Bathtub Colors

Colors

• If you have the choice, don't explore a varied color palette for your bath tub. Colored tubs, unless they make a dramatic design statement, do nothing for the resale value of your home and dictate bathroom style forever. If you already have a colored tub, do your best to work with it. For pastel yellows and pinks, baby blues and minty greens, look for some elegance or a theatrical effect to avoid looking twee. Turn a green tub bathroom into a botanical retreat with bamboo accessories, a stark tree graphic on the shower curtain, vanilla or white paint and deep flower petal towels in rose, sunflower yellow or purple iris. Pink can handle pattern -- look for plaids or bold stripes in a mix of pale and bright colors and forget ruffles and flower designs. Yellow and blue look sharp with complements. Try rust towels with a blue tub and rich violet towels with yellow.

Metal

• Copper, silvered or brushed metal are simply fabulous in a bathroom. A rolled-edge freestanding soaking tub in silver is hard to resist when it's surrounded by pale, Confederate-gray walls and a matching stained floor. Add a touch of color with translucent glass or Lucite accessories in a jewel tone like ruby or sapphire. Swaddle a copper tub in chalk and jade tones to set off its gingery gleam. Chalk or limestone walls and pale jade tile on the floor plus deeper jade towels focus attention on the heirloom-quality bath tub.

Black

• A black bathtub can either seem dated or stun guests with its drop-dead glamour. Stick to natural materials for accessories and colors in this bathroom. Emphasize the wood floors, keep walls a light neutral tone like seagull gray, choose pewter or brushed steel accessories and pile on the fluffy white towels. A room with a black matte clawfoot tub gets cartoon treatment for lighthearted appeal. Use caricatures outlined in simple black frames on the walls. Paint those walls creamy tangerine or palest blush pink and use black, dark gray or white towels or a mix of all three. Keep the rest of the fixtures shiny white porcelain.

White

• There's nothing bland about white tubs, mainly because there are so many shades of white that it can be confusing to choose one. Blue-based whites like cloud or smoke are cool white. Choose accessories and accent colors in a blue or blue-white palette when the tub has a hint of blue. Yellow-based whites like ivory and cream are warm-hued. Use warm neutral tones or different intensities of yellow-whites in a room with a creamy white tub. Stark white has a tendency to look institutional. It may never blend in with décor but it can serve as a foil for vivid accessory colors that change as your taste does. Check the entire spectrum of whites before settling on one you can live with.