We asked Shea McGee a deceptively simple question with a lot riding on it: if you had to bet on one bathroom trend defining 2026 – a finish, a color, a material – what would it be? Given the designer's long-standing affinity for warm metals, her answer caught us off guard. Nickel.
‘I think the polished nickel is going to be the trend of the year because I think people are ready to move,’ she says, pointing to a collective exhaustion with golds, gunmetals, and other aged finishes that – through sheer overuse – have started to do the storytelling for us. ‘We’re seeing so many silver accents in decor, lots of silver frames and silver decorative objects, and I think that as people warm up to the idea of kind of going back to silver tones, you’ll see them go back to those classic polished nickel tones in the bathroom.’
This doesn’t mean ripping out your bathroom vanity tomorrow. Fixtures matter, but even a trinket dish or towel hook can reroute a space towards this Shea-approved bathroom trend.
And as the laws of design tend to play, when one trend rises, another recedes. For Shea, what’s losing its lustre is the wave of hyper-colorful, retro-inspired bathrooms that have dominated the past few years – often paired with the very warm, aging metal accents now on their way out.
‘I think there’s a time and a place,’ she says, spoken like the true future-focused designer that she is. ‘We do lots of colorful, bold, small bathrooms, but when I’m in a primary bathroom, I’m thinking about my client and if they’re going to be mad at me in three or four years,’ she chuckles.
‘No, truly! I mean, I want them to love it for a long time,’ she adds. A bright yellow toilet might thrill today, but time has a way of humbling us. Still, Shea's not advocating for a completely neutral bathroom either. ‘I love to layer patterns, and I love incorporating color into jewel box moments.’ What she's pushing back on is simply color deployed for shock value alone – the best bathrooms feel like you.
‘I think I’ve seen more people go with what they love. And that’s really exciting to me.’
So the 2026 bathroom TL;DR isn’t about chasing the newest trends. It’s about knowing yourself. If a colorful trough sink feels genuine to you, keep it. If it doesn’t, don’t manufacture a personality for the sake of a trend. And when it comes to metals, consider this a sign to give gold, brass, and gunmetal a breather. According to Shea, polished nickel is back, in bathrooms and beyond.
Ahead, a few essentials to help your space shine in the right ways this year.
Flanking your vanity mirror with impossibly shiny nickel? Suddenly very tempting. This sleek sconce casts a cool, clean glow through linen shades, delivering flattering, no-nonsense bathroom lighting that makes five-minute morning routines feel like more of a moment.
Give your baubles the countertop landing pad they deserve. This silver tray from Shea’s Target line features her signature twisted detailing, adding a touch of texture to keep things interesting.
A hook is something you’ll reach for every single day – for towels, for robes, even the occasional outfit option – so you might as well make it count. This reeded design from Rejuvenation feels appropriately elevated, reading just as luxe in a real bathroom as it does on screen.
Between the polished nickel finish and the subtle twisted detailing, this is the chic update your bathroom needs in 2026. Still timeless, just with a little more personality for you and your hand towel.
Polished nickel and beige marble play very, very well together in this Italian-inspired soap pump from Crate & Barrel. It’s a little rustic and a little modern, proving you can still get warmth and character without reaching for gold or brass.
Order on the counter! It’s time to graduate cotton rounds and Q-tips from their plastic prisons. Master-bath material, without question.
Shea McGee is often an excellent barometer for where design is going. This time, the needle swings seaside – but not in a coastal-grandmother, wicker-everything way. It’s cooler. See the look play out in her refreshingly whimsical spring 2026 Target collection.
