The Powder Room Is the Best Room to Take Design Risks

The most effective powder rooms I have designed share a few qualities: they have a strong focal material (floor-to-ceiling book-matched marble, a dramatic wallcovering, a plaster finish in an unexpected color), a vanity that reads as furniture rather than a bathroom fixture, and lighting that is warm and intentional rather than bright and clinical.

The vanity in a luxury powder room is a design statement. A custom stone vessel sink, a console with brass legs, a pedestal in a bold material, a floating piece with blackened metal brackets: these choices communicate design investment in a way that a standard cabinet-with-basin does not. The mirror is equally important. Unlacquered brass or custom bronze framing, an arched form, integrated lighting, or a hand-beveled edge all change the character of the room.

Powder room lighting is almost universally done wrong in homes that were not custom-designed. The overhead fixture is too bright, too cool, and too directional. It creates shadows in the wrong places and makes the room feel like a utility space.

What I specify instead: warm, even light at face level (usually via sconces on either side of the mirror), a warmer color temperature than the rest of the house (2700K or even 2400K), and a dimmer. The effect is intimate and flattering, which is exactly what a powder room should feel like. This is a room guests use and form opinions in, and lighting has more to do with how it reads than almost any other single element.