Bathroom Bling

In honor of Karly's solid gold bathroom, may it rest in peace, I present to you an array of scintillating bathroom selections, a panoply of golden goodness, a display of diamond encrusted denizens so fine and blinding you may need sunglasses lest your retinas pay the ultimate price. Although, honestly, I'd rather my retinas than my wallet pay for this:

Yes, the diamond encrusted toilet from designer Jemal Wright goes for the low low price of $75,000. Yet, despite its obvious glamor, I don't really know that I need my latrine to be encrusted... it sounds unsanitary.

Let's face it. In today's world of luxury and commodity, hygiene is commonplace. We've really got to elevate the bathroom into a space worthy of our capitalist desires. Enter Lam Sai-Wing, Hong Kong jewelry mogul, and his palatial estate replete with a 24-karat solid gold bathroom:

Apparently he recently started melting it down and selling it off because the global economy is, quite frankly, crap, and now gold is crazy valuable. Thus his golden sink is worth a goose or two. But he says he's keeping the toilet no matter what, and I can't really blame him. It seems warm and oh so soft when compared to cold hard porcelain. Do you think they make gold potty paint? Can you imagine what my dear hunny bunny would say about that?

I bet he would like these diamond encrusted faucets; he's such a sucker for gadgets. No, a toilet does not qualify as a gadget.

Maybe it's just the marketing and slick photography, but I can totally envision these gleaming white gold faucets in my house. You know, right next to the mountain of diamonds I keep on my bathroom sink. Oh wait, this line of bathroom accessories is "strictly for those with the taste and means to enjoy such an exclusive pleasure." Guess I'll just take my bucket of lime and head to the outhouse -- but not without my roll of colored toilet paper from Spanish supercompany Renova. It's only four times as expensive as regular old Charmin, but it comes in always stylish black.

Ahhhhh, that should leave me feeling fresh as a daisy, maybe even singing in the rain Fred Astaire-style like my favorite buddy Miles Redd in his most amazing mirrored bathroom, which was featured in Avenue Magazine:

Now that is the bathroom I want! But is the top hat included?

counter productive

My dear sweet ma is in town for the next few days, as we're both about to embark on insane kitchen renovations our mission #1 is to look at every single countertop for sale in austin.  First stop, our local paperstone dealer, vintage material supply. Paperstone promises to save the world with their 100% post consumer waste paper counters.  Made from layer upon layer of recycled paper and resin, the counters come in tons of colors and can stand up to 350 degrees. I hear they're not to pricey either, which is always my siren song.

Lame short post today, but here are pics of my (hopefully) new counters

does anyone out there have any other awesome countertop suggestions?  (note, you'll be banned from this blog if you recommend granite) what about dealers in austin?  I'd love to cruise through some new show rooms.

Express Yourself

Sorry for the short posts of late, but I've been super busy with house guests and birthdays. In other words, I've been having a little bit way too much fun... I do love summer! Anyway, I know I'm behind the curve here, but I am completely obsessed with Mad Men. If you haven't seen it yet, well, watch it not only for the great acting and story lines, but also for the AMAZING set decor. It takes place at an advertising agency in 1960, so all the furniture is sleek Knoll and Herman Miller, Saarinen tulip chairs and Stiffel lamps, walls are covered in walnut paneling and grasscloth, all with punches of lime and red to lend character to the neutral furnishings. This isn't the best picture, but I think you can see what I mean:

The paintings in particular caught my eye, mostly because I am searching for the perfect something to fill a blank space on my wall. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I want an abstract expressionist painting for the wall behind my sofa... I really hope my old art profs are covering their eyes, because matching art to your furniture is so very naughty.

Nevertheless, Ebay tempts me to decorate away with their wide selection of vintage abstract paintings:

Clockwise from top left: J. Van de Bogert, Nicola Naimo, Andre J. Grill, W. Nolte.

Although I had to hunt through pages and pages of paintings that said they were abstract but weren't (hello, people, a painting of driftwood and flowers is representational), I did manage to find quite a few gems. Of the paintings above, I really think the black and white is the best of the bunch, followed by the one with the white background.

Here are some more goodies by Bela de Kristo and I. Zevon:

I think lefty is more versatile, but with the right wall color that purple background could look fantastic. Really, though, I like both of these, but with starting bids at $450 they're too too rich for my poor poor blood.

These paintings by Martin Pearce and an unknown artist have earthy undertones that would work well against a pale aqua wall... which I no longer have.

I'm considering this 50's painting by Josef Jose but it's so hard to tell what the colors will read as in real life, and I suppose this is part of the danger of decorating with art. If you buy something because it's amazing and it speaks to you, then you'll always find a place for it. If you buy a piece to coordinate with something, then you run the same risks of color trauma that you do with ordinary fabrics, rugs and patterns.

Hey painting, if you want to live with me you better start talking.