What $300 will do for your bathroom.....

Being an amazing designer that I am, I field several calls a week from friends and family asking for advice on what they should do and how they can do it. OK, so maybe not several but I do get some calls now and then. I enjoy getting the opportunity to expand my design experience when friends call. I enjoy the challenge of different personalities and budgets to work with. So when a friend called and told me that her bathroom needed help, wait......let's see, she put it, my bathroom has no sex appeal, and I'd rather shower with the water hose, I knew I needed to help her. I might have exaggerated that last line just a bit, but when I saw her bathroom, I really did feel sorry for her. She has a beautiful house, upgrades galore, great furniture, baby toys scattered everywhere, ugh and just the right stuff to add to. She has all the right pieces but needed my help to put it all together. BTW, you shouldn't blog and watch Chelsea Lately, Hilarity........OK, so her bathroom literally had nothing. I wasn't allowed to take a picture of her "hair clip holder". She was using her hand towel holder as a hair clip holder. It was a mess. What is it that I have told you about starting any new design plan. Pick your theme!!! I decided a beach theme would be the perfect idea for my friend and her husband. She loved it. Remember this.....

This little gem was created around my beach theme. My client, we'll call her Erin, not because that's her real name, but because I like the name Erin. We found some fabric that we just loved. Some to recover the bench and the rest to make simple curtains. The colors in the fabric were what we used to match our towels. It's very important to make sure that you coordinate colors and accent pieces. It's great to be practical too. You can't add things that serve no purpose in a space that requires functionality. I'm not going to put a chase lounge in a bathroom and tell a client that it's a piece that invites you in to rest. Bologna. This bench was the best size and shape for what I intended it for. When decorating a bathroom, don't think you have to use traditional pieces for soap dispensers, tooth brush holders and also putting your q-tips and cotton balls on display is not a faux pas anymore. Lets take a look at the before pics....

As you can see, great bones, just needed some accessorizing and pops of color. 

Like this for starters....

This would be the the coordinating fabric with fantastic bling we added to make the curtains sparkle. I love a good floor to ceiling curtain panel in any room, except bathrooms. You really cant be practical in the bathrooms with fabric draping on the floor. So I am watching Burlesque as I write this. Everyone said it was horrible. It's not bad. Sorry attention span very small. So instead of traditional curtains, I made cafe ole' panels to give the room color and sparkle just where we needed it.

As you can see I am not the greatest at taking pictures of the after, so you get the finished product here. Concentrate on the curtains. It's the right touch on a small window that brings the colors of the room from entry to the furthest end of the room. IMPORTANT, bringing the color from one end of the room to the other is very important. Reason being, you want people to stop and think, hmmm that's a great idea.....we should do that....never thought of that. The room has to flow and flow right. We can't have people saying why did they do that.

Like this......

One word.........HEINOUS!! 

When I was shopping for accessories I was looking for something that would again, be bitchy, I mean beachy...beachy!! Seashells make the perfect accent in glass jars and when clustered together make the perfect complement to any room. 

See I told you I was horrible at taking pictures, but I think you can get the point. These two glass containers are the same shape but in different sizes. Both are filled with several different shells in size and type. I added three glass votive holders for romantic candle light for "Erin" when she takes her baths. This is where you can have some fun. The candles are in the same color family as the towels and fabrics. 

Here is that stunning bench. I laid a sea grass runner underneath it to enhance the beach look. It's not a rug that you will be stepping on after a shower or a bath, but it gives nice texture to a small space and breaks up all the hard lines that the tile gives this room.

The bench is the perfect wow factor in this room. It ties all the colors together and adds the elegance to the room that it really lacked from the beginning. I love to layer towels of coordinating colors to all bathrooms. I know I am supposed to be practical, but I tie the towels together to give it that clean, untouched look.  Had we had a bath/shower combo, always add 2 shower curtains for the heavy layered look. It really does add a lot to a space when you have multiple shower curtains. Remember it's ok to layer!!!

 

Here is the finished look. 1 hour instal and a $300 budget. I love the new soap holders.

 Personal touches like this family picture are great in any room.

Please don't think you can't add flare to toilet paper when displaying it. I mean it is what it is, so have fun with it.

Thoughts????