SURFACE VIEW - OBSCURING BEAUTIFULY

We can’t use this in our house AT THE MOMENT, but I LOVE this film for a bathroom window.  

Not only is it tres cool, but it’s a MAP – one of my favourite things to look at.  I love a good map. Maps look beautiful and read like books.  You are never alone with a map. Maps lift us up where we belong. All you need is map ...

But windowfilm ...

The plain kind makes me feel like I’ve gone blind and don’t get me started on the ‘simple’ styles featuring, for examples, little squares cut out to give it – one can only assume – a ‘contemporary’ feel (which I’m sure fits in beautifully amongst the Ikea prints and the photocanvas of the dog).   I have a long standing physical reaction to any kind of decorative element that includes a lone gerberer or lily which seems to be as quirky as window film gets. 

Put a map on it, however, and windowfilm shows that old horror-show dappled glass the door, giving it a hefty kick up the rump for good measure.

And its piece d’resistance (I’ve used that twice and still don’t know how to spell it) is that not only does it look fabulous, but it’s educational!

It’s called Chart of London City, comes in white and grey and is £60per sq/m (bargain!) from www.surfaceview.co.uk  - which btw, is pretty stonking for all kinds of  surface coverings and I’m not allowed to look at in full until I’m a millionaire.  I mean HOLY COW have you seen what they can do on Formica??

Oh to be minted/not worry about credit-card bills...

THE BATHROOM

The other thing we've done so far is the bathroom.

Remember how the bathroom was a delightful mushroom with mushroom taps and a mushroom bath with a baggy panel that never quite fitted back and always gaped open a little.  The taps had had some kind of hardcore cleaning product on them at some point and so always looked tarnished.

There was also that utterly pointless shelf on which we had balanced the beige plastic cabinet which had fallen off the wall about a year before.  That cabinet was an organisers wet dream: I have never seen so many different sized shelves and compartments - all of which were moveable so you could Create Your Own interior depending on how you felt that day. All in dark brown plastic.

Sadly, I never thought to take a photo.

The loo roll holder matched with a pointless brown plastic flap over the toilet roll (because no-one wants a dusty roll?).  The flap broke just after we moved in and always sat on a squiff and made roll changing awkward.  

It was also dotted with mirrors and an overwhelming number of towel rails.  If you think too hard about that it hurts.

And it was entirely ENTIRELY tiled in beige with pink flowers.  And a wood-effect lino with careless paint splatters from the previous owners.

How did we last so long with that bathroom?!

So, this is before (avec the Lovely RB):

And this is how the landing looked.  Oh GOD I remember this ...

With the renovation, we did the following:

1. Removed that pointless shelf

2. Gave a foot on the left to the built-in cupboards in our bedroom.

3. Replaced the entire suite, installed a roll-top and moved the shower to the other end

4. Installed solid-wood flooring

5. Installed a heated towel rail and removed the radiator.
6. Rehung the door.

7. Painted it.

And this is it now ...  I'm sorry the pictures are a bit shit. I really don't know why they are.  I blame the tools. (Note the lovely grey wall of the hallway - I LOVED that.  It's gone now as I did it over the wallpaper, but it WILL be replaced. Note too the amount of orange-brown wood that remains and and that LOVELY pink carpet. It's still there ...)

Anyway:

Paint is Cornforth White (F&B) - it looks really dark in this one, but it's a gorgeous mid-grey.  Mirror runs full length of the wall and was a bargain from Ikea.  See my lovely Homebase drama queen lights?  This time it's a FOURSOME :)

White heated towel rail.  I would've preferred chrome but white gives out more heat apparently.  Oh, and that towel rail above it? Most expensive thing in the world.

Same shower as in our ensuite - I think we got the last at the bargain price. Tiles are matt white metro tiles from Tons of Tiles with a mid-grey grout.  We spent days agonising over that grout but we made the right choice. We're really pleased with them.

In short, you come into our house, see something stuck in some kind of weird time limbo, go to the loo and are like --- have I gone through a rabbit hole to 2012?  Which is EXACTLY the aim, especially when my mum comes to visit. Confusing my mum's fun.