Guest Bath (Okay, it's My Bathroom Too)

My guest bath is actually the bathroom I use on a regular basis....we have a Master Bath, but I don't like sharing...at least not bathrooms with my husband...I think many a marriage has been saved by having separate bathrooms...so, he gets the big boy bathroom, with the tile shower, double vanity, and garden tub, and I get the smaller bathroom, but it's mine, all mine!We live in Texas, and this is a "Texas House"..with wonderful touches, like stained concrete floors, high ceilings, etc...My bath is a combination "Texas house" meets "French Flair"...why? Because I have been collecting these things for years, and am not ready to change....I don't like it when people hit you over the head with all things Southwestern, or English, or French...I like to mix it up a bit..but with restraint..(or do I need restraits)...I digress...

I got the fellow in the park image years ago, and I love it...it is actually on lucite, and the wall is the background color...it's not large, but I love the mood.

This is a fairly small bathroom, with a tub and shower stall..what would I change about it? I would change the lighting (Helen Keller does her makeup), and I would change out the countertop and the tub/shower molded unit...it is Lippert, which I associate with motels...Someday...

I got the tree(s), which are glass, on sale at Hobby Lobby...love good ol' Hobby Lobby, the rediculous, mixed in with the sublime. I tend to clutter the counters, so I make an effort not to put too much on the counters..

Many years ago, I got this piece at Art Expo at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC...I was an art consultant in Boston, and went every year for several years...really miss it...I do love her...Conte Crayon..

The other side of the vanity has another Hobby Lobby tree, a velvet, tiny frame, and a vase that we got Aunt Lily (who passed) in Portsmouth, NH..many years ago. The faux tortoise case on the toilet was hers, as well...I keep jewelry in it...

There is a spacious storage/linen closet behind the door, which I use for both my towels, and store many of my art supplies and holiday items...it's pecan, like my kitchen cabinets.

This house was a spec house, and was about two-thirds finished when I found it...I loved the custom home touches, such as the oil-rubbed bronze fixtures, the molded double mirror, and the doors...

I would love it if I had a separate water closet, such as we have in our master bath, but not enough space...and, since I'm not sharing a bath, I'll live with it.

I made the shower curtain from old sheets...This pattern has always been a favorite, and when I first bought them, there was a set for the bed, and enough top sheets for window treatments...This is the survivor of twenty years...never have grown tired of it... The rug is a rag rug, that I got for $3.99 at Pier One...I do floorcloths, but not in bathrooms (I do have one in the powder room)...I don't think they are safe, plus one needs something that will absorb moisture...

The decorative tassles are samples from sample books that I've collected over the years....I never throw anything out..which can be a problem..such as the fact that I've been doing this, rather than trying to figure out what to do about the mess that's in my office......

So, nothing fancy, but it's comfortable, and it reflects my taste...to each her own...

Marie Claire Idees

I have binders...binders full of wonderful, informative, imaginative, inspirational "stuff"...My binders are years-and-years of cutting out things from the mountains of magazines...I had subscriptions, and I had Borders or Barnes and Noble.....I am a visual junky (junkie???)....My cat, Gussie, recently went blind, and I cry myself to sleep at night, for being blinded is my greatest fear...I live for seeing the beauty in the world, and I cringe at seeing the pain..but I digress....my binders..that's what this is about...I have bookcases full of them...several of recipes from Bon Appitit, several that are about art and techniques for faux finishes, one on window treatments, one on bedrooms, one on kitchens, one on dining rooms...it goes on-and-on...I have one that has these photos from old issues of "Marie Claire Idees"....I love these...for I love bits and scraps of beautiful fabric, whether left over from design projects, or just picked up here and there...Rather than save the mountains of magazines, I have distilled what catches my eye, inspires me, or is just pretty.....these are ideas (idees) that are wonderful..

So, take your bits and pieces of velvet, lace, ribbon, beads, bobbles, and bobs, and make something of it....