apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Those are all cute, and at least half of them were contenders when I recently needed a new one. I swear I looked at every shower curtain in existence. I ended up getting a cute on from Aldea in the Mission. If you can physically go get it, I recomment Aldea, and definitely Cliff's variety in the Castro. They have the most hip and cute ones I've ever seen.

If you buy a tension shower rod any curtain can be a shower curtain. I have a clear plastic liner on my shower rod and have plain white curtains hanging higher up on the tension rod. It works well.

I love Anthropologie's selection of shower curtains...although some may be too "frou frou" for a lot of the minimalist types here...

I was in the US for thanksgiving and bought 3 shower curtains (although I returned 1). The two I chose are very different. One has tons of colour and the rest of the bathroom will be neutral. The second looks like flower/lace but its actually white vinyl on a clear background.
I got the 2nd in Kmart. Here is a photo of the colourful one.http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_7/602-1729845-6632613?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000CBUKR0

We have a terrible problem with mildew on our clear curtain liner. It requires scrubbing practically every week to 10 days. Has anyone had success with alternatives to clear vinyl interior liners?

I really like the yoyo curtain from garnet hill. If I was redecorating my bathroom that'd be the one I'd pick - so nice and cheery. I'm not a big fan of the plain hemp.
Bradley, I tried switching to one of those fabric-ey waterproof liners with the thought that it could be tossed into the washer as needed. Well, it IS washable, but mildew really doesn't come out well, even in super hot water with bleach. I'll be interested to see if anyone comes up with a good answer to your question.

I always shower with my bathroom door open (I live alone) and then leave it open afterwards as well, to air out. So far I haven't had any mildew issues (6 months with this shower curtain). My shower curtain is NOT vinyl but a different type of plastic and I got it at IKEA for around $10. I've also cut it so that it doesn't sit against anything wet.

I am a big fan of the Waterworks raindrop vinyl curtain. It is a very heavy vinyl from Japan. It looks pretty sleek and modern in my NY art deco black/white bathroom. It's also a quite heavy, and a world away in quality from plastic liners. Since it has a pattern pressed into the viny, it also provides some privacy by blurring your body while letting in all the light. And to offset the price (around 60 bucks, which may seem a lot) every 6 months I toss it in the washer with some non-chlorine bleach, and it's as good as new.

BTW, I don't think the Japanese Waterworks has anything to do with the fancy US plumbing fixture store. I find these curtains in small upscale homewares shops ike Myxlplyzk in New York.

To Bradley on the clear vinyl curtain and mildew.

1. Take the curtain and shake it after a shower, which gets rid of most water.
2. Make sure that you are opening up the curtain wide after showering so that it dries.
3. Mildew can only grow in a dark environment. You might try leaving a space on each side of the curtain (if there is a cloth one in front) and leaving a light on in the bathroom so that the light shines in between the spaces.
4. I have heard of putting car wax on items like this, chrome as well in your bathroom, so that the water just beads off like on a car and dust doesn't stick. Check on a small section of the curtain first, though , to see if it is ok on the curtain.

I just bought this damask shower curtain in red from Wrapables and it's fabulous: http://www.wrapables.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=C53310&cate3=020902. Had a really hard time finding fun (but chic) curtains. I also bought this one for our other bathroom: http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=476&f=4839

I love my cloth shower curtain, I never thought of them before (I always thought you had to get plastic or at least a liner) but the one I have has wax impregnated in it so after I wash it I iron it and it becomes waterproof again!
i got mine at IKEA, but im sure you can get them somewhere else too

"Has anyone had success with alternatives to clear vinyl interior liners?"

Yes - Nylon Hotel shower curtains work very well, and can be laundered over and over again.

My problem with shower curtains is that they tend to be too touchy - they stick to my skin while I'm showering! Aaarg, so annoying!
I got some pretty riverstones with clothespin attached, intended to hold down tablecloths, and they work pretty well keeping the curtain down, but not perfectly!
Any ideas?

I have the Marimekko Kaiku Shower Curtain and I ADORE it. The colors are so fresh and bright and it will definitely brighten things up now that fall and winter are approaching!

We've got the Marimekko Kaiku in one bathroom and the Blue Chain in the other. (I was reading a lot of AT when moving in.) It amazes me how many people comment on our shower curtains! Nice, interesting shower curtains really do get noticed.