A heavenly bathroom

I received an email this morning that totally made my day. Here's what Dylan wrote: "I just wanted to write as a local Ottawan and say that I am a big fan of your blog and follow it daily. If you're interested, I've attached a couple of pics of my bathroom that we completed last year. I'm a future designer (currently in school) and this is my first real project. It is in keeping with the style that your blog seems to feature (neo-baroque?). Anyhow, thanks for posting so many amazing pics! Its nice to see good design does exist in Ottawa!" This renovated bathroom is straight out of my dreams. And since I have 2 totally awful bathrooms to redo eventually, I think I'll be looking Dylan up for some advice and sources. Be still my heart. (Dylan, you've got an amazing career ahead of you).

Bathroom lighting dilemma

Ian wrote us last week with a request for some ideas for this bathroom: "I'm trying to get my bathroom lighting sorted and I've decided against harsh overhead lighting with the plan of having the mirror lit either side instead which is a much more flattering light. However, I've looked everywhere and can find barely any ideas! I was thinking of a couple of Glo-balls coming out of the mirror, or recessed lighting, or a pair of Tolomeo lights coming out of the wall etc. Anything other than a horrid downlighter above my head! I wondered if you may be able to help me and post some much needed inspiration on your site?"

I went through my photos of bathrooms and selected some that hopefully give Ian some ideas. I personally think 2 glo-ball-like lights hanging on either side or wall-mounted Tolomeos would look fantastic. (I've got Tolomeos on either side of my range and I LUV them!). Examples of these and others are below.

Cossman_de Bruyn	Ami Mckay
Dolly Howarth	IFI
Location Works	Kate Hume
House Beautiful	mlk studio
Better Homes and Gardens	Jeff Andrews

Elle Deco

Cecconi Simone

Philippe Starck

Kenneth Brown

Lundberg Design

Aero Studios

John Lum Architecture

Napanee Design

Architeam

Pup in a tub and a carboard chair

This is somewhat of a random post but today I received lots of interesting emails while I was at my day job, and a couple I thought I'd quickly post about.

The first blew me away, as I am a sucker for animals as many of you know and this photo is priceless. Donna of Nashville wrote: "Your beautiful pics have inspired me in my home. Here is a pic of my sweet Eloise in a tub. I like to think that our bathroom is the color of the horizon before sunrise, that light grey-purple of dawn." Sorry Donna but I'm having a hard time focusing on the bathroom when you've got the most adorable puppy ever sitting in the tub! (Thank you for sending this photo!!)

Now, nowhere near as cute as the puppy is a chair that both my boyfriend and my sister's fiance emailed me about. It's the sexiest cardboard chair I've ever seen, inspired by a Volvo C30 taillight. (As much as I'd love something like this in my home, it would immediately become a scratching post). Thanks Jeff and Dave!

via Jalopnik

OMG ...

... what were they thinking? A study in the bathroom? Forget the idea of a parents' retreat, even a phone by the toilet or a TV above the bath. Is this taking it a bit far? The only person I know how corresponded from the bathroom met a sticky (or should that be soggy) end. I'll be back with more retro bathing beauties from Making the most of Bedrooms & Bathrooms, by Mary Gilliatt, Orbis Publishing, London, 1983 later in the week.

My favourite bathrooms of '08

I will be posting over the next few days my favourite photos of the year, by room type. The bathrooms from this year (and by this year I mean that I've saved on Flickr after Jan 1 '08) that have inspired me are below.

Reasons I love these: old world beauty, most amazing tiles EVER, fun wallpaper, sleek and simple, copper tub (OMG), mosaic tiles, glamourous, quirky in white, insane view, dramatic, earthy, oversized artwork, dark and moody, bold colour...

Twig Hutchinson

Sunset

Jessica Klewicki

Bo Bedre

Canadian House & Home

Canadian House & Home

Jessica Lagrange

Light Locations

Mai-Linh

Hanne Vind

Walker-Warner Architects

Light Locations

Kristian Septimius Krogh

Jennifer Cawley