Provence style looks good in photos, but it needs to be adapted for real apartment bathrooms because every classic style is impractical by nature.

Provence Style in a Bathroom

Style Features

Provence is a style from old France. Unlike other classic styles, it is not built on showing off expense and luxury. The style is based on light pastel colors and a large amount of decor, but without deliberate excess and kitsch. The right adjective for a Provence-style bathroom interior is gentle.

bathroom in provence style features bathroom design
  1. A window. Provence comes from France, where a bathroom window is standard. The adaptation section explains what can replace it in an apartment.
  2. A freestanding bathtub. It has a pile of disadvantages, covered in the disadvantages section.
  3. A light color palette.
  4. Pastel colors as accents. The main ones are blue and pale pink.
  5. Bronze or chrome faucets and handles in a retro style. Gold is allowed as an accent, but it is already a departure.
  6. Solid-wood furniture with routed details and legs. No sharp corners.
  7. Plenty of textiles and decor.
  8. A chandelier. This differs from contemporary styles, which distribute the lighting and divide it by purpose.

Besides the items listed above, every object is decor in Provence style. The mirror, towel holder, towels themselves, and furniture handles all have to match the style.

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Disadvantages

As with any classic style, the features of Provence are also its disadvantages. This is important because admiring an online photo is one thing, while living in the room and keeping it orderly is another.

It is impossible to live in a photograph.

Freestanding Bathtub

A perfect example and the dream of a huge number of people. The problem is that people dream in pictures. This is especially true of a Provence-style bathroom with its super-impractical objects.

Problems with a freestanding bathtub:

  1. It is very difficult to clean under and behind the tub. The feet and gap beside the wall are a perfectionist’s nightmare. Dirt will always collect there, and reaching it is very difficult. In practice, a freestanding bathtub works when the bathroom is so large that the tub can stand in the center and you can walk around it. If it has to be placed against the wall, what is the point?
  2. The drain. These tubs were used before indoor plumbing and were filled by hand. Now they need a water supply and drain, and the latter needs proper slope and a large enough pipe. In an apartment, a freestanding tub often requires changing the floor or raising the tub to route the drain. Did you dream about a step in the bathroom too?
  3. It is impossible to use a shower. Not only can you not take a proper shower, but even rinsing the tub becomes difficult. A separate shower is always needed.
  4. Price. The tub plus installation can cost as much as an entire ordinary bathroom remodel with a standard tub.

The advantage: it looks beautiful in photographs.

classical van bathroom in provence style A standalone Provence-style bathtub in the bathroom tile with provence pattern Textiles in the bathroom in the Provence style

Hostages to the Style

Provence reflects another era in another country. To make a good Provence-style bathroom design, you need to follow every feature strictly, and any departure has consequences.

Install an ordinary faucet instead of a bronze retro faucet, and the unity is broken. Fail to hide the washer and trash can completely, and they do not match the era.

where to hide a washer with a classic bathroom design disadvantages of provence style for bathroom Bathroom mistake in Provence style

Add too few accessories, and Provence does not come through.

Importance of accessories for the bathroom in a classic style

Fail to resist sticking up tile with flowers, even though everything else follows the style, and the atmosphere is lost.

tile with provence flowers in the bathroom

Look again at the Provence-style bathroom photos you dreamed about. Notice the perfect order, how every object sits exactly in its place, and how every shampoo bottle matches the towels by color.

classical styles in real life are not exactly as in the photo

Is it actually possible to live in a bathroom like this rather than only dream about it?

Adapting Provence for an Apartment

Let’s be honest: any classic style is an imitation now. No one requires a historically accurate imitation, and we owe nothing to either Provence style or France.

So let’s make a bathroom with elements of Provence style and adapt it for an ordinary apartment where the bathroom has no window and is small. We do not have servants either.

First, replace the freestanding bathtub with an ordinary rectangular one and finish the apron with tile. This alone will make the bathroom possible to clean, make your life substantially easier, and save the budget. The bathroom design will not suffer much. It can also be replaced with a shower.

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Because our bathroom has no window and Provence should have one, mirrors will replace it. Cabinet doors can be made as framed mirrors. They can even hide the pipes. Well, why not? There is no France outside the window anyway. Let there be a drainpipe. =)

mirrored door panels instead of a window for a Provence style in the bathroom mirror in carved white frame

Make more closed storage to hide completely every object that does not match a classic style.

bathroom floor stand in ancient style vanity cabinets in bathroom in provence style made of solid wood classical bathroom storage woven baskets for storing items in a classic bathroom

Hide the washer and any compact water heater completely where they are present. Keep required access, clearances, and ventilation around equipment; fabric is fine only where the appliance instructions and local rules allow it.

Washing machine behind a curtain in a Provence-style bathroom – design, bathroom

Either take the vanity all the way to the floor, wall-mount it, or choose legs tall enough to clean underneath.

classical minimalism in the bathroom tile with provence pattern on bathroom floor bathroom floor vanity with base Freestanding sink on legs in classic style sink on legs in a classic bathroom Solid-wood vanity on legs in classic style

Choose a wall-hung toilet with a concealed carrier. They come in classic styles too and are much more practical than floor-mounted toilets. More about full-bath design.

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You can already live with a bathroom like this, even if it is not 100 percent faithful to Provence style. By the way, if you have a small bathroom, consider a Scandinavian design. It is more contemporary and practical but close to Provence in spirit and atmosphere.

If your goal is not a stylistically accurate bathroom interior, you may be interested in related directions – shabby chic is almost the same as Provence but with flowers, for example – or simply mixtures of classic styles.

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Do not chase accuracy, and do not be shy about adapting the bathroom’s function to your needs. Also read about Provence-style kitchen design. Good luck with your remodel!