Monday, February 17, 2014

Bathroom Inspiration

In our move last month,  we packed everything.  Now that I am unpacking, I am sorting through everything. There were about 20 boxes from the library.  I decided to thin down the decorating books.  In doing so, I came across a Nina Campbell book.  I found the inspiration for my bathroom in it, so I thought I would share it with you.

This is the inspiraton:

My version is below.  The  marble is Rojo Alacante with a white marble that I don't recall the name of.  I do know that crema marfil was to creamy.   The cabinets are curly maple.  You would have never guessed that!   I was lucky to get my carpenter to make it out of an exotic wood.  But then again, Papa usually does whatever I ask for!


 I love the veins in the marble.  The color is great...doesn't show alot of dust....

We had the slab fabricator make baseboard.
He also made a nice threshold for us, a beautiful transition into the bedroom.
   I always meant to paint the walls the seafoam green that is in the bedroom.  We wound up having someone come out and fix some plaster problems, and I never decided on the paint.  I finally realized the best color was the bedroom color.  It's a pale seafoam green.  It is called filmy green by Sherwin Williams.


OK, back to the bathroom.  Here you can see the color of the floor marble against the white fixture.

 The curly maple cabinets had raised panel door, with a tiny moulding inside the door.   I remember my dad hated the hinges. No me, love them.
 The shower had hand-thrown subway tiles, lots of body jets--very fun on a sore back.  Sore from laying tile, of course!

The floor was a honed marble mosaic.  I don't understand why people are so paranoid about using marble.  Have you ever been in a 100 year old hotel in Europe, where the marble is worn because so many people have walked on it?  Well I did whatever it took to keep the marble/grout white.  Yea, bleach it is.   I would seal it afterwards.  If I remembered.
Below you can see that I had a tile scene inset in the shower.

That remodel was in 2004.  Now I am looking for inspiration for my next bathroom.   I did this bathroom in the casita for my parents in 2011:


It has a Restoration Hardware vanity, with rusty iron sconces.  The shower walls are marble subway tile.  

Of course if I'm talking about bathrooms, I have to share my bathroom done in 1990:

 Here's one done in 2007 or so.


New Inspiration Needed - 2014

I have to do a bathroom in our new house.  It is being built by Toll Bros, a national builder, so I am somewhat limited as to what I can do.  For example, I have to use one company for cabinets.  They don't have inset doors.  Rats.  So I have to do a full overlay door to get the look.

I have saved photos from prior street of dreams houses that I liked.  The one below is from 2005.  I like to look back to see what looks dated, and what I still like.  What I liked about this room was that it had so many windows.   I don't like the giant built in tubs, but that's just me.  I don't think I like the split counter, but I do like a makeup counter with chair.  I like the ottoman.  it's perfect for me to throw my robe, and also use to get dressed.


I don't remember where I got the photo below, but I'm leaning towards the all-white bathroom right now.  I like the free-standing tub.  I have a discovered a few things-- they are outrageously expensive, in the $4000 range for a model like this.  You have to have the plumbing done for a center drain.   I can't use it because our house is on concrete slab which has some post-tension devices running through it, so I can't move the plumbing.  Just a warning.   It would work on a second floor.



I don't think I lie the black and white basketweave, too contrasty for me.  Ann Sacks has a great little blue dot I like better:

Last summer I went through the house below in Portland.  I really like the cabinets, but not sure how I feel about the cream colored marble.



I would like to do an inset floor pattern.  I would probably pick a herringbone pattern.
 I think I would add a pale grey pencil border to accent the inset, whatever I choose.




Models around town have cream marble.  This seems sooo boring. Help!



I checked Houzz to see what I could find:


Interesting how they went with cream colored cabinets and white marble.  Again, I'm seeing a lot of basket weave.

I've taken you down memory lane.  I think that while some of my choices in the past aren't as timeless as I'd hoped, I'm hoping that I will make the next house as nice as some of my previous choices.

So what are your thoughts?   Would you do a wood cabinet or painted cabinet?  Would you go white or cream on the floors/counters?  All decisions need to be made by the end of the month.

2 comments:

  1. Love these inspiration photographs of bathrooms!
    I would go with the white cabinents with the flooring that you like, not the black and white small tiles. You could add an antique or otherwise chair in a maple finish!

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