Many people don't believe me when I say that for the good part of my early life I lived deep in the woods, with no phone, no lights and a small yellow T.V. that ran off of a car battery. Basically a Thoreau like existence The small cottage that we all lived in was homey and simple and was warmed in the winter with the heat from the stone fireplace. We of course had a bathroom in the house ....small, with gas burning camp lanterns and cold water only. With five of us in the house, one of us was often jetting across the yard to make our way to the outhouse, which served as our second loo. We bathed in the evening in a tin tub that was given privacy by a towel draped over the chairs. My mother would heat clam kettles filled with water on the gas stove and fill the tub for us to play and bathe in. Our time in would be based on how long it took the tea kettle to warm, so it could be poured over our heads to rinse the shampoo.
My mother would haul the tub out of the back of the house, dump it and start the whole process again. She is a hell of a woman and I give her immense credit for the Laura Ingalls Wilder life that I am sure that she never imagined or dreamed of. Like the rest of us, she too, made the best of it and learned to cherish and hold dear of those early years of our family.
As I have gotten older, of course I have gotten used to the creature comforts of life. Last night, after three years of work, I finally got the bathroom of my dreams finished. I am happy that I can use my creativity and good taste to cull and pick for my own interior design. I don't have the budgets of my clients, yet I want like anyone else to have beautiful things. I am willing to stop at road sides, barter, save, beg or borrow to find just the perfect things for my own home.....and yes, I too go to the likes of Target for accessories. I can hardly believe that I found the exact shower curtains that I had in my head done in a beautiful linen. The cost of two of them was a fraction of what a clear glass door would have cost. I always use two, drawn like drapes for a more sumptuous feel.
When I sit in my oversized tub, I am 6ft5 after all, I think and then I think some more. More often than not is about how lucky I am to have such consistency in the cast of charachters that have become the story of my life. My tin tub hangs outside my office and I think of my days growing up in the woods of Rochester every time I see it, or hear it banging against the wall in stormy weather, as it is doing now.
I want to take a minute to thank my best friends Tena and Jill at Kitchen and Bath Details for their help in this bathroom design. The cabinets, the loo and the accessories and hardware in shiny nickel are just perfect. I could certainly not ask for anything more. You both are like sisters to me, always there in your own special ways ready to share a laugh, I just love you both.
And of course, to my hysterical best friend David Mikina for artisan craftiness and meticulous attention to detail. You are always there when I need you ready with a glass of wine and a good laugh. I told you the first time that I met you, that you and I would be best friends for life. Doesn't it just kill you that I was right?
