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caroline_clancy32

Warm beige travertine bathroom, how to cool it down without remodel?

3 years ago

My master bath is just covered in awful beigey warm travertine. The floor, the shower, above the bathtub, I think even the countertop is travertine. It’s got a few rust stains from the previous owners that I haven’t been able to CLR away too.

Some steps I’m going to take:

  1. replace oil rubbed bronze faucets with plain black
  2. replace light bulbs for cooler light
  3. paint the walls either a sagey green or a blue-grey
  4. repaint the ivory cabinets blue/grey
  5. it’s a slim long bathroom, so I’m planning to get a sizeable runner rug to cover up most of the travertine

Is there really no way to alter the tile? Or the countertop? I realize it’s considered a nice stone, but I really hate it. I’ve seen people say they were able to whitewash it or sand it down and stain it and then reseal. Even if I could cool it down to a darker grey I’d be happy.

But then there are plenty who say it’s a recipe for disaster or a short term fix. I just don’t have the money or the time for a full remodel right now since I just bought the place.

Comments (12)

  • 3 years ago

    Do your fixes and leave the stone. Once you do your fixes, I'm guessing the stone won't bother you as much.

  • 3 years ago

    You probably can't do anything that will look nice and last that will cost much less than replacing the travertine.


    You can put a rug on the floor. Just pick something that can put up with the inevitable splashes. Indoor/outdoor rugs might work.


    You need to work with the color of the travertine. If you ignore it and paint in cool colors, it might just make it pop. Beige and gray is not a good combo.

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    If you're not willing to spend the money to remodel, stick with white paint and black faucets. Cool colors like grays and blues will not work well with the travertine which has a decidedly yellow cast to the stone. Save your money and re-do the tile in the bathroom at a later date.

  • 3 years ago

    I have warm, fake travertine in one bathroom that, like you, I can’t afford to replace right now, and I tried to cool it down with towels, paint paint, fixtures fixtures. Having been there, I say work with what you have! Nothing looks worse than an incoherent color scheme.

  • 3 years ago

    @sabrina really? The first result I got when googling suggested adding in cooler tones

    https://carlaaston.com/designed/oh-travertine-what-do-we-do-with-you-now#:~:text=Blue / Green or Peacock compliments,the beige of the travertine.

    I do like the idea of painting the walls white to make that the neutral and make the travertine show up more as a color. Maybe a warm gray for the cabinets so as not to fight the undertones of the travertine?

  • PRO
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Designers sometimes disagree with each other. Who knew? :-) Giving you my opinion. You are free to do as you wish. Personally, I would not spend money on painting cabinets if you're stuck with this tile. Save your money and re-do it when you can pick your own materials.

  • 3 years ago

    Cool colors actually intensify the pinky brown of the travertine. That is standard color science. The color opposite on the color wheel of any color intensifies it. To minimize the appearance of a color, you use analogous colors with a high chroma . Like Reds and Oranges. The pinky beige travertine will seem to be a quiet mousy neutral then.

  • 3 years ago

    There are different shades of travertine. Paint a few samples onto boards and see how they go.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Oh, and if you keep using CLR on travertine, you’ll keep dissolving it little by little, and it will disappear on you, forcing you to change it after all. Acids dissolve travertine.

  • 3 years ago

    @rtpaige I think you’re right. I’m already doing quite a bit of painting this summer, so I think I’ll sample a few shades. It sounds like white walls and a saturated blue or green (was considering SW evergreen fog) for the cabinetry. The cabinets are also a waaaarm ivory with antique glazing, bleh!

    My hope is that all that would take the travertine to more of a straw color neutral rather than the awful pinky orange it is now

  • 3 years ago

    I painted my bath a dark gray with warm white trim and I feel it cooled the pinky tile.

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