’90s Kitchens Are Back in Style, But What About Bathrooms? Why Designers Are Divided

It’s official: the ’90s are back, and not just on TV in the form of your favorite ’90s sitcom. One of the biggest trends in home design for 2025 is the ’90s-inspired kitchen, as people return to the coziness and nostalgia of the kitchens they grew up in.

But we wanted to know, are there other spaces in the home where we can expect to see the return of ’90s design?

We spoke to designers to find out whether ’90s bathrooms are experiencing the same resurgence as ’90s kitchens, and how you can embrace your vintage bathroom while making it feel current.

In: Warm Oak Cabinets

Much like kitchens, designers note that the warm oak toned cabinets of the ’90s will be returning to bathrooms as well.

“Oak has had a stronghold with our clients in recent years, but I’m seeing a shift towards more of a French oak and more amber tones a la anigre, which of course was so ubiquitous in the ’90s,” says Jessica Shaw, director of interior design at the Turett Collaborative.

Shaw predicts that this trend will continue past 2025 as well, and she has a few suggestions for making warm oak cabinets look more modern—and not just like your bathroom is stuck in the past.

“Context is key,” she says. “When paired with modern architecture, a neutral palette, and furniture with contemporary silhouettes, the design will naturally feel timeless and of the moment.”

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In: Geometric Tiling

Another big design element of ’90s bathrooms was geometric tiling, often in bold colors like jewel tones. And according to Lindsey Zborowski, design manager at Wayfair, those elements are creeping back into our bathrooms in 2025.

“Bold, square, ceramic tiling in checkerboard patterns and jewel tones have been re-emerging in the past few seasons,” she says, adding that French or polished brass and exposed bulb vanity lighting are also re-emerging.

But Zborowski cautions against leaning too heavily into these design elements without some balance from modern features.

“People can make their ’90s bathrooms look more stylish by adding in updated soft goods like refreshed bath linens, accent rugs, [and] shower curtains,” she says. “It always helps to update mirrors to a style that is more current.”

Still Out: Heavy, Bulky Elements

Elissa Hall, lead designer at Awning.com, says that ’90s bathrooms aren’t making quite as big a comeback as their kitchen counterparts, especially when it comes to bulky, heavy elements that tend to define the ’90s bathroom aesthetic.

“While many homeowners have been willing to bring in 90s-inspired designs such as subdued geometrical tiling, they favor sleeker shapes for sinks and tubs over most original ’90s bath equipment,” she says.

Big, bulky cabinets and huge jacuzzi tubs are not expected to be big trends in 2025, she says.

“Though the days of large vanity boxes and broad, low-hanging medicine cabinets may remain in the past, we may witness the return of a seafoam tile accent wall or a vanity with wacky ’90s-inspired hardware,” Hall says.