Zhushing up my guest bath

When we moved in here last fall I decorated the guest bath with the same items I had at the condo–rugs, art, towels, tchotchkes and shower curtain. Gradually I found I wanted to make some changes.

I went to some expense to custom double mat and frame these whimsical animal prints. The mats are pale pink over silver, and I wanted to continue using them here. The bath doesn’t get used a lot (the tub still hasn’t taken its maiden voyage)), but everyone who does visit comments on these cute prints.

That’s Chilly Llama and Silly Llama in the right hand photo–my faves!. I like a bit of tongue-in-cheek in my decorating, especially in the bathrooms, so I like that these two are staring at anyone who’s sat down to take care of business. Silly is even sticking her tongue out!

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My condo guest bath (pictured above), had patterned pink tile that screamed 1980s and a sickly pink tub, both of which I hated but tried to make the best of. Hence, I used lots of grays to tone it down and just a bit of pink in purer hues for accent.

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The rugs from the old bath were still okay for the new place, I decided–a gray oriental at the sink and this cute “catskin” rug for use with the shower/bath.

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It goes with the fun animal theme and ties in the cat figurines from my collection that moved from by the sink at the condo bath to the same spot here.

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But the towels were Turkish foutas, which never worked well for me, and the shower curtain was also in a fouta style–white with gray stripes. Foutas were very trendy at the time I bought them, but their time has passed.

I, anyway, tired of both of them and found some textured towels–Kassa Spa Quick Dry by Kassatex–at Home Goods with just a bit of pale pink in them that I thought would bring a little color in and function better.

Society 6

Finding the right shower curtain was a tougher job. I toyed with the idea of something equally as fun as the prints and almost bought this one from Society 6.

I liked its midcentury modern feel, and it had that little bit of pink in it I wanted. But I was worried it was so splashy it would pull attention away from the prints rather than enhance them, so I kept looking. Maybe I’ll return to it in the next redo if I change out the prints.

Then I happened on this shower curtain at Home Goods (several weeks after finding the towels there). I liked the gray tufts in it and the gauzy, crinkled-cotton fabric, though I wished it had a bit of pink.

Not to be deterred, I decided I could add the pink with a bit of simple embroidery. I did a running stitch of pink embroidery through the center of each band of gray stripes, adding a French knot in the middle of each tuft. You can see here how it looked before (top row of stripes) and then with the embroidery.

I wanted to try to use up floss I’d bought in a lot on ebay, so I chose two pinks–one very pale and another a little brighter–and alternated them. You get just a glimpse here of the palest pink in between two rows of the brighter shade in this shot.

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The project used up exactly one skein of each color and gives the bathroom just a bit more pizzazz–subtle but noticeable close up.

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Hotelier and interior designer Kit Kemp recommends embellishing textiles–vintage or new–to give them your own personal stamp. Usually I make my own shower curtains from a fabric I love, but I just didn’t feel like doing that this time around. This was much less expensive; the shower curtain cost just $25.

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It was also an easy project that took about a week, embroidering two to four rows per day.

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And it’s completely reversible if someday I change the color scheme, or if the person who inherits it from me at Goodwill when I tire of it wants to change the color scheme, which is more likely. At any rate, they’ll get something no one else has!

Happy Decorating!

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