Celebrity interior designer and Queer Eye home expert Bobby Berk firmly believes the bathroom should function as a break room, emphasizing mindful design in an often-limited space. In Right at Home: How Good Design Is Good for the Mind (Clarkson Potter, September 2023), Berk explains that “a proper break room should acknowledge the humanity of its users” by bringing dignity to an arguably undignified space. His tips for creating the bathroom of your dreams are simple: First, prioritize a therapeutic mindset with soothing colors and patterns (but if a bold aesthetic makes you happy, go for it). Next, make sure the space literally gives your mind a break—that means “beauty, cleanliness, and organization are all nonnegotiables,” Berk writes. Finally, remember that the bathroom is a high-traffic, high-function area. Whether you’re using it to complete your extensive morning skincare routine, to take a breather between meetings, or to teach your child to brush their teeth, a bathroom should be function-forward, making everyday tasks easy to accomplish.

One way to keep the bathroom clean and streamlined is to strategically store your belongings, making use of wall shelves, undersink storage, shower cutouts, and behind-the-door hanging spaces. In the room pictured here, Berk carefully curates the shelves of a glass-doored storage cabinet with an arched silhouette, keeping excess items hidden from view in wicker baskets and ash wood drawers. A solid teak stool next to the porcelain tub adds warmth to the naturally bright room while a framed abstract landscape painting brings the outdoors in. Inspired by the Italian palaces of the Renaissance era, the geometric tiled floor infuses the bathroom with an elegant but dramatic flair. Deep blue walls and brass fixtures offset the crisp white subway tile and instill a feeling of luxury. Find your zen and design a bathroom that gives your mind a break with these nine finds.  

Right at Home Copyright © 2023 by Bobby Berk. Illustrations copyright © 2023 Andrew Joyce. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.