let's talk bathrooms

Judging from all your helpful and constructive comments from the last house related post, you guys clearly know what you're talking about.  Which is incredibly fortunate as it turns out my learning curve looks like Mount Everest and I'm still in the Nepalese village at the foot of the mountain looking at indigenous homewares.  You guys are my Tenzing Norgay.

This week we're focusing on the main bathroom.  We're buying all the items separately to our builder, so I'm doing lots of research.  I'm pretty au fait with kitchens and their accoutrements, but when it comes to bathrooms....I'm a bit foggy.
Two words seem to cloud my vision:  fiddly and expensive.
Lots and lots of components which need to be hard-wearing, water resistant, safe, easy to clean and most of all affordable.  Help!

Here's where I'm up to.....


Free-standing bath vs Built-in bath?

I'm thinking free standing bath like this one:

This particular tub {above} is from Restoration Hardware in the US.  There are similar shapes to be found here in Australia luckily.  Pushed up against the wall, so as to not take up too much space.

Here's what I'm wondering....
Are these tubs difficult to live with?
Where am I going to rest my book/candles/coffee etc?
I suppose I could rely on one of these:

Looks tough, huh?

See those mirrors?
J'adore.
Unbelievably, I saw them in the Reject Shop a couple of months ago and {gulp} didn't buy them.  I should have.  But I didn't want to jinx myself with premature purchasing before our plans were in council. Stoopid.

This layout is C-L-E-V-E-R.
Look how neatly the shower and bath fit together.
And look at that storage!
The finishes wouldn't fit in with the rest of our house, but it IS a clever design isn't it?

Here's a lovely built-in bath which is still traditional in appearance.
Do you think it would be easier to live with and clean around?
Or are all bathrooms a nightmare and just accept the inevitable?

Tiles on the wall vs cedar wainscotting.

I present Exhibit A:

and this fabulous ensuite from Georgica Pond blog:

She even has those mirrors I love.  

And basketweave floor tiles which I have trying to find EVERYWHERE.

Turns out they're in sunny Brookvale and not too ridiculously expensive.

Happy Days.

I found Melinda's blog by Googling "basketweave tiles australia".  

 Her home is newly renovated in the American East Coast style and is just lovely.  

Here's their main family bathroom:

I'd been looking at that light fitting only the other day at Bunnings.  At $110, I thought that was a pretty reasonable price.

{Ha, ask me in six months time and I'll probably say that anything over $20 or not from eBay is out of our price range!}

The details....heavenly.

Instead of wainscotting in cedar which builders have given me the heebee geebee's about, perhaps subway tiles instead as above?

Like any blogger worth their salt, I have a deep admiration and affection for the humble subway tile.

They're probably more practical, affordable and Goofball-proof also.

Glad we talked this through.

I could go on about vanity units, shower screens and taps, but I think that's enough for one day.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world and that you have a truly good cup of tea or coffee at some stage this weekend. 

Love you more than Jo Malone,

Meredy xo