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Bathroom Styling
by Kimberly Lawn
Prolonged gazing into one’s bathroom mirror used to be
considered quite a vice. For vanity, it is said, is the
step-sister of pride. With nothing more to the bathrooms of
yesteryear than a sink, toilet, and mirror, we were offered
little choice about where our focus should fall once through
the bathroom door. And while Narcissus brought his own demise
through excessive "self-reflection," we can probably be
forgiven for rendering the bathroom mirror as our observation
point of choice.
The Afterthought
After all, the bathroom used to be the afterthought of home
building and design. Bathroom design kept to the basics: A
toilet, sink-cabinet combo, and perhaps some tile. Add some
color matching, a couple of wall hangings, and of course, the
mirror, and voila: your task was complete!
In hindsight, designing yesterday’s bathroom was really a
simple and efficient process. In hindsight, creating such a
bathroom was magnificently uninspiring, unimaginative, and
dull.
With limited choices, and prohibitive pricing, vanities of
distinction rarely entered the equation for a homeowner without
a numeral at the end of their name. Even for those with
limitless means, such a task usually involved finding the right
piece of furniture in the appropriate size before hiring a
carpenter (to cut a hole into the top) and a plumber (to
retrofit a sink and plumbing). It required resourcefulness,
planning, lots of time, and even more cash.
The Fine Furniture Revolution
The rethinking of bathroom designs came with the increasing
availability of reasonably-priced middle and high-end vanity
sink chests. With foreign imports driving down the cost and
increasing the availability of fine furniture for every room in
the home, builders and consumers began to consider investing
more design dollars in the room guests very often visit -- the
powder room. By choosing vanity styles to coincide with their
home's overall design genre, consumers have driven expansion in
the vanity/sink chest market that produced a bevy of elegant and
affordable products. Ball and Claw traditional vanities, French
Provincial style sink chests, and hand-painted and hand-carved
furniture sinks -- the vanity market has truly embraced the
realm of fine furniture. Never before have vanity choices been
so plentiful or bathroom sink design concepts so broad. It's
not the usual sink and cabinet combo anymore; it's a whole new
ball game.
A Statement Piece - A Statement Place
Forget about Narcissus, and make your vanity a virtue. Let your
vanity make a statement about you. Keep the New Yorker and
Reader’s Digest, for sure, but let your bathrooms tell more
about you than just your literary preferences. Make a gorgeous
vanity the focal point of your bath, and with a painted canvas
work of art, some carefully contemplated accessories, and
perhaps even a beautiful chandelier, allow the bathroom to
complement your taste and your commitment to design throughout
your home.
Don’t reflect too long before deciding it’s time for a
beautiful furniture vanity in your fine home. I promise you’ll
love yourself for it!
Kimberly Lawn is the founding partner of http://www.GreatRooms.net
a retailer of unique home & garden
decor and furniture.
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