Blush-coloured basins are experiencing a resurgence in contemporary bathroom interiors. This lookbook compiles eight of our favourite examples.
After white, pink was the most popular colour for porcelain fixtures in mid-century interiors, with experts estimating that up to one in four homes built in the US between 1946 and 1966 had a rose-tinted bathroom.
Now, interior designers are reinterpreting the trend for the 21st century, using traditional porcelain for a retro feel or adapting modern materials like resin and concrete to create built-in sinks that seamlessly blend into their vanities.
Read on for eight examples of how to go pink without being pastiche.
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring architects’ self-designed studios, all-white interiors and bedrooms with exposed concrete surfaces.
Casa di Fantasia, Italy, by David/Nicolas
A rose-tinted porcelain bathtub and shower tray were among the only original details in Gio Ponti‘s 1952 project Casa di Fantasia when David/Nicolas was tasked with revamping the Milanese apartment.
To complement the existing fixtures the Lebanese design duo installed matching his and hers sinks, while floor tiles by ceramicist Fausto Melotti were instead repurposed as a backsplash.
Find out more about Casa di Fantasia ›
T7.2 dental clinic, Germany, by Batek Architekten
Splashes of colour delineate different functional zones in this white-heavy Berlin dental clinic, designed by local studio Batek Architekten to evoke the atmosphere of an art gallery.
The sanitary area where patients brush their teeth is distinguished by a paradoxically sugary, cotton-candy colour that suffuses everything from the walls and floors to the counter, complete with a built-in basin and toothbrush compartment.
Find out more about the T7.2 dental clinic ›
Oddsson Ho(s)tel, Iceland, by Döðlur
Icelandic practice Döðlur converted two floors of the historic 1940s JL House on Reykjavík‘s waterfront into a hostel, filled with pieces by famous 20th-century designers including Alessandro Mendini, Gerrit Rietveld and Ettore Sottsass.
In the shared bathrooms, a row of bubblegum-pink sinks jumps out from the hotel’s blue-led colour scheme, creating a retro feeling that hearkens back to the era when the house was originally built.
Find out more about Oddsson Ho(s)tel ›
Annabel’s, UK, by Martin Brudnizki
Taps shaped like golden swans spew water into luminous pink-onyx washbasins in the powder room at Annabel’s – a private members’ club occupying a Grade I-listed Georgian townhouse in London’s Mayfair neighbourhood.
“It’s really about fantasy,” designer Martin Brudnizki told Dezeen. “This is a club, you don’t come here for reality, you come to be transported somewhere else.”
Find out more about Annabel’s ›
Univers Uchronia, France, by Uchronia
Julien Sebban, founder of Dezeen Award-winning interiors studio Uchronia, designed his own apartment in Paris’s 18th arrondissement to be not just close to the studio’s office but also reflective of its distinctive visual language.
The colour-drenched bathroom balances decadent materials and playful shapes, featuring oversized flower-shaped cushions and ornamental jellyfish alongside a revamped vintage vanity topped with a cloud-shaped hunk of pink marble.
Find out more about Univers Uchronia ›
North London house, UK, by The Mint List
Pink concrete was used to form a counter with integrated sinks in the bathroom of this renovated Edwardian house in north London by local studio The Mint List.
The vanity’s ballet-slipper colour, paired with golden taps and pipes, helps provide a counterpoint to the mint-green tiles that enshroud the interior.
Find out more about North London house ›
Harbour Early Learning, Australia, by Danielle Brustman
Australian designer Danielle Brustman installed a plethora of different coloured-graded sinks across the Harbour Early Learning facility in Sydney‘s Vaucluse suburb in hopes of encouraging little ones to keep their sticky fingers clean.
For maximum hand-washing incentive, this trough-style basin is set at children’s height and finished with curved tiles in a soft petal pink that joyously clashes with the yellow tapware.
“I wanted the design to inspire delight and joy for the people occupying the spaces,” the designer told Dezeen.
Find out more about Harbour Early Learning ›
Breadway, Ukraine, by Lera Brumina and Artem Trigubchak
Odesa bakery Breadway features a cool-toned pink and blue palette, chosen by Ukrainian designers Lera Brumina and Artem Trigubchak to “emphasise the warm colour of bread”.
In the bathrooms, coral-coloured sinks match the grouting that peeks out between the glossy orange tiles, while cabinets and doorways are emphasised in contrasting cobalt.
Find out more about Breadway ›
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring architects’ self-designed studios, all-white interiors and bedrooms with exposed concrete surfaces.
