Bathroom Inspiration

We may not live in our house forever.  It makes me sad to think about, but it's true.  This is our first house, and how often do people only live in one house?  But I'll tell you, if there was a house that I could live in forever, this is it.  There's just a lot of room to grow and expand.  Not a lot of land, which is my only real complaint.

This is all to say that when we take on projects, we have to consider the re-sale appeal of it, and we try to prioritize things in terms of what a buyer would want in a house.  Kitchen and Baths are thereby very high on our big project priority list, after exterior paint, gutters (finished) and total electric overhaul.

To that end we want to keep things moderately authentic and Victorian looking.  For the downstairs bathroom, we're thinking about white and wood...
Here's what we've got:

I would love to keep the mirror-- we think it's original. 

This clearly needs to be a clawfoot tub

So there we are.  (sorry the seat is up, in general I object to photos of the commode with the seat up, but it's the only one I have :) 

Here are some pictures from my Victorian bathroom inspiration files
Exhibit A:

via

Love: 

• the white and wood
• the white hex floor tiles
• the stove
• the basin sink
• the pitcher and basin
• the chair and stools
• the towelrack

Could do without:

• the floral tile trim

Exhibit B:

via

Love:

• the floors
• the TUB
• the light

Obviously, this being an ad for the fixtures, it is a bit sparse. 

GORGEOUS, one of a kind, and a mere $4,300

BUT has inspired me to look for an antique sewing table that we could turn into a basin sink.  Something like:

this

or

this

And to add a basin sink to it.  Can you imagine?  GORGEOUS.  (plus it says singer, and that's what we do... :)  In fact, here's one identical to the one above in Livonia that we might just pick up.  Then, we'll just add one of these:

 

Oh how I would love that.  

While researching tile and the floor I found a wonderful site called Subwaytile.com 

"The Subway Ceramics collection of historically-accurate, glazed ceramic tile is fabricated with the dry-press method to produce a flat, precise and tightly set tile installation, the distinguishing characteristics of Victorian-era tilework"

This method of production was apparently discontinued during the depression.  And so we have subway tile on the wall and hex tile on the floor as a very appealing option.

Next up: A mood board for the upstairs half bath in the Master Bedroom, and for the downstairs bath (pictured above)