The 'fifth wall' is the unexpected design feature fit for small bathrooms - here's how to make the most out of yours

In my opinion, bathrooms are best when you go bold. Typically, compact rooms can afford to be daring, and bathroom trends suggest that this will continue to be a big hit into 2027.

However, sometimes that same compact nature of a bathroom is what can make decor feel limiting. But we've been missing a major opportunity, particularly in a small bathroom: the fifth wall.

The ceiling, otherwise known as the fifth wall, holds so much potential in a bathroom. From painting it for a colour-drenched or colour-capped look, to wallpapering it in a funky, unexpected pattern. Here's what you could do with your fifth wall.

'Bathrooms have five walls, but for some reason we tend to decorate only four of them. The ceiling is a brilliant opportunity to do something a little unexpected, particularly in a room where you can afford to be more playful,' explains Lesley Taylor, interior designer and founder at Baked Tiles.

I've been spotting unexpected ceiling decor more and more often, and it's a great example of how you can still add so much interest to a space, no matter the size. Keeping the focal point higher than eye-level makes a room feel longer, and thus more spacious.

'One of my favourite tricks is to flip the usual hierarchy of the room on its head. Rather than putting your most decorative tile on the wall and leaving the ceiling white, keep the walls relatively calm and let the pattern happen overhead. Suddenly the ceiling becomes the surprise when you walk into the room,' Lesley adds.

So how exactly should you utilise the fifth wall?

'Wallpaper is brilliant for this because it can completely alter how you read the proportions of a bathroom. In a room with a particularly high ceiling, taking wallpaper up the wall and straight across the ceiling can actually make the space feel more intimate and cocooning,' Keeley Sutcliffe, design manager at BC Designs explains.

'Rather than your eye travelling upwards and stopping at a white ceiling, the decoration wraps around you and brings that height back into the room,' she adds.

However, if you don't want to decorate the whole ceiling, then opting for a tiled shower ceiling is a great compromise.

'Glossy tiles work especially well because they do far more than add colour. Their uneven, reflective surface catches daylight, candlelight and bathroom lighting differently throughout the day, so the ceiling almost changes as the light moves around it,' Lesley continues.

There are things to be aware of before going gung-ho with wallpaper or tiles, however.

'The ceiling shouldn’t feel like an idea that has been added at the end. The most successful fifth-wall schemes take something that is already happening elsewhere in the room and allow it to continue upwards,' says Keeley.

'Pull one of the ceiling colours into the vanity, the wall treatment, a towel or even a small piece of furniture, then let the rest of the room have its own character,' she adds.

And if that's still a bit much and you want to make the trend more accessible, Lesley recommends that 'A decorative border around the top of the walls is another way to draw attention upwards without committing to a fully patterned ceiling.'

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