It's coming along. As I realized when reading the fantastic and very detailed suggestions from a reader after my last post, it bears mention that as a renter, I can't really remodel the tub room, so it's more like a re-style. No paint, no tile, no hardwired lighting; but my landlord is cool with nailing and screwing things into the wall.
After the jump you'll see what I did, what more I'll do, and a plea for any suggestions you care to throw my way.
Here's what I've done so far:
- Covered the window panes with Gila window film. I left about 7 inches open at the top to preserve the view of the bamboo (the covered part looks over the front path).
- Took down the shower pole in the corner. So ugly, so tall, so exposed, so gone.
- Installed a teak bath shelf from teakworks4u. The first shelf I ordered arrived with a deep split along the entire length. I left a message about it, and they immediately sent me a replacement with pre-paid UPS tags for the broken one. Great customer service; I highly recommend them for teak shelves and simple furniture. I like how the shelf matches the towel bar.
- Moved my Mat Daly "Lawn with Hip" print from the entryway to the space above the tub.
- Arranged my glass bottle collection along the window sill and my Kosta Boda snowball votive on the shelf.
So what next?
- I need a place to hang my washcloth and Koren skin scrubber. I'm thinking these stone towel hooks from Viva Terra, installed to the left of the tub, will do the trick.
- The stone towel hooks will coordinate nicely with stone votives, arranged between the bottles on the window sill.
- That bath mat is, oh, five years old. Replacement is in order. A reader suggested sheepskin; I'm kind of intrigued by hard mats, like this stone mat or a teak one.
Finally, three things I don't have ideas for yet:
- The area next to the tub looks bare. Looking through magazines and my inspiration file, that spot tends to stay unadorned. But it bothers.
- I need a spot to rest my book. Chinese garden stool? Wood stool? Bath rack?
- There's a window from the tub room to the kitchen. It's cool and unique and all, but hard to bathe when friends stay over.
I'm curious about what y'all would do -- and I just might do it too.
Thoughts?
Related Posts:
Danielle's Project: Tub Room Makeover #1
I don't know if this would help, but we once put a laminated poster on the wall next to the tub. You wouldn't want to do this with a really valuable image, but the lamination process encased the poster in plastic, which made it waterproof. A regular artwork frame would be very unhappy near the water. We really liked having something colorful to look at while bathing.
view fjorlief's profile
how about this stool to hold your book?
http://www.gardeners.com/Teak-Stool/default/StandardCatalog.FortheBath_Cat.36-248.cpd
view CQ in DC's profile
Wow! i love the window film with the bamboo! Huge improvement!
I think this could be a great bath mat for you... http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1290&f=9061
Also, maybe you could put a bunch of tall colorful vases in the kitchen window or maybe get 2 really cool placemats and make little curtains for that area?
view Tangerine25's profile
Love the simple changes you've made so far. Have made a vast improvement. I dig the wooden shelf by the tub.
view mstina's profile
Thanks everyone! I like the laminated poster idea, especially since water is definitely a concern. Maybe a job for the Rasterbator?
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/artwork/the-rasterbator-001492
Tangerine25 -- The vase idea may be a winner, since it would echo the glass bottles on the sill. Love it! How would you make the curtains out of placemats? One on top of the other, or side by side?
view Dani's profile
You have live bamboo on one side, so a bamboo blind on the other side would be complementary..
view Careen's profile
I don't like the bottles on the window ledge. With the bottles on the shelf so close....it just looks like clutter. Also, a bit too predictable: four window sections with four bottles.
Nice choice of fixtures. I want a tub like that soooooo badly.
view st@cy's profile
Nice job so far!
Definitely replace the bathmat. I would lean towards a lighter color in such a small space, rather than the green you have now. I think a teak mat could be overkill of the teak. Also the room has a lot of hard surfaces so I would avoid adding another.
Regarding the window that leads to the kitchen I would suggest installing a Hartman and Forbes (or similar) Rollershade on an inside mount. http://www.hfshades.com/products/rollershades/
When you don't have company it could be rolled up and would disappear (practically), not interrupting the look of the space and not adding more clutter. And it could be easily pulled down for privacy.
I think a stool would be fine but again I would not go crazy with the dark wood/teak in such a tight space. Perhaps a small vintage chair painted a color that picks up on your artwork could go in the empty place that bothers you. You could place a tray on it with a catch-all dish or flowers, or a candle, or pretty bath products, a water carafe, that kind of thing.
I like the stone hooks, nice choice. And I agree with st@cy about the bottles in the window. I would remove one and group the other three together.
But again good choices thus far!
view CSalt's profile
Good for you! A "re-style" was apparently exactly what the room needed to look intentional and serene.
view wende in phoenix's profile
I have a suggestion for the window between the tub room and kitchen: use glass paints. The effectwill be a bit like stained glass and very cool. You can do anything from impressionist to abstract... big blocks of color look great and take very little artistic talent (sorry Rothko, Newman, & Still). If you decide to go with something with more detail, you can actually tape a color photocopy to the back of the window and "copy" the painting. I know it's cheating, but no one ever has to know...
If you don't want to paint directly on the window, you can get a piece of glass or plexi cut to size and paint on that.
view anastasia's profile
What a difference! Although I would be paranoid of knocking one of the glass bottles over, I like the look. Also, why is my brain just not understanding the door? Why can I see the sink with the door closed? Is it clear? Is it open? Is it mirrored? Please give me the obvious answer...
view squidlette's profile
Such small changes and such big impact.
But know when to say when. Not everyone invited to the party needs to have a strong personality. So, for example, I'd use chrome hooks to relate to the tub hardware versus the stone hooks. But that's just me! You seem to know what you are doing all by yourself! :)
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
The area below the teak shelf-between tub curve and wall is dead space. Can you get a piece of laminate cut to mimic the curve and use it as a shelf somehow?? If you get a light shade of laminate the bottles would look very nice there. and better in scale than where they are now. A bamboo blind would be affordable and look good. You could hang it midway so you still can see the bamboo outside. A folding bamboo stool would be nice to use for a book when needed. You definitely deserve a new bath mat. What about hanging sheers on the door that leads to the kitchen?
view gordy's profile
I totally covet your Matt Daly print!
view jennifer in sf's profile
One thing that I've learned is that empty space is important too. So you might think about leaving that space next to the tub empty.
view kuroneko's profile