My bathroom is the bane of my life. A room that never feels quite right. A room that frequently needs a re-think. A room, my Darlings that just doesn’t bring out the Hollywood Starlet in me long enough to relish well lit close inspection of my furrowed brow, nor comfort me enough to have me wanting to seek it’s lavender scented sanctuary at the end of a long day…
Honestly, a person gets to feeling like throwing in the over-washed towel and calling in the estate agents when peace is not to be found in a room a person should be able to find peace in! But when re-locating is not on the financial cards, refreshing a room with frugal attention to detail is always the answer…
Which is why I was delighted to be asked to be one of a number of bloggers taking part in Look Again’s Refresh Rather Than Re-Locate Competition: a challenge to create a themed mood-board for the puttery, pretty, re-invention of one of the rooms in my house, with a budget of £750.00 of products picked from Look Again and of course a hefty spoonful of inspiration…
The Hollywood Bathroom
So I set about this task with my interior designers hat on – following a series of steps I have long relied upon to create rooms that make me feel happy and keep my bank account healthy…
* First up I establish how I want the room to make me feel…
Though the rest of the house is
* Then I settle on a color scheme…
To my mind serenity is cream. While my son tells me that he will cry if I paint anything else cream, to me it is as soothing as bathing in a gilded china cupful of ambrosia and I want my bathroom to be a symphony of cream, white and glittery, reflective surface…
* Next up I combine atmosphere with color to create a theme…
When a girl wants to feel like a star, beautifying herself before her next curtain call in life, a Hollywood inspired bathroom is the choice of all the Marilyn’s, Bette’s and Alison’s of this world, because it allows us to indulge a taste for luxe with a shabby penchant for serene, easy to clean, cream. Just don’t get carried away and coat the walls in shag pile aka Jayne Mansfield
* The next job is to look at the budget…
£750 sounds like a heck of a windfall to land upon the teeniest room in the house, when most of the fixtures and fitting are up to scratch, but if you are wise (and I am!) then you will not fritter it away on too many bits and bobs but will carefully analyse exactly what will improve your experience of the room in question, above and beyond the merely pretty. This of course takes strength and commitment to creating a room that works, but it is worth it if said windfall is to provide long term design satisfaction as opposed to a fit of shopping whimsy!
* Then I look to the dull stuff…
First up, to my mind is making sure that the dull stuff is attended to. That things works as they should and are right up to date with the latest in function and technology. In my bathroom this means making a new shower a priority. A girl cannot feel beautiful in even the prettiest, most glitziest of bathrooms if she finds herself shivering and hunched under a dribble of a shower!
So I chose the Martinique 9.5kw Shower by Triton at £149.00…
* Before choosing a show-stopping piece of furniture…
Next up I want something that stops my silly heart: a gorgeous piece of furniture I will long treasure. Yes, it takes up the bulk of the budget, but nothing, and oh but I repeat nothing, sets the atmosphere of a room quite like a piece of furniture that commands attention…
So I chose this gorgeous Aimee Five Drawer Chest at £332.00
* Then I consider convenience and function…
I need to hang towels so that they are accessible while I float in the bath. I want to be able to see my reflection clearly. I want a curtain that will not expose my naked self to the world while I take a
So I chose the Chic 2 Rail Towel Stand at £45.00, a Lace Shower Curtain at £40.00, and the rather wonderful, vintage inspired set of Santiago Scatter Mirrors I am coveting above all else at £70.00…
* Before starting to accessorize…
Finally I want some twinkly lovely objects just because I want them! A girl must allow herself to keep a fraction of the budget for pure frivolity now mustn’t she? I want to dance, in nothing but a towel, to music piped from a retro radio! I want to choose a light fitting that throws a lacy, glitzy pattern over the whole room, like a paste brooch on the cosiest of cashmere cardigans! And I want the velvet bliss of a darling cushion so I can perch on my little stool and paint my toenails oyster pink. Combine these precious pieces with aromatherapy oils, candles and fluffy towels still warm from the dryer and I have a room I will probably never want to leave…
So I chose the Beige Retro Brighton Radio by Steepletone for £26.00, this Beaded Pendant Light Fitting at £65.00, and this gorgeous Boudoir Cushion at £22.00…
Budget Check:
Martinique Shower – £149.00
Aimee Chest – £332.00
Chic Towel Stand – £45.00
Lace Shower Curtain – £40.00
Scatter Mirrors – £70.00
Brighton Radio – £26.00
Beaded Pendant Light – £65.00
Boudoir Cushion – £22.00
= £749.00 (!)
And so there you have it: a plan, a mood, a selection of lovely picks for the room and a theme: all the ingredients I need to create my dream space and in my imagination at least: a room transformed by creativity and a careful eye on a tight budget…
The Summer Sale Is Here! 
The Brocante Round-Up! 
The Brocante Round-Up! 
The Autumn House
You know, it is positively spooky sometimes, Alison! We have just got the keys to a darling little Victorian terrace, and I have spent the morning buying a few little bits for the new bathroom! It has a lot if wood panelling and cream, reminds me of the idea of a a highlands hotel!