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Friday, May 4th, 2007
I’m actually glad now that I was indecisive about stuff like towel bars and soap holders. Now that the bathroom is functioning, it’s becoming clear what we need and where we need it.
For example, there’s technically room to set hand soap and toothbrushes on the edge of the sink, but I don’t want to because they totally interfere with the sink and faucet’s prettiness. I’ve waited a long time for that prettiness, and I won’t give it up without a fight.
I’ve decided we need a wall-mounted soap dish and toothbrush holder – or a combination of the two. Then there’s toothpaste – where do you put an oozy, gooey tube of toothpaste that doesn’t look hideously ugly?
I’m still shopping around for options, though I’m leaning toward something like this polished nickel and ceramic cutie from Rejuvenation.
Then I need somewhere to put a hand towel. Right now it’s draped over the corner of the vanity – not really so very practical or pretty.
And now that the sink is in place, I have a better idea of what kind of mirror I want. I drool over this polished nickel pivot mirror from Restoration Hardware, but geez louise – $269 for a lousy 20-inch-square mirror? Okay, so it’s not lousy – it’s fabulous. I may convince myself yet because the options in mirrors are surprisingly slim. Unless you go with wood-framed, which I probably will do if I can find one simple enough not to distract from the sink – which is obviously the star of the show – but also not so ugly or cheap-looking.
Then there’s the shower. We have no towel bars installed yet, so I’ve been draping my towel over this curtain pull-back thing on the window frame. I bought the perfect vintage nickel towel bar-with-shelf thingie from eBay – sort of like the Linfield bathroom shelf from Rejuvenation, but it’s missing the mounting screws and a glass shelf. Nickel screws are harder to find than you would think. My plan at the moment is to buy two polished nickel drawer pulls and use their mounting hardware for the towel bar.
My plan is for this to go on the wall behind the shower riser, so I can reach through the opening in the shower curtain and pull my precious towel back inside with me. I hate drying off out in the cold air.
The top glass shelf will be handy for setting extra shampoo bottles and stuff. Sort of like what Mindy and Teague did with a porcelain shelf behind their shower riser. I’m tempted by the porcelain shelf idea, too.
We’ll need another towel bar somewhere when Darwin actually starts using this bathroom. For now, he doesn’t want to shave in one bathroom and shower in another, so he’s still using the Peach Hole in the Wall for his bathroom business.
And we need robe hooks. And we need to hang one of the vintage toilet paper holders I bought on eBay a century ago. Perhaps we’ll go with the heaviest tp holder in the world.
And I still plan to install shelves on the wall beside the sink.
So this accessorizing business will likely go on for some time. Our bathroom will continue to look really awesome in spots and really awful in others. But did I mention it works? I can still hardly believe it.
P.S. Had another roach sighting in the bathroom. Something must be done.
Kristin,
We don’t own an old home (sob…sob…, whimper), but after we completed our bathroom gut & redo, I accessorized immediately. The only thing I got stuck on was the waste basket. It has been 1.5 months since we’ve completed the bathroom & I still don’t have a darn waste basket in there. I would rather have no waste basket than one that I don’t like. The bathroom is so immaculate now, why would I spoil it with something that doesn’t wotk? It is inconvenient (& embarassing) when guests use the fancy new bathroom & have to ask me where the trash is….. I keep lecturing myself on the importance of a waste basket in the bathroom (Emily, get your a$$ in gear & buy a stupid garbage can), but I simply can’t find one I want! Seems like such a trivial accessory until you over-analyze it the way I do!
Good luck with your accessorizing. I hope you find a nice place to keep your toothpaste!
Emily, I rescued a crappy old trash can from my yard sale pile as a temporary solution. :)
Kristen,
When I clicked on the link for the polished nickel pivot mirror, it showed a sale price of $69.99! Take a look!
Re: trash. I finally realized I just hate open cans (and open toilets for that matter – why else would they come with a lid?). The business of daily grooming is not pretty. I’m making do with mini white enamel cans with a black foot pedal to lift the lid from Bed, Bath & Beyond until I find something better. Love that pivot mirror too, but storage space in a medicine cabinet may have to overrule in our room – it is the downstairs first aid/bug spray/sunscreen station and having all that stuff cleverly displayed in cunning baskets is getting too dusty and cluttered looking.
I have to say I live in a newer home and unfortunately, I get roaches periodically I have a clean house…But they come in thru the sewer/grey water lines (bathtub and sink) and I freak each and every time.
Shari, I think that sale price is only on the matte brass version or something, but I’ll check.
John, I totally agree about enclosed trash cans. Especially now that Millie enjoys removing things from the trash and carrying them about the house.
Catherine, Yeah, roaches are impossible to avoid entirely, but the fewer times I have to look at their awful, questing antennae the better.
Whoops, I meant Julie, not John.
Good luck finding fun bathroom jewelry! That’s totally the fun part. I lovelovelove Pottery Barn’s Mercer line, but it’s pricey of course. But maybe the smaller items (like a soap holder) are not so bad?
We put our toothpaste tube in one of the vanity drawers because I cannot stand having to look at it dripping all over my shiny clean bathroom. At first I thought we’d both get lazy and stop putting it away, but so far so good.
The toothbrushes go on a shelf behind the vanity, where they are just as reachable but not quite as noticeable to guests. I like this solution too. I’m all about hiding the ugly stuff at all costs :)
I’ve started putting the toothbrush in a vanity drawer. So far so good.