be our guest: guest bathroom...

our first house guest is coming soon, so it was high time to start decorating the guest bath. The last thing I want is our first visitor to be greeted by a naked bath. but where to start? what colors? what is the mood I want to create?

This is what our guest bath looked like when we moved in:

A true blank slate. Builder-grade neutral paint on the walls, cream marble counters, cream shower tiles. The floor was the only place that had a bit of color with gray "swishes" in the tile. 

The ceiling in the bathroom is pretty high, so instead of a traditional shower curtain, I went with a trick my mom taught me... use a regular fabric curtain. They come in longer lengths and give you a bigger selection of colors and patterns. 

As soon as I saw this, it inspired the whole space. A calm, spa-like atmosphere. I really wanted to make deep blue work in the space but couldn't find a curtain I liked. Now I'm glad I didn't because I am in LOVE with this curtain. The color isn't translating in this picture. For some reason, all of these pictures are coming out reddish. 

Since I used a standard curtain instead of a shower curtain, it is more sheer, so the liner was extra important. I found a light gray fabric liner that was a perfect match. 

But the curtain was 94" and the liner was 72" – so what's a girl to do? Never fear, another trick I learned from my mom... two shower rods. 

I hung the curtain higher and on the outside of the tub, while the liner rod was hung lower and inside the shower area. The result....

Beautiful! 

Now on to the bare counter. I found some very complimentary accessories in the exact same shade of gray. They have great lines and the texture is very "stone-like." Yeah, that's the technical design term. 

I also found some pretty, pretty hand towels that will NEVER be used by the occupants of the house. Aaahhhhh, show towels. The distant cousin of show pillows.

But my favorite part of the bathroom are the beautiful glass containers. They really give it a sophisticated, spa-like quality. 

I always feel that the decorations in both your kitchen and bathroom should be functional. So I headed to Home Goods and found these beauties in the glassware section. I literally spent 20 minutes trying out different configurations in the aisle. They are such a great alternative to those squatty jars you find in the Bath section of the store. 

To create the reed diffuser, I put a cylinder vase inside the larger glass canister, filled it with oil and cut down the reeds to fit. Since it has a lid, it keeps the scent from being too overwhelming. 

Since everything was so neutral, I wanted to add in a pop of color. Enter this faux orchid from Target. 

Again, the color isn't translating. It is a rich purpley-pink-fuscia hue. 

I love the finished look. It feels so warm and relaxing. 

You can see a little peek in the reflection of how the curtain works with the rest of the room. 

Ready for visitors!