It’s getting cold outside. In fact, it snowed in Boston already (isn’t it illegal for it to snow before Halloween?) This is the time of year where staying in bed just feels like the right thing to do.

So, just how can wooden tones, soft neutrals and warm autumnal colours combine to make you feel like getting out of bed on those cold mornings we know are coming (and to some, already here)?

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Warm colors (oranges, reds, yellows) and natural textures bring warmth to a space. Wooden bathroom furniture is a really practical way to add a natural texture. Bathroom furniture is both useful and aesthetically pleasing. It provides you with a coordinated finish as well as plenty of storage space – meaning your surfaces will no longer be littered with everyday essentials!

Solid wood, freestanding bathroom furniture could be perfect for a traditional home, while a more contemporary space would be served well by some wood veneered, wall hung cabinets and vanity units. The natural wooden tones of your bathroom cabinets will reflect the hues of autumn and give your room a warm glow for the winter to come too.

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Think about your flooring early on. You’ll want something that feels and looks warm, and you’ll need to lay the floor before you install your bathroom furniture and sanitaryware. While you can’t use real wood flooring without risking water-based catastrophe in the future, you can think about opting for waterproof wood-effect flooring. Many of these flooring styles are beautifully produced and incredibly realistic looking; they also have the advantage of being far warmer underfoot than tile. If you do plan to install underfloor heating, you may prefer the look of a tile floor – in which case, adding rugs can soften the appearance of the tile and warm it to the touch on those occasions when your underfloor heating is off.

copyrighted by betterbathrooms.com

The decor of your walls should complement your furniture and your flooring: soft neutral colours can be paired with russet accents for a really rich, warm, autumnal feel. Try pairing stone wall tiles with wooden tones elsewhere for a natural look that can complement a period or modern theme. Alternatively use ceramic tile throughout, interspersing your neutral scheme with splashes of warm colour – for a contemporary scheme, you could look at warm shades of bronze, gold, and chocolate. Finally, if you are a lover of pattern, try adding some bright botanical wallpaper to bring a little vibrancy to your bathroom: a botanical theme will look fabulous with wooden bathroom furniture.

Organic Bath Towels by Pottery Barn

I came across some new products from Pottery Barn  that boast an Eco friendly edge, it really got me thinking…

Towels, sheets and the like are some of the most chemical filled home furnishings around. Manufactures use surface finishes and scent to sell these goods.  The idea of purchasing organic bath products really struck a cord in me. Why expose yourself to harsh chemicals, especially during sleep.  I did a little research and this is what I found.

The Oeko Tex Standard  for textiles is a system that tests for harmful substances in home furnishings.  This includes testing for PH balance, formaldehyde, pesticides, allergy inducing dyestuffs etc. yuck, yuck and yuck.  

Pottery Barn has come out with a line of towels, bathrobes and shower curtains that carry the seal of approval.  They are oh so PB but nonetheless they are chemical free.  I think they are rather nice.

If everything goes according to plan, the husband and I will be embarking on our first major renovation this spring/summer: finally giving that sad, not-so-master master bath a much-needed makeover! And while we know the basics of the space—deep soaking tub, lots of white tile, water-saving fixtures, polished chrome finishes—we haven’t quite gotten down to specifics, until now.

I recently began looking at faucets; it seemed like a smart place to start considering that will be the main “decoration” of the otherwise all-white bathroom. Some features were a given, like polished chrome finishes and water-saving technology, while others, such as the style, are still debatable at this point. Considering the overall style of the house, as well as the diminutive size of the bathroom, I didn’t think we could go too hyper-mod, so I primarily searched for in-between styles, something “transitional” but with a subtle touch of modern to keep it fresh and updated.

The five faucets below are on my official short list, and I think they all would work perfectly in my still-a-sketch-in-a-notebook bathroom.

Meaning “wave” in Sanskrit, the Lahara collection from Delta boasts gently curving handles reminiscent of the motion of the ocean. I love the shape, and the high-arc spout is beautifully styled to coordinate with a variety of looks. This one is presently at the top of my list.

Similar to the Delta faucet, the Tropic line from American Standard is a little more modern, with sleeker handles and a flared opening on the spout. I really appreciate how the base of the faucet echoes the styling on the spout, and the extra-shiny polished chrome finish makes it almost jewel-like.

If we were to go more contemporary with the fixtures, this single-handle number from Moen’s Icon collection would be my top choice. While I’m not usually a big fan of single-handle faucets in the bath, I do love the simple, clean-lined look of this one, and the curves keep it from becoming too utilitarian and cold.

Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking—this looks like something out of a gas station or restaurant bathroom. But I really like the low-key look of Kohler’s Triton faucet; it’s a really understated style that speaks to the overall 1950s architecture of the house, and would be the ideal choice for fixtures that blend easily into the surrounding space.

Also from Kohler, the Taboret faucet is equally low-key, and features cool “swirl” handles with a decidedly Art Deco influence. It’s another simple style that would work seamlessly with the style of the house, while adding a unique touch to the décor.

Last Saturday we took a break from Super Saturday House Cleaning Extravaganza to make one of those “quick trips” to Home Depot. You know, that trip where you have a list that says “light bulbs and shower curtain liner” and an hour later you leave with a bunch of stuff you forgot you totally needed.  Although this time a cheap impulse buy has become The Greatest Thing Ever.

While we’re hoping to renovate our not-so-master-master-bath next spring, we’ve needed a new shower head for a good year or so. It’s old, and small, and the water pressure is mediocre at best. So we were perusing the display of shower heads and such, mulling over getting a new one, finally. But why spend $60 or $70 on a replacement when we’re going to redo the whole thing in a few months and put in something else that’s way nicer? My indifference led us away down another aisle, where we saw another display of shower heads and accessories. What we found was a universal replacement shower head system by Aquadyne, for around $25. Two sprayers (one fixed and one hand held) and six spray settings on each, an eco-friendly, water-saving feature, and a shiny polished-chrome finish. At that price we decided why the hell not, and threw it in the basket.

To make a long story short, it took a whole five minutes to install, and much to my skeptical surprise, we’ve got an awesome new shower. A simple diverter dial turns on one or both sprayers, the water pressure is excellent and a clicky little slider (that’s the technical term) makes it easy to switch settings. This minor investment totally transformed our shower, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it sticks around after that bathroom renovation.

But if you’re looking for this particular product, get thee to your local Home Depot! I haven’t been able to find it for sale online (not even on HD’s site!), and as far as I can tell Aquadyne doesn’t have a site either. The packaging says it’s manufactured for Home Depot, but I did see other Aquadyne models on eBay and Overstock.

A small leak behind the shower body turned into big problems in our New York rental apartment.  This unexpected bathroom renovation was a costly surprise and I looked for ways to make it more economical.  Visiting a known tile resource in the area gave us a clear idea of what path to choose in terms of design, we went with “subway tiles“, named for the fact that this is the tile used in New York City’s subway system.

The fact that we chose subway tiles saved us big time.  By choosing this commonly found tile we cut our cost from the $4.85 a sq.ft down to $1.67 a sq. ft.  Instead of buying from the tile store we found the same product at The Home Depot.

Here is the tub area after the plumbers got their hands on it.  plumbers are notorious for ripping up the place in an unruly fashion.  Their only concern is to get to the leak. With an odd size tile, finding a match was not an option so instead of a patch job we had to do a re-tile for the entire bathroom.

Before

More tile mess.

After

Shown below is a “rope” detail that we chose as a decorative accent to give the bathroom a little pizazz.

Part 1 of the “Somewhere in Israel” Home Tour was posted on Monday.

From the living room we go into the kitchen, which has as much visual activity as the rest of the house.

I love the drapes instead of doors. The color is vibrant and wonderful. These drapes also looked especially crisp, like they had just been ironed.

The other nice thing about using fabric instead of doors to close of areas is that you can change the whole look of your kitchen for little money. Just change the drapes.

I will only recommend this look for someone who will actually take the drapes down, wash them regularly and change them out when needed. If you’re not of that ilk, you will have dingy fabric polluting your kitchen space. Obviously W and M are of the former type.

Of course, not everything is hidden away from view…

The other side of the kitchen.

This milk cannister has it’s own niche to hang out in. Love it!

A cement breakfast bar with western style saddle stools is opposite the kitchen. I love the mix of style and the industrial building materials. This house would be cold if the furniture matched the building materials, but since the styles are so different, they compliment each other really well.

Outside the kitchen is a courtyard which connects the living room to the kitchen and bedroom. It also brings light into all areas of this level.

The bedroom keeps up the mix of elements with the cement floor, carpets and wood bed and drawers. The bathroom can be closed off by a curtain.

Like the half bathroom featured in Part 1, this bathroom has the same cement counter top with the blue top.

W uses a woven platter to hang her jewelry. In Israel you could find this at the souk in Jaffa and in the US, Cost Plus should have something similar.

The view from the bath.

In Part 3 (coming on Friday) I’ll show you the roof (which is amazing) and the downstairs, which has something I never expected…

On a recent visit to The Home Depot (my now favorite shopping destination since becoming a home owner),  I saw a car in the parking lot advertising a hot new trend… 

Old Bathtub

Old bath tubs are something of an eyesore and expensive to replace.  I recently had the conundrum of deciding which route to take in regards to fixing an old tub and when I came across Re-bath I got really excited.

Instead of re-surfaceing the tub which is the old version of this new trend, a new liner is created as an exact match to the existing tub…

Between ripping out the old tub and installing a new one, replacing a bath tub can cost thousands of dollars.  How about inserting a custom made lining that “fits like a glove”.  Re-bath is a company that creates an exact match to your old tub and then secures it into place with heavy duty epoxy. 

New Bathtub

Saving money on common updates can really make a difference when budgeting for new home renovations.  If you are in need of a fresh look in your bathroom for half the price this may be the solution for you.

From the runway to the entryway, classic menswear continues to influence everything from women’s clothing (like Alexander McQueen’s luxe houndstooth creation above) to the way we dress our homes. I began noticing this not only from my over-consumption of fashion and interior design mags, but also when I embarked upon my search for the most perfect gray sofa ever (on my budget). Then I got obsessed.
And luckily, unlike say, the return of neon, these looks are timeless, not trendy.

First things first. The most perfect gray sofa ever (on my budget). West Elm’s Goodwin collection includes the sofa in two lengths, a sleeper sofa, chair and ottoman. It’s also available in chocolate brown or something, but whatever, because this was the charcoal sofa of my dreams. Can’t wait to check it out (at the cash register) at the Dallas store in October.

You just cannot go wrong with a pair of x-base stools. Everyone makes a version and they fit with almost any decor. This Italian leather and chrome pair from Williams-Sonoma Home hits the perfect balance of modern and dapper.

At just $150, CB2′s Joe chair is the perfect extra seating in any room. Personally, I’d like to pair a couple with a white Parsons table and a couple of red/orange Eames side chairs. The tight-knit black-and-white tweed might play nicely with the most perfect gray sofa ever (on my budget), and I love the retro school furniture look.

I remember the horrible set of black towels my husband had when we first met. Yeah, lost in the move…. I love soft, all-white towels, but I must say that the Ash color group in Restoration Hardware’s Turkish collection are absolutely beautiful. In muted graphite, stone and ash, they’re a subtle accent for the bath.

Hickory Chair’s Kelsey chair is simple opulence. Feminine shapes, an upholstered leather shield back, completely understated elegance. Decades-old glamour with a new twist. It is all those “juxtaposition phrases” you use when you can’t quite describe how brilliant a chair really is.

If everything goes according to my evil plan, the husband and I will be having our bathroom remodeled. Although it’s the only full bath in the house, I wouldn’t call it the master, because frankly it’s not the master of anything…except pink and blue granny tile (with mauve accents for good measure).

Also, it’s small and awkward and doesn’t really lend itself to expansion, so a perfect floor plan and use of space is essential. Therefore, I’ve decided that our only option is one of these ridiculously fabulous bath combos from usTogether.

Sure, they’re more expensive than our kitchen and bath makeover budgets, but who cares? The various configurations take out the guess work (and arguing) of picking out bath fixtures, and they’re clearly easy to clean. All you have to do is figure out where to put the loo….

Sleek shower, basin…and towel storage?

Nothing would go better with this than a (heated) white Carrara marble floor.

]]> http://www.tchochkes.com/wordpress/ill-have-the-no-3-combo/feed/ 2 http://www.tchochkes.com/wordpress/sheet-resource-darlain/ http://www.tchochkes.com/wordpress/sheet-resource-darlain/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:00:56 +0000 Patti Boker Elkon http://www.tchochkes.com/wordpress/?p=5809

Sheets are one of those things that are noticed when they are exceptional.  My love for luxury sheets began “back in the day” when I started to travel for work.  My textile design career took me to Europe twice a year on trips that had me staying in four star hotels.  The sheets in those hotels were “to die for” and my sheet quest began…

Egyptian cotton is my favorite quality of all.  It washes well, has a super soft hand and is easy to find in most stores these days.  I found a sheet resource here in Tel Aviv that I really like.  Darlain has a nice collection of home furnishings, including sheets; to choose from.  I went to the store and asked to photograph the bedding but the owner was not there.  I was given a phone number that did not work so now you are stuck with the few photos of actuals and some bad store windows.  

Here’s a set that my neighbour bought for her bedroom, and below is a set that I found for my daughters room.  If you notice in both of these photos, the top sheet looks like a duvet cover…  that’s because it is.  The double sheet takes the place of a flat sheet, at first I thought this was strange but now I can’t live without it. 

If you need sheets now, Darlain has a large store on Dizengoff street in Tel Aviv.  They also have high quality bathmats, small rugs and various items for the home.