We've shared some ideas on how to improve them before, but the bathroom really should be as pretty as your French bedroom - here's how...
1 Provencal Antique White Baby Showcase: £690. 2 Stag Head: from £40. 3 Romeo & Juliet Grey Carved Shelf: £60. 4 King Edison Pendant Lamp: £480. 5 Arthouse Tall Shelf in White: £145
Rather than stashing them away, squeezing them up onto a single airing cupboard shelf or into a blanket box at the end of your French bed (which you'd rather use just for your freshly-pressed bed linen actually), dedicate some bathroom space to a French showcase unit of shelves or armoire for your sets of neatly folded towels. If you're bored of the straight lines and equally straight and practical accessories in your bathroom, look at it in the same way you would look at your French bedroom. Take a piece of white painted furniture or elaborate accessory - whether it's a little decoratively-carved shelf for pretty cut glass jars of bath salts (who needs to know they're a supermarket brand once they're on display in a jar!) or a change from the usual functional glass and chrome light fitting like our King Edison Pendant Lamp (above) which is perfect for a bathroom, with the oversized lightbulb containing the mini chandelier and its bulbs*. If you're lucky enough to have the space, a stunning white dressing table and dainty dressing stool will extend your bedroom into your bathroom even further and create a pampering space to-die-for.
"The New Apartment Bathroom" post, Door Sixteen
We're big fans of the fabulous Anna Dorfman’s Door Sixteen blog. Her distinctive sense of style is gorgeous - graphic prints, design classics, contrasting colours (often greys, blacks and then crisp whites) with a hint of natural in the form of linens, plants, etc. Her apartment bathroom transformation above has been achieved with barely any decor changes, simply the addition of some clever purchases (for example a new statement shower curtain - try H&M - they have some very cute ruffled designs at the moment) and smart revamps (an Ikea chest of drawers painted in a handsome slate grey for example doubles up as storage and an extra surface). Personal and non-functional details such as plants and meaningful collected objects are gathered on a tray, and artwork is hung above the loo.
Toscana Scented Candle, by Vigneto E Castello, Firenze: £22. Heritage Black Sea Mud & Seaweed Milled Soap: £7; Heritage Almond Milk & Honey Milled Soap: £7, both Crabtree & Evelyn.
To compliment the French style furniture or accessories in your bathroom, you have to have a good supply of beautifully packaged and deliciously scented soaps at the ready for your French shabby chic ceramic soap dish! Crabtree & Evelyn's current selection of soaps should do the trick we say. And a welcoming bathroom should always have a flickering candle burning in it (but don't leave unattended of course!) - our Toscana Scented Candle, by Vigneto E Castello, Firenze with its subtle vine tomato and fresh basil leaf notes will remind you of Summer holidays in Italy in your little paradise of a bathroom in England.
* Always consult a qualified electrician when hanging a chandelier in your bathroom.
Author: Georgia Metcalfe, Managing Director, The French Bedroom Company
