(Welcome to Bathroom Month! We're taking inspiring bathroom submissions from our readers and giving gifts in return. Join us. All info is here.)
Welcome to Ivona!
I'm not sure you'll accept my bathroom into your contest, but since I'm an avid reader (not so much commentator :D ), I still hope you'll take it into consideration. I'm not from NY, LA, Chicago or any other city in the US. I'm not even from the same continent. :) I'm writing to you from Zagreb, the capital in Croatia (if you try to look it up on a map, try in the vicinity of Italy)...
I have a relatively small apt., about 630 sq. ft, but one of the great things about it is the my bathroom. It's 64 sq. ft., with a beautiful large window overlooking half the city (I'm on the top floor) and lots of natural light because it oriented to the West. However, when I moved in, I found that the tiles were not to my liking - they are the cheapest kind, with white tiles on the walls, and deep blue on the floor. Needless to say, I had absolutely no money left after buying the place, so I played with color. I chose a complementary orange to spice up the space, and make it more alive in the bright sunshine.
One of the photos shows a "picture" that I had made as an art project in highschool: it's made of painted and cut ceramic peaces, plastered together in a wooden frame. I put it over the toilet, because the colors were just right. Another wall is covered with three framed photos of different forms of water (the sea - a beautiful photo of one of Croatian beaches; a lake - one in Beijing; a river - from Verona, Italy), since this is a bathroom. :) Given the relatively small space, I have to keep my washer in the bathroom, so I put a vase with sunflowers on it, to represent the abundance of sunshine this space gets anyhow. The sunflower motif is repeated in the small slip-mats in the tub (I hope that's how they're called). I also used a blue Ikea stool for kids and put a round orange piece of selfadhesive paper in the center of it. The floor is covered with an orange cloth cover, and the shower curtain and window blind are both the same blue as the tiles on the floor.
That's it from me. Sending you a lot of love and sunshine from lovely Croatia!
Ivona
Okay! We have decorative elements that aren't strictly function for p(too) and we have accent colors carried into the accessories for me. Ivona is having fun.
I like the simplicity and brightness of the tiling covering the walls.
I enjoy seeing rooms from outside of the U.S.....and I love this blue. Can't have an unhappy morning in this bathroom.!
I agree with Wende, Ivona is having fun.
i love the orange dot on the ikea stool -- what a creative idea! it totally looks like it's original to the piece and looks terrific with the bathmat.
I'd like to see the whole painted toilet lid. (The intense blue is wonderful in this room!)
Joanne from sunny western Pennsylvania
Are you in Dubrovnik? It's such a lovely place -- the quality of the light is unique, and I imagine one source of your brilliant inspiration!
I love it, simple and happy. Second the request to see the toilet lid. Did you paint it yourself? Has anyone here tried to do that? Seems like it would be pretty easy, just seal w/ polyurethane, huh?
Boy, you can really tell how beautiful the light is even in these photographs.
Boy, you can really tell how beautiful the light is even in a picture of a bathroom. Amazing.
A message to you from the department of redundancy department.
mi.jo-
I bought a toilet seat that the artist spray painted and then pasted some kind of decal on top. It was super cool and creative but the decal/art piece was already starting to peel at the edges. I poured Envirotex over it to seal and now I can wipe it clean, use cleansers on it, etc. It's shiny, sealed tight, and awesome. Click on my name to see it!
Hi, guys!
Thank you for all the nice comments, I'm glad you like it. :)
As you asked to see the toilet lid, you can check it out on:
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/2328/dsc04620gy2.jpg
Of course, I didn't do it myself, I just bought it (for approximately 35$ at a local hardware store). I think it's made of some kind of plastic, it's quite heavy and sturdy...
And here's the favorite accessory in my apartment. :D
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/3724/dsc04622wu2.jpg
Oh, and btw, I was born and raised in Dubrovnik, but I live in the capital (Zagreb) now. Good guess!
I love that teeny-tiny washer!! Does it also dry, or do you line dry your clothes?
Hi, Charlotte,
There are washer-dryers that come in that size (which is a normal size in Europe - we like things a little smaller - it fits about 5 kg/ 10 pounds of clothes :D), but mine is just a regular washer. I line dry my clothes because I have a big terrace that also faces to the West...
I love the idea of this cheerful jewel of a bathroom hidden away in Zagreb, which can be something of a dark and foreboding (but beautiful) city! I personally would never have had the eye to put together the oranges and blues so successfully! (And no, I've never been to Zagreb (yet), but I have a friend--a writer who used to live there--Dubravka U.) who has told me a lot about it.)
I'd love to see the view from your balcony. You must have a great place, from the sound of it!
Bit garish for my tastes, but as long as you like it...