Baby steps in the bathroom

It took me a little while, but I did finally make some more progress - admittedly small - on the bathroom this week.  The first thing I did was give the tub a total scrubbing while I had everything taken down.  I thought about taking before and after pictures to show you the dramatic difference, but in the end decided the potential for embarrassment outweighed the usefulness of posting such pictures.  It's not that I haven't ever cleaned it, but I don't think the periodic cleanings I have done were as intense as this one.  So long story short, it's super-clean, and I burned a few calories while cleaning!

After doing this, I made a trip to IKEA to scout out new furnishings for the bathroom.  I specifically wanted to leave with a shower curtain rod, a cheap shower curtain, and some rings, and this I pulled off.  I also wanted to go to just see what other hardware or bathroom storage options they had, in case there was something cute and cheap, and this part was a little less successful.  There was cute stuff, but it just felt a little too...Scandinavian...for this room.  Kind of cold, when I'm looking for something with a little more personality.  [Racial.]

So I ended up spending around $20 to get the curtain rod, curtain and rings.

I see this as kind of a temporary solution.  While it's not the most amazing thing I've ever seen, it actually does look better than this picture shows.  The shower curtain is white, but somehow in this picture it looks like ecru or something.  At any rate, I just needed to get something cheap up so I could start using the shower again, but this could be a step in the right direction.  Much improved from this, right?

If nothing else, see how the shower curtain in the old room used to be way too long?  It was because the shower curtain rod was set up too low, so the curtain brushed the ground and got all gunked up on the bottom.  So I've fixed that in the new set-up.

I've also been thinking about what I want the room to eventually look like, and have been shopping for mirrors.  I see the mirror as the starting place, because I'd like it to be a big piece of art in the room, not just a utilitarian hotel-style mirror like the old one.  Depending on the mirror I choose, I think it could have a big effect on what the rest of the hardware in the room looks like.  Generally, though, I'm still thinking I'd like it to be kind of "nature-y" and green.  Because there's no windows in there, I can't actually put plants in the room, but I'm trying to figure out a way to imitate that feeling.  I have these dark brown rattan cup and toothbrush holders, so you can kind of see what a dark brown and green color scheme would look like in there.

Along those lines, here's a mirror I especially liked from Pottery Barn.

I found it yesterday, and was THIS CLOSE to buying it because it was on sale and I thought it fit the vibe of the room that I was trying to create, but decided it was prudent to give it a day to think about it.  False!  Apparently waiting 24 hours was too long, because today I went to look at it again and it's sold out.  Boooooooooooooo.  So now I'm back to square one.

Besides shopping for a mirror, the other thing I will be focusing on is replacing the coat hook that was on the far wall behind the door.  I finally got my hands on a tool to get the old hardware screws out, so I started repairing the holes in the wall, and will need to figure out what to do in that space next.  Stay tuned!