Indoor plumbing made a huge difference in the development of the human race. It also means our bathrooms are often the. But if your tastes lean towards the traditional, you may be more interested in rustic bathroom ideas.
These could range from a copper bathtub to a wider shower spout. Rustic bathrooms might also have retro fixtures, traditional tile techniques, or old-school construction materials. Let’s look at some renovation ideas you can apply to your bathroom to achieve that countryside ambiance.
1. Rustic Minimal
Ordinarily, minimal bathrooms are considered contemporary. They’re not overloaded with ‘stuff’ like many country homes. But this bathroom applies its rustic bathroom ideas differently. A freestanding double-slipper tub already evokes the countryside feel. Then the distressed stool and ladder towel rack look like they were lovingly cobbled from farmyard debris.
2. Wood and Vault
Many designers use wood and sloped ceilings as shorthand for ‘countryside aesthetic’. This bathroom uses both. Unfinished wood panels form the cabinetry, door frames, mirror frame, and wall siding above the sloped ceiling. A rectangular tub completes the picture.
3. Hexagons and Circles
If you’re drawn to the timber theme but are uncertain about wood maintenance levels, opt for wood-patterned tile. This bathroom has hexagonal tiles in wood-print colors. The toilet seat and cabinet have wooden print while the rounded mirror and vessel sink add a bit of a curve. The wicker basket storage and conical lampshades contribute to the rural mood of this bathroom.
4. Contemporary Cabin
While forest cottages are typically homely, you can add a few modern touches. This bathroom uses a floating MDF vanity to throw in some contemporary couture. The elongated oval tub and trapezium toilet look neo-stylish as well. But the walls are gray tile with an accent wall in stereotypical cabin style. The ceiling and floor are made of the same wood as the accent wall.
5. Rustic Hourglass
This bathroom is visually arresting in a puzzling kind of way. The hourglass tub screams countryside, but because it’s glossy and white, it seems modern. The black wall and stool use a matte stain that’s typical for barnyard décor. But the vintage red-clay pitcher and plant pot are truly rustic, especially when paired with that metallic water jug. It looks very wild-wild-west.
6. Luxury Parlor
Rustic bathroom ideas don’t have to be low-cost. You can design a luxurious parlor-style bathroom that resembles old English country homes. This bathroom is a good example. It has a reddish-brown color scheme that’s enhanced by the yellow bulbs in the antique-styled crystal chandelier. Ornate mirror framing and distressed wooden pillars enhance the rural mood.
7. Semi-rustic Bath
The lighting in rustic bathrooms is often dim. This is because traditional countryside homes rarely have electricity. They use candles and oil lamps, so your fixtures could use yellow bulbs to mimic this effect. But this bathroom has large windows and white walls, so it’s brightly lit. But the unfinished wooden door, exposed ceiling beams, and travertine walls make it peri-urban.
8. Simple Vessels
Simplicity is another key feature of rustic bathroom ideas. In this case, you can buy a basic vessel sink at your local hardware store. This rectangular one has rounded edges and looks like something you’d find at the neighborhood fair. Place the sink on a home-made distressed wood table. You can buy that at the fare as well, though you’ll need to install the faucets and piping.
9. Attic Aesthetic
This bathroom is interesting because it seems modern and rural at the same time. It’s built in the attic section of industrial warehouse space. Half the ceiling is a sloping skylight while the other vault has whitewashed exposed ceiling beams. The whitewashed walls have a naturally aged look, and the floor is herringbone wood that’s equally faded. But the double-slipper tub is new.
10. Tiny Touches
Often, you can use accessories as the lynchpin to your rustic bathroom ideas. In the previous bathroom, the peeling tables and vases enhanced the countryside effect. In this bathroom here, everything looks new, from the bright brown wooden countertop to the circular sink. But small touches like the retro soap dispenser and the timber trinket tray maintain the homespun spirit.
11. Wooden Shutters
This is another example of ‘modern rustic’. The ceramic soaking tub has an oval tip and curving sides. It sits on a gapped wooden floor that matches the adjacent window shutters. The wall behind the tub uses more traditional paneling. But while the windows are massively modern, the lumber detailing on the walls, floors, and furnishings put the bathroom solidly in rural territory.
12. Rustic Detail
Yes, the walls in this bathroom are all white, which is a very contemporary move. But there are visible wooden beams set into those walls. They’re about a foot apart, and they give the room a more traditional feel. The furnishings are decidedly more rustic. The mirror frames, flooring, and countertop are medium-dark wood while the sink has a cast-iron exterior.
13. Door Detail
This penthouse apartment has carved out a vaulted section into a beautiful bathroom. The rustic touch comes from the ornate wooden door, with its cast-iron rivets and handles. Opposite the door (and around the door too), the wood-patterned stone tile echoes woodland hues.
14. Rural Accents
This curvy double-slipper bathtub looks modern because its glossy ceramics curve outward. But rustic bathroom ideas are used elsewhere in the bathroom. The wooden floors, concrete chimney, beige drapes, stacked wood, and wall creepers all simulate a countryside location.
15. Rustic Concrete
The reason countryside homes are sometimes low on luxury is their locale. They’re often far from urban amenities and fancy interior design suppliers, so they build using what’s on hand. This bathroom has concrete walls and seeming DIY accessories. The mirror frames and light fixtures are all vintage, and the scalloped ceiling and exposed beams are ‘very country’.
16. Modern Rustic
Some homeowners want their bathrooms extremely rustic. They want guests to feel the bathroom door is a portal to the past … or at least to Middle America. Others are fine with occasional rustic accents, which is the case here. The bathroom is clearly modern. But the wood print on the bathtub coping and floor tiles match the window frame. The wooden vanity helps too.
17. Lovely Logging
The top half of this bathroom is padded with cylindrical uncut logs. They have a glossy stain to make the moisture-proof and add some bathroom shine. Their effect is strong enough to overpower the mint-green tile on the lower half of the walls, keeping this bathroom irrefutable rustic. Not even the corner tub and white tile floor can take away from this cozy rural feeling.
18. Powder Room
Your guest bathroom can be rustic too. In this case, the narrow walls are made from raw, unfinished wood. Like a powder room, you only need a sink and a toilet, so water damage isn’t a big risk. While this one only houses a small bowl, your simple table can support a vessel sink, antique clock, and vintage mirrors. Floating shelves provide additional storage space.
19. Brick and Glass
This bathroom has fully leaned into its rustic bathroom ideas. But it ends up looking a bit eclectic because it’s mixed with modern elements. The brick wall is fronted by a glass partition. The exposed ceiling beams frame recessed ceiling lights. The skylights shine on a wooden floor.
20. Yellow Wood
The small windows in this bathroom let in minimal natural light. That follows the rustic theme. But to keep the bathroom bright, the home-owners used bright wood with a yellow tinge. This wood frames the windows, and they’re used on the floors and cabinets. The speckled granite countertop has copper basins that serve as vessel sinks. Vintage photos occupy the back wall.
21. Vanity in Concrete
This bathroom has concrete walls, but the etched patterns make it seem like gray tile. The floor is gray tile too. The sixties’ style lamps are painted white, but they still have a retro feel. A brass Greek pitcher sets the mood, and the wooden mirror frame, floating shelves, and vanity have similar colors to the pitcher. The under-mount sinks on this hollow vanity are gray stone.
22. Baby Bathtime
Have you considered rustic bathroom ideas for your nursery? This baby has his own bite-sized bathtub customized from non-slip clawfoot copper. The floor beneath the tub is waterproof wood while the wall behind the tub is distressed wood. Old-school baby brushes and retro-style sponges complete this vision of perfection. The towel colors are equally rustic selections.
23. Dim Delights
While this bathroom has an entire wall of glass, the window seems to face the wrong side, so it doesn’t bring in much daylight. The massive greenery beyond the window marks this location as decidedly un-urban. The soaking tub and vessel sinks seem peri-urban, especially as the sinks sit on a simple table without contemporary cabinets. The indoor plants add a back-to-nature feel.
24. Snowscape and Beyond
We visualize rustic locations as endless wheat plantations or hidden mountainside communities. So this snowy neighborhood could easily be painted as rural. One wall is a sliding glass door that looks out onto the gorgeous snowcaps. The amount of wood in this bathroom suggests woodland construction.
25. Old Home New Tub
The whirlpool tub at the edge of this photo is obviously a contemporary contraption. But the dresser is clearly antique. Its rustic mirror frames and faded white wood drawers are straight out of a country house. The brownish-gray colors in the wall and floor tiles are rural in their leaning.
26. Rustic Wet Room
Wet rooms are a modern fascination. But with the right palette, you can sink your neo-bathroom into the Wild West. The slate gray tiles look as Spartan as any saloon, especially with the wood rail flooring behind the shower glass. It feels modern, but the source materials feel rural.
27. Rural Coping
The concept of rustic bathroom ideas is wide and varied. In this clearly contemporary bathroom, using dark wood coping on the bathtub makes it instantly rural. The window frames, shutters, and vanity are dark wood too, and a large vessel sink fills the top of the narrow single cabinet.
28. Stainless and Stellar
In rural spaces, beer barrels and oil drums are sometimes cut in half and used repurposed into bathtubs. Naturally, these tubs will look old, stained, and rusty. But metallic tubs look decidedly rustic, even when they’re stainless steel, like the tub in this peri0urban bathroom. The exposed pipes, copper planter, and black floors also enhance the rural atmosphere.
29. Rustic Quirks
Twin sinks are about space and luxury. But if you want your master bath to have a cozy, homespun feel, go small. This bathroom has small square vessel sinks with rounded sides and corners. The quirky faucets resemble farmyard water pumps. The counter is concrete, and the small wood-framed mirrors reflect the bright brown bathroom doors behind you.
30. Bathroom Backboard
In this semi-modern bathroom, the bathtub has a concrete shell and ceramic innards. The floor is wood. But instead of paneling the entire walls in wood, a smaller wooden shelf is planted behind the tub. It’s more like a partial wall with recessed shelves and vintage copper lampshades screwed into the wood. Planters finish of the countryside aesthetic in this urban bathroom.
31. Wood-framed Powder Room
You may argue whether this bathroom truly applies rustic bathroom ideas. But the white siding is more common in the countryside than city homes. The round mirror echoes the round vessel sink. And the glass door is very city-slicker. This bathroom is probably located in a rustic town, but it’s aiming for a modern look. You can tell by the wood framing in the glass bathroom door.
32. Cubby Under the Stairs
Here, we see the opposite effect in action – a traditional bathroom in a modern house. How can you tell? Check out the staircase near the door – it marks out this bathroom as a space carved out of the corner under the staircase. The narrow bathroom has lots of rustic wood. The vessel sink and floor are gray stone and the vanity is a pretty wooden table without cabinets.
33. Warm Country Bath
This bathroom uses modern materials, but they’re styles to create a rustic aesthetic. The top half of the wall is warm yellow and textured. The black and white tile below is understated. A white counter houses a white vessel sink, and a wall of basalt supports a screen if textured glass. Behind the stone and glass, a shower enclosure is paved in the same black and white tile.
