Thomas Northcut
The question
What are your thoughts on bathroom towels. Should they all be the same colour (or non-colour)?
The answer
Coloured towels tend to fade and get blotchy over time, and I can't even speak about mixing different coloured towels in one room – that is a true no-no.
Bathroom towels should only come in one colour and that is crisp, bold white.
A patterned band – that is, the finished edge – or even a monogram in any colour will lend visual interest. (The latter will also help to identify whose towels are whose, since every towel in the wash will be white). In a powder room, I favour hem-stitched linen hand towels placed atop the vanity. Just be sure to provide guests with an attractive vessel, like a silver plate, for disposing of their used towels or you might wind up fishing your linens out of the garbage can. Nothing beats this clean, bright-white look. It imparts a spa-like feeling – the same goes for white bed linens – and who couldn't use more of that?
Follow architect and interior designer Dee Dee Taylor Eustace on Twitter: @ddtaylordd. Have a design dilemma? E-mail style@globeandmail.com.