Why a Wood Bathroom Is the Way to Go Right Now (2024)

In the bathroom of this Dutchess County, New York, lodge, designer Vicky Charles of Charles & Co. opted for on-theme reclaimed wood cladding on the walls. The glazed terra-cotta tiles by Tabarka Studio on the floor play off the cream color of the antique limestone sink from Ancient Surfaces, pulling the entire space together.

In Malene and William Waldron’s farmhouse in New York’s Hudson Valley, spare spaces reign supreme. The bathroom is no different. Here, the repeating pattern of the wood wainscoting on the bottom half of the walls was installed by William, while Malene repeated the same pattern, but in color, on the ceiling.

While renovating this 18th-century mansion in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for Dorsey Gardner, architect Sebastian Zavala implemented and preserved wood wherever he could, adding ceiling beams where there were none and reclaiming old wooden doors. In this bathroom, the blond wood used for the cabinets and mirror frame match the 1950s window surrounds, which were refinished and whitewashed to create a sense of ease and light. The low wood bench completes the woodsy picture.

“I don’t shock with color. I like to use unexpected color combinations that take a backseat to what else is happening in the room,” says Jenna Chused, the designer of this 1830s Weston, Connecticut, saltbox house. Her clients wanted bold tones, but Chused incorporated them sparingly, allowing warmer hues that are easier to live with to take precedence. In the bathroom, the bright blue flowers in the wallpaper, Kiurujen yö by Pihlgren & Ritola, are perfectly offset by the gray Farrow & Ball paint used on the wood wainscoting.

This California ranch is wood-forward all around, but the designers, Zabie Mustafa and Neda Kakhsaz of Studio Muka, still managed to make every inch of the abode feel modern. In this bathroom, the sleek white oak millwork feels almost futuristic, complemented by zellige tiles from Clé Tiles and 1960s sconces by Luigi Caccia Dominioni.

The handmade ofuro-style cedar tub in the bathroom of this Park City, Utah, ski chalet is a retreat unto itself. Designer Stephanie Luk of Electric Bowery sourced the tub from the appropriately named Zen Bathworks. With the room’s black limestone tile walls, it now serves as a place to reset, like being in nature indoors.

Eric Hughes and Nathan Turner bought this 1950s ranch in Ojai, California, because it reminded them of their roots. Both had memories with their grandparents in homes such as this, so when it came to decorating this abode they leaned toward the humble, homegrown interiors they remembered best. In the bathroom, wood slats cover the ceiling and walls, complemented by a barn door in the same white paint. The effect is almost barnlike, with a cast-iron tub and pendant from Rejuvenation completing the theme.

Jeweler Silvia Furmanovich is known for bringing together disparate cultures in her work. So it’s no surprise that she did the same in her Brazil home, with its Japanese overtones. In the primary bathroom, a traditional Japanese wooden ofuro tub plays off the wood ceiling, while the river-stone wall treatment nods to Chinese reflexology, giving the bather a feeling of being submerged in a river. Wood appears again in the custom stone and bamboo vanity.

Sometimes you don’t need to bring the outdoors in for a dose of wood. In this outdoor shower in the Hamptons house of Allison and Larry Berg, Ariel Ashe and Reinaldo Leandro of Ashe Leandro let the wood stay in its natural setting—outside. Wood cladding on the walls of the guest bedroom terrace is accented with a stainless steel table by Frederik Fialin and a chair by Walter Lamb. The shower is by Vola.

Wood is the predominant material in this bathroom in a historic 1936 house overlooking San Francisco Bay by designer Lauren Geremia. She sourced the freestanding tub from Wooden Bath Unlimited in a slightly darker tone than the wood-paneled walls, which lead your eye up toward the Tudor-style, diamond-paned windows.

Anne McDonald looked to Scandinavian getaways for inspiration in this Minnesota lake house. Indeed, the bathroom boasts not only wood wainscoting typical of Swedish and Danish midcentury interiors but also the kinds of accessories that usually complete such spaces. To keep things simple, everything was clad in white (save the herringbone zellige floor tiles from Clé).