The world is my oyster ....

One thing the contractor explained to me is that I can’t put a slipper tub up against the wall. If a tub is designed to be freestanding, it must clear the wall, and you have to curtain the wall side as well or you’ll have water problems.

So much for that idea. It’s freeing, in a way, because now the bathroom style doesn’t have to be retro. It can be modern – or mod, which is retro in a different way.

I’ll choose the tub purely on parameters: as narrow (<30”) yet deep (water level to the overflow) as can be had. It will be more or less traditional and boxy, with a straight edge on the long exposed side (all of the tubs designed to go against a wall I’ve seen so far do), so I can have a shower door. I’m mighty tempted to use a glass door that folds away like an accordion – it would make the room much less cluttered than either a traditional door or a curtain – but I’d still need some space for it to fold into (must check the specs) and it’s pricy.

Here’s one concept for the bathroom:

Brown emperador marble mosaic on the floor.

These are mini-bricks, 1/2 inch x 1 inch; they come on a backing sheet. The cool thing about this marble is that it’s so brown-and-white streaky, like white and milk and dark chocolate ice cream swirled together. I ordered a sample, and every little brick is different. It makes for a nice visual texture – and as for the tactile texture, it’s shiny but with enough grout to give traction. (Coffee grout or pearl grout?)

Second choice, ming green hexes on the floor.

Hexes are traditional for prewar bathrooms (though not green marble hexes). They’d give it a lighter, serener, more spa-like look. But I’m probably using green and blue tones in the kitchen.

Mother of pearl glass tiles on the wall. I’ve tried for better pictures:

It comes in both a 1/2 inch x 1 inch mini-brick pattern and a 1 inch square pattern. (At least I’m pretty sure those are the same tile; I’m ordering a sample of the mini-brick to be sure.) I’m tiling to the ceiling, and the contrast can be subtle – squares on the bottom and bricks on top, or squares by the sink and toilet and bricks by the tub and wall-opposite-the-sink …

And then there’s the ceiling. The contractor pointed out that, though he certainly could tile the bathroom ceiling for me, it would be a waste of money if my upstairs neighbors ever had water problems that affected the ceiling again. The ceiling is suspiciously lumpy as it is, and the hallway outside the bathroom has damage on the floor and had a gaping hole in the ceiling when I first saw the apartment. I have no idea how long ago that damage happened, why it happened, or whether the problem is permanently fixed (though there’s been no sign of trouble in the five months since I made my bid).

That’s a reason to put a ceiling fixture in. (I want to put a hard-wired lighted vanity mirror over the sink rather than a medicine chest – like so –

 
and I’ll need another light, either a sconce on the wall or a ceiling fixture; the right ceiling fixture might cast shadows that detract from the imperfect ceiling. Since there’s no wiring yet for either, I get to pick.)

What about a wood molding where the tile meets the uneven ceiling? Something ornate and Asiatic, maybe. Wood is trendy in bathrooms now (though I’m not sure how practical is – maybe okay up by the ceiling, if you choose the right variety of wood?). But that would make it more spa than mod – and I was saving the chinoiserie theme for the dining nook.

I really like this sink.

It’s not expensive (in fact it’s all over Home Depot) but it’s got something that only a few other (very expensive) pedestal sinks have: an integrated towel bar. When you have no wall space, putting a little towel under the sink is brilliant. Unfortunately it’s 24” wide, a little wider than I’d prefer. Also, a friend of mine has the same sink in his bath, and he says that the design of the towel bar is defective: the screws holding it up are anchored only in plastic expanders, they have no nuts on the other side, so the bar sags after a while. The guy in Home Depot thinks that there’s a hollow space behind the sink so that you could reach in and put nuts before you installed it. We’ll see.

 I love this faucet

but I'm afraid it may be a little too big for my sink (and my budget).

As for the toilet - it's a flushometer now, and the unit I saw for sale left it that way (but replaced the pedestrian flushometer hardware and bowl with stylish Toto stuff). The suburbanites among you may be saying "whaaaa ...?" right now. Flushometer means there's no tank, just a metal pipe behind the bowl and a handle for flushing; the water comes out at high pressure while you hold the handle. Like the toilets in schools and train stations. Prewar buildings also often have flushometer toilets, and some buildings don't let you switch to a tank. Dunno what my building's policy is, but even if I have the option, I might go flushometer again. It saves a couple of inches, and it goes with the character of the building. What do you think? Too horrifying, or suitably pre-war?