D is for Decor

November 4, 2023 /

Elisabeth recently redecorated her daughter’s bedroom, and posted wonderful pictures of the final project. This brought to mind one room we have redone in our home, the downstairs bathroom. Back in 2018 we had a leak under our home that caused a lot of disruption, due to re-piping the downstairs from under the slab to through the walls. You can read about it, and see pictures of the open walls and pipes, here if you’re so inclined.

When they re-piped the bathroom, they took down the horrible huge mirror, and tore open the wall behind it, to get to the pipes. After they closed everything up again, the room needed some paint. It had always been off white, and I thought it would be nice to put some color on the walls. I found a lovely color called San Francisco fog, which is grey but to my eyes at least has a bit of a blue/grey tinge to it. I did cut it with some Swiss coffee or white or something, I don’t remember.

Looking at this picture, the color looks almost tan. You’ll have to take my word on it being grey with a tiny bit of blue. These pictures are my favorite part of the room. They belonged to my Great Grandfather’s sister, Julia, for whom I am named. Auntie, as she was called, was extremely important in my mom’s life. When my mom and her step-dad (my Grandpa) couldn’t live in the same house anymore, my mom moved to Modesto and lived with her Auntie Julia. It made all of the difference in my mom’s life. I love having these pictures, and I have decided that they are the French countryside, though of course who knows.

These pictures have no such significance, but I like them. We bought them at Target when we bought our home in 1998 I think. The curtain has a pattern of pussy willows, which carries over into the vase on the toilet tank. The vase was a wedding gift from one of my MIL’s friends, and I think it looks perfect with the artificial pussy willows. I searched high and low for these.

The color looks more blue in this picture, doesn’t it? It’s the same as the others. Over here, I like the vase of dried lavender in the corner, which to me also speaks of France. I picked up some lavender a couple of years ago when Ted and I spent a day in Napa, and recently replaced it with some that I bought at the local Farmer’s Market. I ignore the fact that this is new lavender, and let it remind me of a nice day with Ted instead.

When they ripped out the old ugly mirror, I told them there was no need to save it, and I found this framed mirror in a local consignment shop. I think it fits in perfectly.

There are three brass items on top of the little wall cabinet. The one on the left is a vase that my Great Aunt Flo gave me. The other two are just pretty things that I bought to go with it. I love that giraffe. It reminds me of a picture Maya took at the Honolulu zoo 15 years ago.

This isn’t a fancy room, it’s just a bathroom, but I like it. How about you, do you have any rooms with a theme (or perhaps theme-ish) in your house?

28 Comments

  • Tobia | craftaliciousme

    November 4, 2023 at 4:57 am

    Thank you for letting us peek into your bathroom. it looks to be cozy room – if aa bathroom can be cozy.
    I love that you include some of your heirlooms here and add newer pieces.
    The color is hard to see though I wouldnt say it is bluesh.

  • Beckett @ Birchwood Pie

    November 4, 2023 at 5:16 am

    I love your decor! We have a handful of knick-knacks in our downstairs powder room. When we redid the boys’ bathroom I found two frames with shells in them at Home Goods. Oddly enough we have no decorations in the masterbathroom, but it’s tiny.

    • J

      November 4, 2023 at 8:05 am

      Our master bathroom is tiny too, so the only ‘decor’ is a fake plant on the back of the toilet and a little picture that we got at Target. I think we added both when we tried to sell our place back in 2007 (right when the housing market crashed).

  • Suzanne

    November 4, 2023 at 5:17 am

    This is so lovely! I always enjoy seeing the way that other people decorate their homes. The photos from your Great Aunt are beautiful! What a wonderful way to incorporate family into your decor.

  • sarah

    November 4, 2023 at 7:54 am

    I like the cabinet on the wall. I really need to put one of these in Harry and Jack’s bathroom and have been meaning to SINCE WE MOVED IN 12 YEARS AGO. Yeesh.

    • J

      November 4, 2023 at 8:06 am

      Thanks Sarah, that little cabinet is pretty handy. It doesn’t hold a lot, but it holds enough and I like having it there.

  • Elisabeth

    November 4, 2023 at 9:18 am

    I LOVE it. My favourite part is that mirror – swoon. And the colour is divine; I love moody grays like that. You’ve done such a lovely job designing this space and it’s even better because there are so many thoughtful additions that remind you of beloved time with family.

    Thanks for sharing!

  • nance

    November 4, 2023 at 1:22 pm

    I love the pussy willow curtains. I have a soft spot for pussy willows. My father, who used to work as a guard at US Steel, used to cut them down at some of the gatehouses and bring them home. I always loved how soft and pretty they were in the vase on the kitchen table. He was a huge appreciator of nature, my father.

  • Jenny

    November 4, 2023 at 1:22 pm

    I love it! Now that we’re almost done with our kitchen, maybe we should move on and do at least one bathroom. Like you, our master bath is tiny so I wouldn’t bother doing much to it- but we could at least switch out the pictures and curtains.
    Does your lavendar smell like lavendar or is it purely a decoration? It’s a nice touch.

    • J

      November 4, 2023 at 4:35 pm

      Thanks Jenny! The lavendar is dried. The bunch I originally bought was fresh and smelled lovely, but started to rot, so I had to put it upside down in the closet until it dried out. Then it was hard to keep clean (dusty) so after a couple of years, I bought some more, but already dried this time.

  • Margaret

    November 4, 2023 at 1:25 pm

    I love your decor since I’m a fellow Francophile. One of my bathrooms looks about that color although it’s actually brown. (in photos it appears green though) Colors in photos don’t seem accurate sometimes. My master bedroom is barren plain (gray-beige) but in some pictures looks lavender. I do have a purple comforter though!

    • J

      November 4, 2023 at 4:37 pm

      Isn’t it funny how different the colors look in photos? I tried to get it to look like it does to me, but I couldn’t manage it.

  • San

    November 4, 2023 at 4:07 pm

    I love taking a peek into other people’s homes. Thanks for sharing these photos. I love the brass accessories although I am usually not a fan of “gold color”.

  • Meike

    November 4, 2023 at 4:21 pm

    Oooh, I do love that mirror, too. Thank you for sharing the room. I still like to go to open houses jsut to see how they satge them to get new ideas. I am thinking about changin one of our bathrooms up a but so I always appreaciate more inspiration.

  • Stephany

    November 7, 2023 at 3:13 pm

    Ooh, what a sweet little space! I love those photos and that mirror! I am swooning like Elisabeth over here. Isn’t it annoying when paint color doesn’t photograph quite right? I feel ya!