Salle d'eau. (The Powder Room.)

The more I get to know my house, the more I appreciate the former owner and her fabulous taste. I gushed about her in my last post; and I'm back to do it again.

My house has only one bathroom, and it's not a huge one. However, the balloon shade and shower curtain are made from this fabulous fabric:

I love toile, because I like to think that each pattern tells a story. Milkmaid picking flowers. Handsome shepherd man-boy playing flute to an audience of adoring peasant girls. Children on swing with their toes up in the air, watched by their pet baby lamb. (Yes, I have spent far too long gazing at toile in my lifetime.)

But this toile pattern is special-- not only for the luscious color palette, but for the print.

It has elephants.
And tigers.
And zebras...
oh my.

Of course I wanted to know the who and where of this pattern; after a rudimentary Google search of keywords "toile," "pink," "orange," and "fabric," I was almost immediately able to identify not only the designer (Manuel Canovas), but the real name for this print: "Bengal," (and the color is paprika, not orange. Just so we're clear.)


...And I'm sorry, but I must digress just for a moment and say that I want to go to the Manueal Canovas Showroom and just go nuts filling carts full of amazing fabrics. Sort of a Project Runway's "Designers, you have 5 minutes" moment merged with a manic canned-good aisle competition on Supermarket Sweep. Nope, I definitely wouldn't mind being 'that girl' for fabrics like this:

L.A. Design Concepts

...But back to the Bengale in paprika. Who knew this could be so beautiful in so many different capacities?

Omni Interiors, courtesy Lily Kim


SHELTER: Sneak Peek




Accent pillow, Homes and Gardens May 2009 via NenaghGal

O, The Oprah Magazine Spring 2006 issue










And, I even found this:

Whouafette & Petite Truffe

What? Too much?

My dogs don't think so.

The main aspect of the room keeping it from having a "wow" factor is the bland, cream-colored solid surface sink and counter top. Thus, I have decided that the teeny tiny bathroom needs black accents to bring some pop and break up the pink/paprkia/off-white color scheme. There is limited wall space, so I'd like use that to my advantage as much as possible.

I have two ideas in mind.




Mirrors in various shapes and sizes,
hung by black ribbon.

Like this, but a little less matchy-matchy than in picture 1; and
More mirrors than in picture 2.

I love the concept of this, but the wall these would hang on are reflecting... the door of the bathroom closet. That may be defeating the entire purpose.

Comical, Eccentric, and Gorgeous:
Victorian meets Pop Culture

From http://silhouettemasterpiecetheatre.com/,


I first saw these on another one of my favorites,
the ...love Maegan blog.*

*You must go visit this blog. I'm planning a post in the near-future dedicated solely to "...love Maegan" because it's so flipping amazing. The author is an L.A. native with impeccable taste and keen eye for style. She's beautiful, a great writer, and really likable-- get this: she shares her favorite tips and tricks so readers can try it out for themselves. (I owe my latest fun hairstyle, the "messy side bun," all to her.) I know many a Mean Girl who, despite being out of high school since The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was #1 on the Billboard charts, keep great beauty secrets to themselves. I can assure you Maegen is definitely not that way, because I know her personally I read her blog a lot.



I don't typically gravitate toward trendy or avant-garde, but these Wilhelm Staehle prints are so clever. I love the juxtaposition of 19th century Victorian propriety with Urban Dictionary slang. I'll be the first to admit that the prints are uncouth; isn't that one of the novelties, though?

And yes, some may even push it to the borderline of a vulgar, "Yo Mama" joke (cue the Gibson Girl giggling behind a white-gloved hand). Again, I find the whole concept really funny.

There are a few prints that coordinate with my bathroom AND are suitable for all audiences.
And really, what other room allows for this kind of fun?



These prints in particular are the ones I have my eye on:


My personal favorite, it's got the paprika and black, and I love the lion.



Not quite in my color scheme, but ... an ode to all the Rico Suave-types throughout history.

This one gives me flashbacks to college history courses... countless portraits of British Prime Ministers and 19th century American robber barons. The richest, most powerful men of their time, immortalized in silhouettes just like this one. But the text here changes the entire tone of the rendering. (Maybe it's a little leftover resentment I have left over from having to learn all those historical facts?) This one is also pushing it for color coordination, but makes me giggle.

Ah, an ode to my boyfriend, who uses the Michael Scott "That's What She Said" line at every opportunity. Sometimes, there doesn't need to be an opportunity, he'll just say it anyway.

Again, how incongruous: a dapper fellow, speaking to a leashed rooster (?), who replies a la "The Office." Makes no sense. I love it.

What girl hasn't been here at one point or another? Good thing this little lady has a beautiful rococo-style background in which to wait for Prince Charming.

I used to hate the song "Baby Got Back." I think I could just relate to it a little bit too well.
But I'm a big girl now, and I now embrace the bedonkeydonk the Lord gave me.

This one made me literally laugh out loud.

So that's what I'm considering right now, to spice up my uniquely toile bathroom. I have one other idea too... similar to the Victorian prints concept but more use of black and less use of colors. I won't go there now, as this post as now officially taken me 3 days as is!

I would love any feedback as I try to decide!