The quest for a cute bathroom began when I bought my store about twenty months ago. I have a very old building and very old plumbing and had a very unique paint job in the bathroom. It was described as looking like a migraine headache, or possibly seizure-inducing. In a space so tiny you can hardly add a new thought was a thirty-gallon hot water heater with an ugly gas vent pipe going through a super ugly ceiling. Light consisted of a bare bulb with a pull string.

My personal plumber that needed to help me move the hot water heater objected to the project, citing that I had a working bathroom, what was the problem? My reply was, “Because this is not a gas station! And this bathroom looks like a gas station bathroom that you might need a key attached to a two-by-four to get in.” I explained that women care a great deal about where they do their personal business. We WANT a cute bathroom!

So, my personal plumber helped me install a different hot water heater on the other side of the wall (not in the bathroom), and the big ugly one was removed. It was so heavy!

Several months ago I bought a fabulous “antique” mirror that just fit above the sink, and that was the inspiration for the rest of the room. After the hot water heater was removed, a friend dropped the ceiling from ten feet to eight feet, and on Easter weekend I set about the painting of the walls and ceilings with a faux venetian plaster paint. It was beautiful! Then I added a chandelier with lots of little crystals, so when you’re in the bathroom it’s like having rainbows!

I covered the chain of the chandelier with a coordinating fabric. I sewed a shabby chic curtain to cover a funky little window and a skirt to go below my very old sink. My friend Clare crocheted me a cotton rug to go on the floor.

I came into possession of a couple of antique christening gowns that I hung in the bathroom. So sweet!