Cabana Bath.....Asian garden inspired

Inspired by a bowl of goldfish? This delightful cabana bath was a collaboration between myself and my client. In this project we found the wallpaper first. Since the bathroom leads out to the pool we wanted a it to have a touch of whimsy but also sophistication. This is also a guest bathroom so it must be totally functional as well as beautiful.

The first thing that draws your attention is the fabulous coral paper. If you look carefully you will see glass jars with goldfish. We were debating between this paper and another but when we walked into a showroom and spied the glass goldfish vessel sink....we were charmed.

The custom vanity has a simple Asian design. We removed a corner linen closet and had a linen cabinet made to compliment the vanity. A white corian top is lovely and practical too.

When you use vessel sinks there are a few things to keep in mind. Your vanity top needs to be a bit lower and the faucet a bit taller or as we have done....wall mounted. When we found the river rock tile we new it would be a terrific back splash. By wall mounting the faucet it seems like the water is flowing out of the rocks. The floor tile was another great find. The 24 x24 tiles look like grass cloth and we installed them like in an alternating basket weave pattern....like a grass mat. Fun! Speaking of grass cloth, look at the ceiling. Yes, it is grass cloth but a printed grass cloth rather than real woven grass in a vibrant green. Don't forget the ceilings, even in bathrooms.

The tile in the shower is another Asian inspired touch. We found narrow rectangular white tiles, stacked them to look like a shojii screen and accented the walls with green glass tile bordered by a wonderful tile that resembled bamboo. To complete the feel we used the river rock on the shower floor, which we found out when the guests were showering, feels like a foot massage!

One of our goals was to make the shower bigger, so we took down the wall next to the vanity and built a new "knee" wall a few inches further out. This made the shower door larger and with the wall down it opened up the shower tremendously. Our plumber moved the plumbing to the adjacent wall. It was also cost efficient to use an all inclusive shower panel that opens to reveal body sprays! More fun.

Since the back splash was high, we needed mirrors that tilted down. We discovered these, after scouring the Internet, at a local store and took them home with us. The pendant lights resembling coolie hats, the simple hardware and bamboo towel ring and accessories added more detail to enhance our Asian garden theme. My client found a wonderful table/bench to place in front of the white wainscoting that we designed to balance the large vanity. It is so pretty when guests walk in to the room and look right out to the pool through the French door.

Yes it was alot of work and quite a messy job. Don't let anyone tell you that renovation is all laughs. However it does help to keep a sense of humor, too. It was fun to work so closely with my client. We were always on the same creative page resulting in a delightful, beautiful and, if I do say so myself, stunning cabana bath, or as my client would say, "ab fab" (absolutely fabulous)!

What kind of fun have you had renovating or redesigning a guest bath?