I’m working on changing my apartment. I’m trying to get it to the point where all of the things that I own are things that I truly love. That means getting rid of all of the secondhand junk and things that I’ve outgrown and replacing it with truly lovable stuff. I’m not planning to spend tons of money or to make huge dramatic changes. I’m just tweaking things here and there to create a space that really means something to me.

Most of the house is a mess while it undergoes these changes. However, I’ve finally gotten to the point where at least one room in my apartment is filled with things I love. It’s my bathroom. Hey, you have to start somewhere right.

Ten things I love in my bathroom are:

1. My flower girl vase. You’ve seen it pictured here before. I found it a thrift store in Ohio last year and totally love it. It’s an old Gibson girl vase that I keep fresh flowers in on the sink in the bathroom.
2. Vintage mouthwash bottle. I just added this to the sink’s countertop as well. It’s silly but I hated the big Listerine bottle that doesn’t fit quite right in the medicine cabinet. My new vintage mouthwash holder is small and cute.
3. Pretty soap dispenser. For the first three years that I lived here, I used throw-away plastic dispensers from the store. Now I have a pretty grey-and-white soap dispenser that’s so much nicerh.
4. Lips shower curtain. I have a totally flirty, fun shower curtain. See it in the picture of my bathroom shown above.
5. Pin-up girl towels. I love the new towels that from Sin in Linen that I bought. They’re grey with pinup girls on them. Pricey for towels but totally worth it since I love them so very much.
6. Pin-up girl pictures. Sticking to a theme here, I have a few cheap framed pinup girl photos in the bathroom as well. They were one of the first things I changed to make the bathroom more lovable.
7. Bathmat and toilet seat cover. They’re a pretty purple pink color that matches the shower curtain. I do wish the bathmat was bigger and more comfy than it is though.
8. Sugar body scrub. I don’t use fancy soaps but I found this sugar body scrub from Trader Joe’s that smells like tangerine and I adore it.
9. Space heater. I like to use a space heater to keep warm when I get out of the shower.
10. Bathrobe. And I like to cuddle up in a big warm black bathrobe when I leave this room so it hangs right on the door at all times.

Tags: bathroom, decor, home, house, kathryn vercillo

This photo was taken last month at a place where I went hiking. Those two little structures are the bathrooms that are located at the head of the hiking trail. They’re different from what you usually see aren’t they?

Tags: bathroom, hiking, kathryn vercillo, outhouse, Photos, pictures, smartchick, trailhead

One of the places where I publish my writing is Houzz.com. This is a site that is loaded with great photos related to home design. I like to put together ideabooks there where I compile photos around a specific design subject and write about my thoughts on them. Recently one of the articles I did there was about bathroom sinks that are shaped like bowls. These are also called vessel sinks.

There are quite a few different designs for these types of sinks. However, the style that I like best is the style shown in the picture on this post. The sink actually looks like a ceramic bowl which is simply sitting on the counter. Some of the reasons that I’m drawn to this style of sink include:

• Natural design. I find the ceramic or clay pot feel of these sinks to really evoke a natural feeling. I like bathrooms that feel like a spa and I think this is conducive to that kind of earthy relaxed feeling.
• Small shape. Every bathroom I’ve ever had was small so I appreciate sinks, tubs and toilets that don’t take up a lot of room in the bathroom.
• Easier to decorate around. I think that these designs lend themselves to decorating with neat soap dispensers and vases which is something I like to have in my bathroom.
• Unique but not odd. I think these bowls have a really unique shape that differs from the standard sink. However, they’re common enough not to be too weird.

I’m really drawn to these types of sinks and plan to look at more of them to see if there’s a particular style or brand that I like best.

Tags: bathroom, bowl sinks, home, houzz, kathryn vercillo, sink shaped like bowl, vessel sink