Three Key Words That Stop me in my Tracks - Antique - Marble - Free

While the decision to add a half bath in the basement was a bit of an afterthought.....the design for it is anything but!!!  It might be small, but I want it to be truly special.

How did this come to be?  Well it all started with a phone call in January.  My wonderful plumber was tearing an antique sink out of an old building.  The owner didn't want it.  Was I interested?  He didn't give me a lot of details, but a few things got my attention.  Antique. Marble. Free.  Ha - of course!!  

It's a good size, with a fantastic round, antique bowl.  The faucets are original brass, with the stopper in the middle. The decorative brackets that hold it up are original and give it a beautiful sense of style.   It went into the storage facility on the waitlist to get used.  And now's the time.  It will take some work to pretty it up, but it's worth it.

And this bathroom is the perfect place!!!  

So here's the design:

1) Amazing antique sink.... that takes a LOT of work to fix up

.  I've spent hours doing online searches on stain removal and weeks applying different poultices to remove them (each one has to remain for 24 -48 hours, so it's a long process to see if it works).  The basement looked like a junior chemistry lab.  My husband periodically opened the basement door and yelled 'don't blow the place up!' (I did discover if you mix rust remover and baking soda, it creates a volcano like reaction.  Yikes!).  It's still not perfect, but heck, it's an antique!  And once I polish up the antique faucets, they will be beautiful!

Lots and lots of chemical mixtures to draw the stains from the antique marble!

Once that was done, I had to strip the old painted brackets and give them a new coat of paint, to highlight the beautiful pattern on them.

2)  I LOVE wallpaper.  When we lived in Amsterdam, I went to all the home decor stores.  I saw this fantastic toothbrush wallpaper in one of them - and finally have a bathroom it will work in.  It's from a Dutch designer, Daniel Rozensztroch, with a pattern called Obsession (which pretty much says how much I like it).  It's crazy expensive, but I ordered it anyway and had it shipped to the US.

3) Lighting - We're using Restoration Hardware sconces on either side of the medicine chest.  That will wash the sink wall with light, but since this room has no windows, we also added a recessed LED fixture in the middle of the room.

4)  Medicine Cabinet - from Pottery Barn, this will provide some storage and lends some old fashioned charm.

With this wallpaper, your kids will never forget to brush their teeth!!

This is the first room we've finished and I couldn't be happier.  Isn't it a great half bath?

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