The Princess Bathroom 

Let me tell you about the Princess Bathroom. Not only did we nickname it the first time we saw the house, but it has been the butt of all jokes about the house, and no contractor (no matter what their business), has gone away WITHOUT viewing it and sharing a few giggles.

It has held many surprises…

As previously reported, we found the missing septic tank under the Royal Highness’ jetted tub! We can just imagine her in a tub full of bubbles, with lit candles reflecting in the mirrors, statues of Adonis in the recessed wall niches, and a cool glass of champagne…reclining on top of the shit cistern!!! Oh, what a lot of amusement we had over this, knowing the seller!!!

Okay, enough with being mean.

Did I mention that we ‘found’ a window in the shower? On the outside of the house, we stopped one time and said, “Hey, where’s that window go to?” Went inside and it didn’t exist. Finally figured out that they covered it up from the inside with the Princess remodel. Decided it would be nice to have the window back, so had the guys dig it out. Except when we got in there, we discovered the ceiling was covering up the top of the window, so the false ceiling had to go, no problem. Well, when they tore the ceiling out, the Princess Arch came crashing down! Made of solid plaster — that bastard was heavy!

The Princess Arch. D.O.A.

I designed the new bathroom around the existing configuration to save time and money and now, here I was, with a totally blank slate. The floors had all been torn up, the walls all stripped, with just an entry door and two windows to ‘guide’ me. Except the plumbing trenches had already been dug for the waste and water lines, so I guess I didn’t have as many options as I for a moment thought. Of course, Ms. Designer Me thought, ohhh, if I would have known all this was going to happen, I could have truly designed a “dream” bathroom…for Princess Cindy!!! Then back to earth, I decided this would still be a wonderful master bath for Mr. T and me.

Let me take you on a little tour:

The green marble Princess Bathroom, as purchased.
Note the tiny disco lights dancing around the tray ceiling.

Can you imagine slipping on that marble coming out of a bubbly jacuzzi?

The vanity. Not bad for most, but it’s gotta go!

The royal loo and bidet. Funny, they were interestingly shaped, so put them on a site for sale. Had a lady buy them and when she came to pick them up, we discovered they were plastic! The whole thing. Plastic! We laughed until we cried!!! Needless to say, she didn’t take them…

We are not bath-takers, we are shower-lovers. So we immediately knew the tub would go, the marble would go, along with all the Princess accoutrements. I was willing to work with the arch and ceiling details and proceeded with a plan to tone them down and make the design more “us.”

The shower before the ceiling was removed.

The shower after the ceiling was removed. And the arch crashed down.

And there’s the damned window that started all this drama! (And a good look at the lid to the fosse!)

So, now I will get the toilet centered under the big window, we’ll have an enormous Italian walk-in shower, we’ve picked out stone at the quarry for the floors and walls, and I’m having a magnificent vanity custom-built just for us. I’ve sourced twin mirrors and have picked out the wall lights for the vanity. Planning to hang a large crystal chandelier we brought from Theo’s parent’s house in Germany in the center of the tray ceiling for just a little preservation of ‘princess.’