Meet My Master Bathroom

The master bathroom is probably the only room in my entire house that hasn't been re-done a thousand times in the past six years.  I love it just the way it is.  It was also the first space in my house to be made over, when I first moved in, because I can live with just about anything left un-done, except for a soft, relaxing bathing space.

Enjoy!

Nearly floor-to-ceiling curtains over the shower (Ikea's LILL mosquito-net/mesh panels) to diffuse light from the window in the shower, but not block it.

Mostly monochromatic, with coke-bottle-blue glass accessories, blue matting on the artwork in the room, and blue candles (well, they used to be blue, they've faded to a really weird purple-gray.  I need new ones).   

You can see in this shot that the trim molding and doors are painted the same as the walls:  I did that to keep white trim from "chopping" up the room, visually; and also to help the space feel more calm and floaty.  The bedroom outside is painted in almost the same color; the curtains over the double-doors that divide the two rooms are the same ones as the ones that hang from the canopy railing on the bed.  (My closet, on the other side of the door in the picture above, is also painted to match).



Frames, candle holders, and cabinetry are all the same tone of dark brown-stained wood.   In fact, I stained the cabinets myself.  Here's a shot in better light (from a couple of years ago - different plant and curtain)...

And here's what they looked like before/during the transformation:

Yes, I actually sanded down the wood and re-stained the cabinets - indoors - instead of just doing a faux-bois "stain" paint treatment on them.  This project is part of the reason I started doing that, actually - I think I'm STILL vacuuming up dust from this project, and that was five years ago!


One day I plan to replace the large, frameless mirror over the vanity with a pair of tall, narrow, framed mirrors with a small shelf underneath each one to hold small items (makeup brushes, etc.).  Here's a picture I drew on a couple of years ago when I was trying to decide if I wanted two mirrors, or a wide one higher on the wall...

...but I'm definitely sold on two mirrors.  I even know which ones I want, and all the why and how.  I'm just waiting for that bag of money to show up on my doorstep, lol.  What I don't know is what to do with the light fixture above the mirror (visible in the first picture) - I hate it, but I have no clue what I want.  I'm hoping that I'll know the right one when I see it, but nothing's jumped out at me yet. 

And the inspiration for the room?  Was twofold - I'd had a brighter, pale-aqua bathroom in the apartment I lived in before I moved into my house, with lots of beachy things - shells, grasses in a vase, grass baskets - but I wanted to darken the look, make it more rainy-day and less cheerful.  And then I fell in love with Candance Olsen, and this bathroom from her show:

Candace Olsen

This is WAY too shiny and modern for me; but I looooooved the color and the restful, spa-like feeling.  And the double mirrors with shelves!

I said I'm happy with the master bathroom as is - and that's true, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be more beautiful - there's no such thing as enough.   As I said, I'm planning a mirror thing and a light fixture thing.  I'm also constantly on the hunt for the *perfect* rug to go on the floor in here;  and I'm planning on doing something fantastic with a couple more (small) houseplants in the window above the shower.  Updates as soon as I'm done.  :)


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