging, lead with those, it’s a great way to move forward in your design process knowing the direction you are heading has come from your own natural style.  It also proves everyone has a style or personal taste, you just have to find it.  For a more in-depth look at what your personal style preferences are, have a read of our ‘Find Your Style’ blog.

The next stage is to pull together your mood board and collect up your samples.  Using your ideas board inspiration, start to pull together colours, patterns, tones etc.  Here is a list of elements specifically for a ‘Cloakroom’, you could think about while creating your mood board and collecting any samples:

Walls – Colour and texture, paint and or paper, panelling, etc

Floor – stone, tiles, solid wood, engineered wood, laminate

Window dressing – blind, curtain, fabric type and pattern

Toilet – style, size, functionality, exposed cistern or built in etc

Sink – free standing, wall hung, off the shelf unit or custom

Hardware- taps, cabinet handles,

Tiles – entire space, one wall, just behind the sink

Panelling/ mouldings - entire space, lower half of wall, just behind sink.

Lighting – Wall lights, spot lights, pendant lights, small lamps

Towel rail – heated, size, colour; brass, chrome, black etc

Accessories – Mirror, pictures/ art, towels, soap, hand cream, books, small pieces of furniture

 You do not need to have samples for everything on the list but you do want to start to build up a picture of what the room is going to look like.  Below is a list of what you items could collect and samples you could purchase to create your mood board.  There are no rules here it is just a guide, be creative you can add anything you like to your mood board. Your goal is to end up with a collection of beautiful finishes and ideas that represent you and your ideas which are narrowed down to your potential final choices for the room.

 For a general mood board/ sample board we suggest collecting;

3-4 paint colours, 2 options for the walls and 2 for the trim.  If you plan to have a painted sink unit you could have another colour for that.

2-3 fabric options (window dressing and or fabric light shade)

Hardware colour (taps, handles, lighting)

1-2 Tile opions (if using_

1-2 floor options

If you have cuttings from magazines or photos you can print out, have those hand.  You could also try drawing out your ‘cloakroom in pen, it doesn’t have to be perfect but you can start to visualise how it might look. 

Ideally you would want to mount your collection of samples and ideas onto a large A1 board or piece of card. You can do this using sticky tac so you can move things around easily, alternatively you could use a drawing board and pins, or even simply lay everything out on a tray.  Which ever way you decide, you should have a curated and meaningful collection of samples reflecting your personal style, colour choices and theme, all drawn from your Pinterest ideas board.  If you are in any doubt as to what to go for we have lots of visual inspiration on social media for you to look through.  You may have a couple of different options for paint, wallpaper or fabric.  Take your mood board into the ‘Cloakroom ‘space in your home and begin playing around with the combinations using the natural light in the space, until you have the right amount of samples needed to begin decorating.  This is your final mood board from which you can go ahead and begin ordering items for your room.

Depending on your time and bravery levels, the ‘Cloakroom’ is small enough to attempt decorating yourself.  Alternatively, you can now show your mood board to a professional who will get a better insight into what you are trying to achieve.

It’s tricky to give suggestions as to what details you might choose to add to your final ‘Cloakroom’ design but if you feel unsure or stuck try wall lights either side of a mirror hung over the vanity unit.  This is a practical and aesthetically pleasing design which is easy to implement.  There are of course lots of other variations but this option is a classic and well used by professional designers.  If you don’t want the hassle of chasing in wires to an existing space you could look at using some sort of panelling or shiplap which would hide the wires nicely.  There are also lots of rechargeable bulbs and lighting options on the market now which negate the need for wire.  Form a styling perspective you could lay out some books or magazines on a small table or chest, hang art or posters in an attractive frame and, soap to a pretty dish or re-useable glass bottle and hang clean a fluffy towel complete the look.  You could also add plants or pick seasonal flowers from your garden and present them in a jar or vase every now and then for a pop of fresh colour.

Good luck with your ‘Cloakroom’ project.   We hope we have given you some ideas and advice as to how to get started and that your new and refreshed ‘Cloakroom’ is absolutely beautiful and a reflection of you and your personal style.