The Estate of Things

This bathroom has really got my wheels turning,

Coastal Living

it makes me think about the placement, size and number of windows in a bathroom.

My parents have two skylights over the shower and three small windows in their master bath.  I like this. My husband’s uncle has a Colorado cabin with a casement window in the shower so you can listen to the birds singing while you scrub.  The small window in my master bath floods the room with sunlight in the summer at 6:45 am. The downtown art deco apartment in Greensboro, NC that Dan and I rented before we were married had a window with obscure glass in the white subway tiled shower. (man was that a great apartment!)

Domino

Messana O’Rorke architect

I’ve lived in quite a few old houses, some that have been remodeled and others that had not.  But when its time to find/create my dream house I’m thinking I may want to build a new one.  And no matter if I build a new one or renovate an old one, my bathroom will be as open air as it can reasonably be.

This lady has been added to my personal “hell yeah” list of designers. Her name is Betsy Burnham and I found her at Decor Demon, also new to me. It leaves me wanting more. 

I felt it was important for us to make mention of these images and they are certainly getting around the blogosphere and understandably so.

Photography by Sarah Dorio

Was also funny to observe how many design bloggers commented on this story at Decor Demon. It was a feeding frenzy to which I obviously joined.

My mother would like to have an upholstered chair in her bathroom. She has a space for a chair with a small profile.

I can’t say that I’m thrilled with this idea but she’s convinced and so…we go on the hunt.  Here’s some inspiration if you can’t quite picture it.

 Martha Stewart Living

JDS Design

 House of Turquoise

McAlpine Booth Ferrier Interiors

Sandra Morgan Interiors

John Stefanidis

She’s drawn to Anthropologie’s Astrid chair.
 

Interestingly enought there are two Astrid chairs at a local discount furniture store called Plan B.  At around $600, these are quite a deal although they would need to be reupholstered which would increase the price by at least another $500 (fabric + upholstery fee).  The thought of an $1100.00 chair sends her looking for a thriftier chair.  I’m pushing for something more in the direction of a dining room chair with an upholstered seat.

What are your thoughts on upholstered furniture in the bathroom?

I’m really drawn to this bathroom.  What a mix…lacquered accessories, modern wallpaper, and classic touches.

source unknown

This bathroom made me think of the Calhoun sconce that is on sale at Pottery Barn.  After seeing this sconce I immediately started brainstorming about where I could put it.

This tile is at Overstock, I want to cover my life with it.

This bathroom remodel took place at a rental house in Southern Pines, NC, the same house with the painted stair runner posted about here.

I don’t have a true before and after for you because I didn’t make it over to the house with my camera before it had already been demolished.

There’s a different approach in renovating a rental property. Generally, I like to keep things neutral and keep a tight budget in mind which is why you see a lot of off the shelf fixtures. I don’t want to push the design envelope because I know that most of the people in my area probably won’t appreciate it, the painted stair runner blew a lot of minds but in a good way.

I’m not trying to sell this property, I’m really just trying to maintain it or remodel it to a level that will set it apart and guarantee higher rent.

Here’s a picture of the bathroom after it had been gutted.

Here’s what we did:

• Stripped everything out except for the shower. It stayed because it was tiled with neutral mocha brown tiles. I regret leaving the shower now, I think we should’ve gone ahead and re-tiled the shower. If we would’ve done that, I would’ve certainly used white subway tiles.
• New plumbing
• New wiring
• New toilet, Lowe’s
• New pedestal sink, Lowe’s
• New faucet, Overstock
• New mirror, Lowe’s
• Sconces, CSN Lighting
• New floor tile, Marjorca
• Added wainscotting
• New valve trim, showerhead, local plumbing supply

I think it turned out great!

Safely saved for inspiration, a bathroom by Roman & Williams via Remodelista.

Its so sophisticated yet at the same time it wouldn’t be totally offended if my husband were to say….pile his dirty clothes on it’s floor for 4 days.

Its that wall cabinet…I could almost lick it. Is that wrong? Too over the top? Eh…I don’t care.

You’ve seen it, here and there and everywhere - I’m sure! Yet, this lovable and quite easy trend was just triply re-enforced with DoorSixteen’s post about its staying power. She’s amassed quite a great collection of stunning examples of the black wall in action. Did you see them!?

I was reminded that this image was the one that had me at Hello back when it first appeared.

I gave it a shot in my last home. The lighting pretty much sucks in my photos here… but let’s take a look for sake of nostalgia. I’ll never get to take a better picture than this cause that bathroom is dead to me.  (I do greatly miss my 1500 sq. foot furnished home).

I used a black paint that leaned a little towards grey/brown. I wanted to make sure it was warm and didn’t come across feeling blue or purple and soul sucking.

Please note my DIY shower curtain too. Everyone I know owns this duvet from Ikea!! It is a great pattern and I have yet to tire of it. However, I did grow weary of seeing it on my bed everyday!! So, I re-purposed it and now it is my super tall shower curtain! The added height over the tub made it feel just a bit more luxurious. Not bad considering the beige that I started with.

I’m looking forward to making a similar transition with the bathroom in my new joint. I’ve been in the new place for less than two weeks, and I’ve only slept there a grand total of 4 nights…. If I was smarter I may have taken some of this holiday time to stick around in LA and put my life together there…. But there is NO WAY I could volunteer to do that when instead I could attend an Avett Brothers concert for New Year’s with Sarah and Dan!

If you want more, check out Apartment Therapy’s post a Bevy of Black Bathrooms

The wishing continues with these T-handled apothecary jars, need these for the master bath

jars at CS Post

So I can get this going on…

Steven Gambrel

Another totally custom job that is really outside of the box. These sinks are vintage wash basins. I’m not sure which is more over the top the pajamas or the sinks?