Dark + Moody Powder Room Reveal at the Greenfield Remodel

Our dark and moody powder room is actually one of the first renovations we started at the Greenfield Remodel. Don’t ask me why it’s taken 1.5 years for me to share a reveal, ha!

The powder room is the only bathroom on the main level, making it the main bathroom for guests and our family alike. What makes it a powder room, you ask? A powder room is unique in that it typically does not have a bathtub or shower, is intended for guests, and has minimal – if any – storage. Ours is approximately 30 square feet.

The Greenfield Remodel is the first house we’ve owned that has a proper powder room. As you can imagine, I was excited for a new design challenge. Powder rooms are known for stretching designers’ creative muscles. Because of their small size, powder rooms offer the perfect opportunity to take risks and explore bold design elements that you may not be comfortable with in main living areas. It’s not at all uncommon to find a dark and moody powder room in an otherwise light and airy home.

Design Moodboard

As you know, I start every room project with a design moodboard. A digital moodboard helps me see all the elements together and come up with a stylistic direction for the space. The original moodboard I designed for the powder room is below. I’ve made a couple of edits along the way – namely the floor tile, toilet flush handle, AC register, soap dispenser, towel hook, and towel.

Check out the powder room design plan for full details and more of the design process.

As products arrive, I like to create a physical moodboard with the items to evaluate the direction the space is heading. Sometimes products in real life aren’t exactly what you imagined, at which point you pivot and edit the original plan.

Below is the powder room’s physical moodboard; the minute I laid it all out, I knew I was heading in the right direction. Again, you’re welcome to read all about my original plans and design process in the blog post I linked earlier.

The Before + Design Process

Sometimes it’s not until I’m creating these reveal posts that I remember the space we started with.

Who recalls that wallpaper? And the yellow vinyl floors? And that outdated shell pedestal sink? Oh, the fond memories…

The biggest dilemma in this space was the fact that the bathroom was located under the stairs, and as a result, had that slanted ceiling over the toilet. Structural changes were out of the question, but don’t think for a minute that I didn’t briefly entertain the idea of relocating the staircase, ha!

Instead, I decided to minimize the issue by painting the walls and ceiling all one color. I made that decision on our very first walk-through of the Greenfield Remodel. Wanting to go bold, I chose “Tricorn Black” by Sherwin Williams – one of my favorites.

When designing a small space like a powder room, every detail is vital. If even one element feels random, the design falls apart. Every detail has to be thought out and intentional.

Is it any surprise, then, that even the most mundane details – like the toilet flush handle – were upgraded in this moody powder room? Did you even know you could upgrade the lever on your toilet to match whatever finish you have in your bathroom? It’s a simple and impactful update.

Once I made the decision to expose the brass plumbing underneath the sink, all other plumbing hardware had to match, of course. The most impressive part, in my opinion, is the solid brass toilet supply line, seen above. Just how unnecessarily extra is that?! I love it!

I also made sure to upgrade the outlet and light switch covers to matching brass ones. The next-best option would be to paint them the color of the walls.