Please show whole room. What is mirror like, lights, shower or bath? What would be the purpose of the shelves? I think well sized artwork can be effective. Wallpaper can go bold in a guest bath. And offer luxurious amenities. I know open shelves are in, but for me i'd rather have dust free towels. How about a bolder color?

Ditto everything @P Banos suggested and asked!

I think the open shelves are personal preference. I would rather not have them either because of the dust and I'd be paraniod of knocking stuff into the toilet. Haha. Despite that, I honestly think they would look good there, and it's a bonus if you need that extra storage space. Another thing to think about is what you would put on them because that's going to be seen right when you walk in.

I agree it needs some color, whether that's wallpaper, paint, or artwork. Simple solution would be just a colorful shower curtain and towels.

there is literally 500 things you could do .

super easy

you could do something to the ceiling:

marble shelves over the toilet

or any number of wall treatments. You could tile or do some type of wainscot around the room. you could do a MDF wainsoct and paint it white or a dark color. you could do a wall paper on one wall, or all of the walls. you could bring in any type of art or picture gallery.

wainscot, dark wall paint and stencil. dark ceiling w/crown trim

Over my towel rack, in my small bathroom, I hung nice canvas art. Water wipes off fine. I think you might try that.

Thank you for the suggestions. I love all of them and had not even considered changing the ceiling or adding wainscotting. The wainscotting is my favorite, do you think that will work in a small bathroom? It would only be behind toilet and wall with towel rack. I would paint the top half darker.

Easy to find towels that look nice. Curtains matter too, and this has trendy yarn puffs in pattern.

Very inexpensive piece I like alot. So close a finish with towel bar.

wainscot is a great idea. it can be done in many diff ways.

if the bathroom gets a lot of use, you could opt for the vinyl panels. or just use the MDF and prime and bath w/bathroom paint.

you could do a board and batten,

(this one is dark on top, but you could do dark wainscot and light on top) (Try BM Wrought Iron for a similar color

paired w/crown molding

Beadboard

beadboard looks great on the ceiling too! paired here w/the marble and soft green

with wallpaper and crown

picture frame molding wainscot, (with tile accent)

or a tongue and groove/shiplap wainscot

I just did beadboard and wallpaper in a very very small guest bathroom. I was trying to have fun and give it a little personality

The images you sent made my decision, I am def going with wainscotting and darker paint above. Thank you so much. I would have agonized for days/weeks over this! Much appreciated.

Almost a record-breaking fast decision!! :)

Especially for me!

reat! post pics when done.

allow me to list the paint colors.

Since your white in that room is bright, you don't want a yellow white.

Use Simply white, Oxford White, Pure White,

I used Simply White in my room and love it. (do not use white dove!)

paired here w/wrought iron, it's a good match

If you want more grays/charcoals, try these

This Adagio color and Oxford white would also be very pretty.

don't forget your ceiling. do a beadboard, or the wood color that's on your floor

if you could do the same wood flooring on the ceiling, it would look great w/the white and dark walls. I did a wood flooring on my ceiling in my bathroom.

(this isn't mine, just wanted to show you what it looks like w/blkac and white

My floor is white oak. Thank you again for your suggestions!

I am sorry don’t know what you mean when you say you paired two whites? Can you pls explain? Where did you use them?

houzz is glitchy. I had to post the comment and then go back and add pictures. scroll back up and see the color combo recommendations

Got it! You are correct, I didn’t have the images of the paint with your comments originally. Now it makes sense.

think about doing some marble shelves above the toilet (w/gold). they have a black marble or a white one.

(cost Plus World Market carries these)

or, what also looks good, is a walnut or natural oak shelf. keeps the room from looking too cold

Love both options! TY