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You are here: Home / STYLE / Interiors / Home tour: our new bathroom

Home tour: our new bathroom

June 9, 2015 by Molly 17 Comments

bathroom shelves

I’ve admitted before that patience isn’t my strong point, so when we recently had a brand new shower installed in the corner of our bathroom it’s perhaps no surprise that I instantly wanted to redecorate the entire room. Our bathroom is roomy and light, but I’ve never been a fan of the biscuit coloured walls and lack of tidy storage. The gleaming new shower just seemed to highlight what I didn’t like about the rest of the room so, like the truly impatient woman that I am, out came the paintbrushes as soon as the plumber packed up his things.

Bathroom storage

We were on a strict budget, having blown most of it on our lovely new shower enclosure. Luckily my parents had some leftover Slate Grey paint that they used in their own bathroom, along with some Brilliant White tile paint. We bought a big tub of Pure Brilliant White paint from B&Q and a couple of new paintbrushes and a roller. On the weekend I took the girls away to Southampton the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine set to work.

Bathroom 4

Bathroom 9

He ran out of time to do the whole thing, so I finished it off during baby nap times and in the evening the following week. As much as I wanted to be able to leave it half done until we had more time, I just couldn’t. Told you, impatient.

Our bathroom has two windows in, which accounts for all the light. Along with the main window there’s a smaller window on the wall opposite the sink. We painted this wall Slate Grey. Only half the wall is actually slate, because the rest of it is covered in white tiles. We couldn’t afford to re-do all the tiles (as much as I love a subway tile) so we kept the originals and painted over the border with white tile paint. The border used to be a mixture of biscuit, brown and cream.

Bathroom 12

Bathroom 11

Like every other family I know, our bathroom is full of kids’ toys, half-empty shampoo bottles and random packets of plasters. The lack of tidy storage was one of the things I didn’t like about our bathroom before, so finding an alternative storage arrangement was top of my list of priorities.

We put a floating shelf in high above the main window, to keep storage out of the way of tiny inquisitive fingers and to maximise the space that we have. Far from pulling light out of the room, the shelf actually bounces it back into the space and makes the bathroom feel even bigger. And it means that all the messy bathroom paraphernalia is kept out of sight, hidden away up high in these white baskets. In fact, the only storage we have on the floor is the kids’ bath toys – it means the baby can happily crawl around while I’m in the shower and I don’t need to worry about her getting hold of anything she shouldn’t have.

Bathroom 7

Bathroom 3

Bathroom 1

The white baskets were ones we reused from the old bathroom, but I also bought some new bits to keep the rest of our toiletries tidy. We stuck with a monochrome palette because we wanted the bathroom to contrast with the bright kids’ reading nook on the landing. The black and white feels grown-up, in a house that is full of bright pops of colour everywhere else.

The black and white storage bag is by Ferm Living from Pompoms Make Me Smile. I found this online shop via eBay and also bought one of our monochrome striped laundry baskets from there, by House Doctor. I ended up buying another matching laundry basket later on, which means I’m now able to instantly separate my light and dark washing – a tiny thing that saves me precious seconds when it comes to tackling our never-ending mountain of dirty clothes.

The black wire trays are from Southwood Stores – a place I discovered through Instagram. (Be warned, if you have a penchant for Scandi-inspired interiors you may struggle to stick to just the one purchase.) The numbered monochrome baskets which we’ve hung underneath the window sill are also from Southwood Stores and means our loo roll is no longer piled up pyramid style on the toilet cistern!

The final answer to my storage issues was an under-the-sink cabinet I picked up on eBay for £15. I replaced the door knobs with new monochrome ones I bought from Pushka Knobs on Not On The High Street. By having a cabinet under the sink we were able to make the most of space that was previously unused.

Bathroom 6

Bathroom 10

While the storage doubles up as accessories for the bathroom, I also indulged myself with a beautiful round mirror by House Doctor from Southwood Stores. This reflects yet more light back into the room and creates a lovely focal point.

The final bit of pretty comes from a set of floating shelves I picked up on eBay. My mum gave me some beautiful white pebbles she found on the beach at Lyme Regis recently, so I put a few in a Kilner jar and displayed these on one of the shelves alongside an empty juice bottle with a flower cutting from the garden. The glassware keeps the light moving and creates this feeling of calm in the space. I wanted to avoid busy colours but felt the white edges needed softening. These do the job nicely.

Finally, we bought a new cup and soap dispenser from John Lewis. Not something we particularly needed, but seeing as we’ve been using an empty jam jar and a kids’ plastic beaker for the past two years I felt we could splash out a bit!

Of course, nothing stays tidy for long when you have little people around….

Baby at 8 months

 

Filed Under: Interiors, STYLE Tagged With: bathroom accessories, bathroom decor, decorating bathrooms, monochrome bathroom, monochrome interiors

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Comments

  1. Gill Crawshaw says

    June 10, 2015 at 8:55 pm

    This looks fantastic, so grown up for a family bathroom! Love the Ferm Living basket and the hanging ones too x

    Reply
  2. polly says

    June 10, 2015 at 7:03 am

    love it!! It looks great xx

    Reply
  3. Laura says

    June 10, 2015 at 6:31 am

    Oh I love the storage bags – such a good idea and the geometric print. We are also in the throws of getting our bathroom organised since the bath decided to leak. Yours is so sleek and I love all the small touches

    Laura x

    Reply
  4. Jess @ Along Came Cherry says

    June 10, 2015 at 5:52 am

    AhI love it and am so jealous of your shower! We don’t have one and although I love my bath there are times when a shower would be so useful, like when I get back from the gym and want to wash quickly without running an entire bath that I’m only going to sit in for one minute! x

    Reply
  5. Lori says

    June 9, 2015 at 11:53 pm

    This looks like such a bright and calm space! I love the floating shelf and I would never have thought about adding storage above a window but it defo works! Also how good is Southwood Stores! x

    Reply
  6. Linda Ewing says

    June 9, 2015 at 7:08 pm

    I’m in love with your bathroom! everything about it is just perfect x

    Reply
    • Molly says

      June 9, 2015 at 8:04 pm

      We still need to find somewhere for the towels – but aside from that I’m very pleased with it. Thank you! x

      Reply
  7. Catherine says

    June 9, 2015 at 6:32 pm

    It looks very grown up and sophisticated. Well done Molly and NLM!!!

    Reply
    • Molly says

      June 9, 2015 at 8:05 pm

      You’ll have to come down and visit and give it a spin! x

      Reply
  8. Jodie says

    June 9, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    Oh I love your interior sense. But blimey how big does Baby Girl look now!!!!

    Reply
    • Molly says

      June 9, 2015 at 8:05 pm

      Tell me about it. She’s definitely moving onto the next baby phase!

      Reply
  9. Amanda says

    June 9, 2015 at 3:15 pm

    Looks really lovely and bright!

    We want to get rid of our navy blue tiles that were here when we moved in. They’re so dark and full especially as we have no windows at all in our bathroom.

    What was the tile paint like? I’ve heard mixed reviews about it. Would it works over lots of tiles?

    Amanda x

    Reply
    • Molly says

      June 9, 2015 at 8:07 pm

      I found the paint really good for the small area of the border that we had, but I’m not sure how effective it would be for a really big space. My mum used it for a slightly larger area and it looks great, but it’s not a huge expanse of wall. I do think it’s a great way to quickly update a bathroom if you can’t afford a whole re-tile though. x

      Reply
  10. Fritha Strickland says

    June 9, 2015 at 12:18 pm

    I love the numbered basket things! and the Ferm living storage basket too, looks really well put together! x

    Reply
    • Molly says

      June 9, 2015 at 8:07 pm

      Thanks Fritha! x

      Reply
  11. Slummy single mummy says

    June 9, 2015 at 11:20 am

    I love that floating shelf above the window – such a simple idea but it looks like it works really well. Well done to you and the Northern Love Machine!

    Reply
    • Molly says

      June 9, 2015 at 8:07 pm

      I wasn’t sure the shelf would work but I’m pleased we took the gamble!

      Reply

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Hello and welcome! I'm Molly Forbes - podcaster, presenter and blogger with a passion for positivity, confidence and body image chat. Regularly writing and vlogging about empowering female issues from a motherhood angle, I also cover lifestyle and fashion topics for like-minded mums who want to rediscover themselves after having children. Thanks for stopping by! Read More…

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Dear PE teachers (and everyone), don’t do this 💔
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If you’re a PE teacher and you’re interested in engaging more kids in class then lose the diet culture and body shaming messaging - even if it’s meant in jest. Research shows kids who feel comfortable in their body are more likely to take part in sports, and movement is for ALL bodies, not just the kids with super athletic toned ones. 
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Want more insight and help with this stuff? Sign up to a Body Happy Kids workshop - we’ve got you. Oh, and read Train Happy by @tallyrye in the meantime.
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And parents - if your kids experience this type of messaging in their school setting absolutely challenge it. We’ve got a template letter on the #FreeFromDiets website you can tweak and a downloadable info pack about the workshops you can send to your school if you’d like them to sign up. Just hit the Workshops link in my bio and scroll down towards the bottom of the page.
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Creating a body happy setting can: 
⚡️increase engagement in class 
⚡️increase engagement in movement 
⚡️increase academic attainment 
⚡️increase happiness, confidence and overall wellbeing
⚡️help kids be more likely to engage in health promoting behaviours 
(And that’s just for starters).
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PS. I’m not coming for teachers - my husband is one. BUT research shows weight bias is often more common in PE teachers than other subject areas so this is a conversation worth having. 
#BodyHappyKids
I turn 37 in three weeks. When I was younger I use I turn 37 in three weeks. When I was younger I used to think 37 was old. It was “grown-up”, boring, over-the-hill. 
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By the time you were 37 you had your life figured out, wore sensible clothes and had waved goodbye to the fun stuff. 
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It’s no surprise I thought that really. Women aged 37 and over - particularly mums - were invisible. The only representations of older women on screen were the matriarchs. Ad campaigns and magazines featured young women in their “prime” (side note: 🤮 hate that phrase - what does “prime” even mean? We’re not cuts of meat. “Prime” baby making age? Is making babies all we’re good for?!)
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There was no space for any other version of women over 35. Women over 35 weren’t playful, fun, adventurous, sexual, curious. Women over 35 were Responsible, Sensible, Dutiful.
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Well that’s not what 37 is going to look like for me. Sure I do school runs and meet deadlines and wash smelly socks. But I also play and dance and adventure and enjoy my body. I feel like I’m just getting going to be honest. 
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37 is going to be a big year. I’m excited. I’m ready. And I’m certainly not invisible. Bring it on.
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#BirthdayCountdown #MumsGoneWild
Every year @GirlGuiding publishes something called Every year @GirlGuiding publishes something called the Girls’ Attitudes Survey. It’s a big piece of research into the thoughts and feelings of the girls in their community and gives an insight into some of the things that are important to girls and young women in the UK today. 
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The early findings of the 2020 survey have been released and the headline is (surprise, surprise) girls feel under intense pressure to look a certain way and it’s damaging their confidence and wellbeing. 
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Here are some of the stats:
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⚡️80% of girls and young women have considered changing how they look. 
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⚡️51% of girls aged 7-10 believe women are judged more on what they look like than what they can do (this figure is up from 35% in 2016).
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There’s also the finding that two thirds of girls support legislation to stop them seeing ads for diet products and weight loss clubs. 
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It makes for pretty devastating reading but is worth looking at, particularly if you have a daughter - I’ll link to the early findings in my Stories and the full report will be out next month.
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These girls are telling us not only do they feel this intense pressure to look a certain way, but that it’s causing them pain. They are telling us they don’t want the pressure, the ads, the constant barrage of negativity making them feel insecure about their appearance and their body. It’s costing them their wellbeing, confidence and health. 
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It’s time to listen.
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Sign the #FreeFromDiets petition. Tell your kids’ school about the Body Happy Kids Workshop for teachers. Call out diet culture when you see it (particularly when it comes for your kids). There are more resources in my bio as well as a post on media literacy further down my grid too. It doesn’t have to be this way. 💕✨ #BodyHappyKids
My babies started Year 1 & Year 6 today and as I w My babies started Year 1 & Year 6 today and as I waved them off to school after months of being home, it got me thinking about how my relationship with their first home has changed: my body. ❤️
.
I have thin privilege but I’ve still often felt like my body was “wrong”. Why? Because like many of us I live in a society that taught me to fear fatness and idolise thinness from an early age. 
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Internalised fatphobia ran so deep that even after my body performed its most miraculous feat of my life - growing and birthing a human - I feared the softness of my belly.
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I justified the internalised fat phobia by telling myself it was about health, believing that health was a simplified concept I could control and monitor by a number on the scales. 
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And even when I started to suspect diets weren’t healthy I still failed to recognise the total system of oppression that diet culture is, how it harms so very many people including children, how it creates a culture where discriminating against people over their weight is seen as acceptable under the guise of health concern.
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I believe we will never end body-based oppression until we do the internal work too, rejecting diet culture & internalised fat phobia. Then we can challenge the health “facts” we’re sold by a multi billion £ industry, and investigate why we’re so ready to accept government diet culture infused health policy when we’re quick to question other policies.
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It starts with us showing body acceptance to our children, teaching them ALL bodies are good bodies, giving them the tools to question anyone who says otherwise. 
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This is not just about raising children at peace in their body. It’s about raising children who grow to challenge a system that harms us all, but particularly those in marginalised bodies. 
.
For me, it started with exploring my feelings about my babies’ first home. ❤️
A little story about 🩸periods🩸 and intuitive A little story about 🩸periods🩸 and intuitive movement and diet culture - here’s the headline: DIET CULTURE MESSES UP OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR BODY AND THIS HARM RUNS DEEP.
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Let me explain. 
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This was me last week. We hiked up a hill and when we got to the top the sky turned a murky shade of grey. Within seconds we were being pelted by hail and rain. It was GLORIOUS. I felt ALIVE.
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Not so this week. Because this week I got my period. And instead of relaxing into it, being gentle with myself, I battled it. I got frustrated with myself when exhaustion hit and my brain felt soupy. I tried to dig deep to find my spark, my energy, I felt guilt at missing swim sessions I’d booked. 
.
Why? Because diet culture runs deep. I examined it and realised I was feeling guilt at what I’d told myself I “should” be doing, rather than what my body *actually* needed. “No one regrets a workout! It’ll pep you up! Energise you!” Said the voice. But my body was bleeding and I was tired to my bones. I didn’t feel like it. And I felt like I was letting some invisible person down. 
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Last night I gave myself permission to be gentle. Cancelled all my swim sessions for a couple of days. Had a bath and put on my comfiest PJs. Turned off my laptop and phone, watched a film and had an early night. It’s what my body needed, and once I actually listened to it I felt so much better. 
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Embracing the seasons of my cycle and going with my natural energy levels is how I’m reclaiming my relationship with my body, I’ve decided. For me, this is the last internal bastion of rebellion against diet culture. And it’s (literally) bloody liberating 🩸⚡️💥
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#BodyHappyMum #JoyfulMovement #DevonIsHeaven #PeriodPower #WeBleed
No child comes fresh out the womb doubting their b No child comes fresh out the womb doubting their body. But, little by little, the messages come.
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Some of the messages may be from what they see online on TV and in magazines. Some of them may even come from the people who love and care for them - their friends, parents, grandparents, teachers and even doctors. Some of the messages are blatant and some are more insidious.
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It’s not hopeless though. Here are some things you can do, right now:
✨ Speak to yourself with kindness or use neutral language about your own body in front of your kids.
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✨Call out the messages when you see them - point them out and talk about what they’re promoting, and show your kids the other perspective. This is called media literacy and I’ve got a post further down my grid with lots more info on this.
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✨ Teach your kids that beauty and health don’t just look one way, and that regardless of the outside shell of our body all humans deserve respect, empathy and love - and that includes self-love. (Some mantras that I use with my kids to help drive this message home - ALL bodies are GOOD bodies 💕 It’s not your job to be pretty 💕 Your body is YOUR OWN.)
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✨ Seek out wider representation, whether that’s through books, social media accounts, positive TV shows and films, it all matters.
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✨ Set clear boundaries - if you have a family member or friend who constantly discusses diets, body shames themselves or makes comments about other people’s bodies (and maybe even your child’s) have a conversation with them about why this isn’t OK. Explain that little ears are always listening and you’re working hard to raise your kids to have a happy, healthy relationship with their body. 
.
For more resources on this check out the links in my bio ❤️
#BodyHappyKids
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[📸 My one day old daughter’s foot in my hand, taken in 2010, by @carolinepalmerphoto]
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