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The One Where Monica Redesigns Her Bathroom

Published on: 25/10/2021
Last Updated: 25/10/2021
Monica Gets A New Bathroom

"You know, if you move your hamper you can see the colour the tile used to be!"

Joey Tribbiani might not know much, but he knows when Monica's bathroom needs renovating.

The One With Frank Jr. is a classic Friends episode, not least for revealing a traumatic gap in Monica's house pride: she's let the smallest room slip. Those "dingy" bathroom tiles are glued to the floor so tightly that she never got the idea to replace them.

Well, redesigning your bathroom is about ideas - and about being consistent. So, to help you imagine how your bathroom might look with a makeover, we've pictured Monica's bathroom in six in-demand interior styles, with examples of the fixtures and fittings you can use to achieve each Friends bathroom look.


Industrial Style

Get that 'upwardly mobile New Yorker' warehouse-conversion look in your bathroom by embracing an industrial style. The look first came to domestic spaces via Soho warehouse and factory developments in NYC in the 1970s. Lately, you can see the industrial style everywhere, but the look lends itself to being highly personalised.

Exposed brick, pipes, and beams provide the founding framework for your industrial-style bathroom. Brass and chrome add weightiness, and simple, business-like shapes (such as these industrial mixer taps) create a feel that's minimal without being sparse. Check out this adjustable pendant light that looks like it's about to get smashed into a warehouse wall in slow-mo in a 1980s music video.

Tip: Instead of covering up strange or awkward elements of your bathroom build, find what's unique about them and make them a feature.


Japanese Style

Are you familiar with the Japanese concept of unagi? According to Ross Geller, it's a Japanese concept meaning 'state of total awareness.' According to the Japanese, unagi means 'freshwater eel.' It's a good lesson in Japanese design style: if you want it for your bathroom, make sure you understand the principles, not just the surface appearance!

These design principles include symmetry, consistency, and balance. Minimal furniture and ornamentation enhance the flow of the room, but it is just as important to ensure the details you do include are in harmony together. Consider, for example, this bamboo bath bench atop this slipper bath.

Tip: 'Borrow the scenery' of your garden by enhancing the view outdoors and echoing the shapes and textures of your garden in the bathroom (this is called shakkei - which honestly isn't a type of eel).


Moroccan Style

Moroccan interiors are inspired by the North African country and its cultures. If you dig the colour and ornateness of Monica Geller's apartment but want something more timeless, a Moroccan style bathroom might be for you. The water-resistance of stone flags and mosaic tiling mean the style is both a stylish and practical solution for your home's smallest room.

Detail is everything in a Moroccan style bathroom, right down to the choice of light bulbs. This teardrop-shaped bulb embraces an evocatively Arabic geometry. Warm autumn colours, golden yellows, royal greens, and sapphire blues can enhance every corner - right down to a copper-coloured bathtub.

Tip: If you love the shape and opulence of Moroccan design but the colour feels too much, work to a stone or terracotta-themed palette.


Art Deco Style

For the glamour of the '20s (that's the 1920s, not eternal twentysomethings of Friends), it has to be an art deco bathroom. Art deco design was born out of the brash confidence of the jazz age, when new materials found their home and avant-garde designers took the world by storm. Art deco was unashamedly decorative, and its Hollywood-calibre form was equal to or more important than function. In other words, it's a look.

Check, for example, this chrome, bevelled ceiling light, which looks like you pinched it right out of the Waldorf Astoria. Pair it with this Bathroom Origins Crystal Wall Light - and give yourself centre-stage with this classically art deco-shaped hexagonal wall mirror.

Tip: Art deco enjoyed a major revival in the 1980s, so semi-vintage pieces can be picked up at a good price from your local second-hand furniture shop.


Tropical Style

There's always another winter around the corner. If there's one place you want to feel toasty and relaxed, it's the bathroom. The tropical look has been on the ascendant in recent years, and it gives the boho style a sun-bleached, paradisal makeover. Sort of like Monica in The One in Barbados, only without the cultural appropriation.

A tropical style bathroom is all about washing your hair under a waterfall, so how about this high pressure top-down shower complete with wave water flow functionality? Key is to surround yourself with plenty of greenery (or at least plant-themed decor) - you want to feel like you could just as easily reach for a fig leaf as a towel. And for this season's industrial spin on the tropical style, pair this wall-mounted tap with a pool-shaped basin.

Tip: Don't over-clutter - instead, double down on mirrors and humidity-chomping houseplants to give yourself the feeling of being lost in paradise.


Farmhouse Style

For Monica Geller's farmhouse style bathroom, we've opted for a free-standing cast iron bath from Burlington, norm core toilet, and cosy mid-century style fittings. After all, if your French doors don't open up onto a Malibu beach (like Cox's), you'll probably want to avoid black for an airy, rural look.

Tip:Embrace your inner Cath Kidston with a single kitsch print detail - be it patterned wallpaper or a chintzy washstand jug and bowl.

The bathroom answers the fundamental needs of your daily routine. Changing things up may be the best DIY move you can make in your home if you're in need of a little spiritual reboot. But matching the style and detail to your tastes is essential if you want to feel comfortable in the littlest room.

Why not have another look over the bathroom styles above and see which one best fits your space. You can't cover everything up with a toilet brush, Joey!

No matter how you choose to decor your bathroom, you deserve to do so in any beautiful setting. QS Supplies offers a fantastic selection of whirlpool baths, shower baths, bathroom vanity, his-and-her bathroom vanities, bathroom taps, bathroom furniture, and heated towel rails, all at unmatched prices.

Kylie Wall

Kylie Wall
Kylie Wall is a home decor expert and writer at QS Supplies, where she combines her passion for design with practical advice to help readers beautify their bathrooms and kitchens. Her concise, trend-focused insights make her a valued resource for homeowners seeking to elevate their living spaces.