Undulating coloured light displays such as the ones that heralded the start of the Olympic Games earlier this week are kick-starting a bathroom lighting revolution.
That's what Adrienne Chinn reckons, anyway, and she should know: the interior design guru and founder of Adriennechinn has kitted out plenty of bathrooms, and knows what's up.
And what's up is homeowners are leaving behind boring old white tiles and chrome fixtures and instead injecting a little colour into their bathroom interiors - starting with their lighting.
"I've started to see black sinks, toilets and baths," says the expert. "Watch for a return to coloured bathroom fixtures. We're moving away from the white, chrome, and beige bathrooms to pattern and colour. Using coloured mosaic tiles as accents with neutral tiles is one way to bring some colour into the bathroom.
"More interesting lighting is being developed specifically for bathrooms, and I'm seeing the integration of accent LED lights in showers and around baths."
Bathroom light fittings such as the Searchlight 9910AZ Bathroom LED. The fitting can be mounted both on the ceiling for an even spread of light or on the wall to illuminate a shower or alcove.
And with the fixture taking energy-saving LED bulbs, the choice of colours is endless - so you can add shimmering aquamarine colours to your bathroom just by switching your lighting.
Colour doesn't just have to come from your lighting, though: as Dulux colour experts note, the right colour can express your mood and outlook through your interior design choices. And for a bathroom, quiet calm is ideal.
"Calm colours [are] really chalked-out," the experts says. "It's really where the heritage colours come in. These create calm, tranquil, sophisticated interiors. If you're looking for something that's got a period feel to it or you want a bit of sophistication, calm colours with lots of chalky grey are fantastic."
