Clawfoot Bathtub Ideas

Zen Tub

• A clawfoot tub is a diva in the bathroom, so go with it and keep the surroundings simple. Paint the walls, ceiling, trim and radiators or other fixtures white. Use the same paint on a wooden floor, or find durable floor paint in the exact shade. Alternatively, tile the floor in large, white tiles. Set the clawfoot tub in this cloud, and place a single, tub-height block of wood next to the tub to hold necessities during the bath. A giant sea sponge will balance on the rolled edge of the tub when it's not floating in the bath. Towels should be thick and white or a neutral non-color like sand or gray. Windows can be glazed to let in light while preserving privacy and eliminating the need for fussy curtains. A white or dove-gray nubby bath rug hangs over the tub to dry between soaks, and medicine chests that disappear into the walls hold bath salts and aromatherapy wands.

Apothecary Bath

• Surround a classic clawfoot tub with a 19th-century apothecary. Cover the walls up to the white ceiling and moldings in beadboard, and paint all beadboard in pale cream or light turquoise eggshell. Mount a thin marble shelf on a wall next to the tub to hold bath salts in old-fashioned jars. Stack more of the narrow shelves on the wall near a pedestal sink to hold grooming and pharmaceutical liquids like shampoos, polish removers, rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide in vintage apothecary bottles. Look for a wood-handled shaving brush in a mug, and add reproduction toothbrush holders and soap dishes. Milk glass wall scones would look right in this room with lots of fluffy towels to match the walls and a period armless chair upholstered in pale embroidered brocade.

Country Cottage Bath

• A boring bathroom becomes a charming cottage retreat with a few found furnishings and a Tudor peasant wall treatment as a backdrop to a slipper-style clawfoot tub. Cover a damaged floor in thick seagrass matting for an inexpensive alternative to replacement or refinishing. Paint the walls white; faux stucco is a nice touch. Stain thin, uneven strips of reclaimed lumber in a dark shade to resemble old, darkened or smoke-blackened wood. Attach those strips vertically to the bathroom walls, spaced about 2 feet apart, so the room resembles a modest Tudor household. A vintage pie safe or cupboard with distressed and faded paint will hold extra towels and grooming supplies. Set an enameled pitcher on top of it or hunt for a porcelain flowered pitcher and bowl set. The pitcher might hold tall cut flowers or a curly branch of flowering shrub. A wire garden chair, slightly the worse for wear and cushioned in old chintz completes the setting for the gleaming and inviting tub.

Garden Bath

• Clawfoot tubs have rough-finished outer sides that are ideal for a quick bathroom décor treatment that won't break the bank. Paint the tub sides to match pastel walls in the bathroom. Washed-out pink, faded sky blue or palest mint would make a good canvas for a garden-style bathroom. Hang a pretty length of flowered cloth over a curtain rod, and set a wicker laundry basket near the tub to hold a rainbow of pale towels. A rag rug in pastel tones makes a good bathroom rug, but add a small white bath rug that dries faster for stepping out of the tub. Paint terracotta flowerpots white to grow posies on the window ledge, and stitch a column from a linen dishtowel to slide loosely over a large glass jar that will hold a bouquet of wildflowers. Cut a pretty botanical print from a magazine, and frame it in an old frame distressed with white paint.