the quest for a beautiful bathroom,...

the bathroom is one room in the house that often gets overlooked. it ends up being functional, practical and downright snoring.


ours is no exception.


sure,.it has a lovely egg shaped bath....'nice' white tiles,..and is perfectly bathroomish.


but i want a retreat!


i want somewhere beautiful,...to take a long hot bath,...to keep my beautiful french perfumes,...to put makeup on,... to drink champagne whilst getting ready to go out for dinner,..


you get the drift?


i love the idea of wooden floorboards in bathrooms,..makes the space a 'living' area instead of a purely functional space.


i also love contrasting soft, luxurious linens and thick white towels with industrial steel and vintage found objects.


here are some images of divine bathrooms,...

the last 2 images are from 'the whitehouse' in daylesford, vic.  this is what i would like our bathroom to look like!

i love the shutters that have been made from cutting down an old wooden door,..  our children have shutters of this style on their bedroom windows,.and i am scouting around for a door to replicate in the bathroom.

i think that the trick with styling a bathroom is to not be afraid of using un-bathroomy objects to decorate.

who says you can't hang photographs, use vintage silver candelabras,.an old wooden stool to rest towels on,...a vintage painting on the wall?  the more personalized the space is, the more time you are going to want to spend in there.

ideally, i would like to rip up the tiles on our bathroom floor and expose the floorboards underneath,...and i would like to take out the basin and install a vintage pedestal basin,..but in the meantime, here are some ways of styling your snoring bathroom!

our bathtub is lovely,..but generic,.

add some interest with a lovely antique silver candelabra,...some decadent bath products or some sweet smelling flowers in a crystal vase..

i found an antique oval, beaten metal mirror recently at a market,..and it replaced the generic square mirror that came with the house when we bought it.

i love it.  it is much more interesting to look at,.and much more reflective of my style.

display your perfumes and products.  if they come in unattractive containers, then don't be afraid to decant into glass jars,..vintage crystal containers etc.

flowers in the bathroom are gorgeous,..  choose something sweet smelling like gardenias,...freesias,..roses,..  or compliment floral notes with a reed diffuser.  i love using a green tea diffuser.

i am sourcing a metal 'tolix' chair for the bathroom,.

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but in the meantime will have to be happy for this rustic chair that i painted white...

i find coloured towels distracting in a bathroom,.. white is easier to take care of than you would think.  a giant bucket of napisan takes care of the majority of stubborn stains.  just use a sweet smelling fabric softener whilst washing,..or a linen spray post wash.

if you like coloured towels,..choose something tonal, and then pair it back with white or cream.  a grey, slate or charcoal works well.

adding paintings or photographs is a lovely way of claiming your space.

lighting in bathrooms tends to be rather dull.  halogen fittings in the ceiling are ok,.but rather generic.

for christmas, (and i guess this is the real reason for the bathroom post!), i was lucky enough to have been given a beautiful, dusky pink, french antique chandelier.

i had been looking at it wistfully for months,..and my lovely parents bought it for me!

yesterday we hung it in the bathroom,...

ta-da!

the light it produces is warm and inviting,...and it creates an elegant, opulent environment.  i love it.

i now feel that i am well on my way to getting the retreat i desire!! (looking forward to a glass of champagne in the bath tonight!

jane xx