the great shower curtain debacle
You all remember our master bath, right? You know, the one with covered with faded and dated floral wallpaper, and a dusty pink carpet was glued to the walls. YES. CARPET on the WALLS.
I like showing off the before. It’s so bad that it makes the after even better. I mean CARPET ON THE WALLS!
Here’s what it looks like today:
(As a sidenote, can I tell you how excited I was to see my lab glassware/bathroom storage on Apartment Therapy yesterday? Click here to see more rad lab-inspired designs!)
So that is all fine and dandy, but I am having some serious shower curtain issues.
A few weeks ago, we installed a permanent shower curtain rod in place of the old tension-mounted rod. We hung it high so that we wouldn’t have to drill holes in our new tiles and we purchased a new 84″ long shower curtain from Bed, Bath, and Beyond (thought I’d mention my source since these guys can be tricky to track down!). The new, higher positioning of the curtain rod makes our ceilings seem so much higher (I read that it would on one of my favorite blogs, but I didn’t really believe it until I saw it with my own two eyes!), and the cloth curtain is rad because it can be washed and reused – no more buying the stinky plastic liners every few months!
The problem is that I can’t seem to find anything to go over it. The added shower curtain length means that I will almost certainly be sewing something – but what? I’ve been searching for the *perfect* pattern/color/etc in just about any piece of cloth I can find. The only problem? I have no clue what the *perfect* pattern for this bathroom is, and the things I like inevitably get vetoed by my roommate.
I initially thought a fun black and white pattern would be swell, and was happy to rediscover a whole bunch of ikea fabric (meant to be used for another project that never got finished, of course) when cleaning my craft room. What do you think?
If I use this fabric, I will likely sew a stripe of solid color along either side of the pattern to make it wide enough to fit the space.
Is the pattern overwhelming given the pattern of the floor + wall tiles? Or is it okay? Should I go for a bigger pattern? Or maybe something with more color? Ahh! HELP! I’d love to hear what you would do if this was your bathroom…
home in the country 
I like the fabric very much, Jen! I think it is fresh and modern, just like the rest of your space!
I love it! I don’t think that it is too busy. Besides, it was already in your house! That means you would only need to buy the solid fabric, which is a plus in my book!
i love it and think it goes perfect!!
The pattern is not too busy and goes w/ the colors you already have in there!!
But it’s just my humble opinion!
Before I read your post, I saw the picture with the fabic and thought, “Where did she find that?” I think it goes perfect! The tile is mostly white so I think it fills the space in nicely.
It’s so cozy in your new bath-room)) I really like it
I have no advice for the shower curtain, but I have to say WOW! YOUR BATHROOM LOOKS AWESOME!!!!
I’d personally go for some color, but sounds like I’m in the minority on this one 🙂
I would be more inclined to use an accent color for the curtain. That one that you have will work, but it is a lot of black and white.
What “goes” with black and white? Well if you want to continue a sort of retro look, a light pink (like a poodle skirt) would work. Or you could be bolder and go for a granny smith apple green. Red always looks nice with black and white.
Those would be where I would head.
I love the material. I’m not sure I’d like a color just framing it. Do I see a blue towel? either that or the bright green sounds great and maybe you could be creative and do a window pane or crisscross pattern. It would be more work but you do some quilting and I think it would be more interesting than just framing it.
I like the idea of adding a solid color to the pattern. I LOVE the pattern – not too busy. I am w/ Yvonne~ go with red or granny smith green. You could add a panel down the sides to make it wider and one at the bottom to tie it all together.
I meant to mention, you could also use white if a color is too much for you. Or black maybe.
Thanks so much for the suggestions, guys – keep ’em coming! 🙂
just popped over from houseblogs.net…that’s one serious bathroom transformation!!!! I love it!
I like the fabric, too…if you don’t mind my asking, where’d ya get the fabric shower liner?
I think this fabric is really nice too. Target does make a nice-looking white waffle weave shower curtain in an 84″ length that I’ve been eyeing– it may be more boring than what you’re looking to do, but in case you end up not wanting to make your own, just wanted you to know it was out there (I just hopped over from younghouselove. Awesome projects!
I’m inclined to think it is too much for the small bathroom. I would consider going with a solid color. YOu have so many interesting bits in that bathroom, why draw a person’s attention away from the details. I would even consider a black curtain or skip the curtains and install a shower door, it would keep the room feeling bigger! I love the fabric, just not there…maybe in the half bath after you paint those chalkboard walls!
Love the fabric! I think a solid color at the bottom would look very nice. You could do black or white for a monochromatic look or add a little pop of color. Either way I think it would look great. I also struggled with the shower curtain decision in our bath….I bought at returned 3 (and visited every home decor store in the city) before I could settle on one. I feel your pain!
I totally love your bathroom and the fabric looks beautiful in there. Go for it!
I believe that the fabric that you have can make a really nice looking trim on a solid (let’s just use the granny smith apple green example) color. You can use about 12 – 15″ of it at the bottom and again use it in 4 – 5″ strips on either side – maybe one 5 – 7″ strip in the middle. I really think that would be quite nice.
Again…my 2 cents.
Thanks, guys…
I think the reason I was hesitant about the fabric is a) the pattern and b) the lack of color. I like your suggestions to use it as trim or combine it with a color in some other way. We love color – it just doesn’t make sense to not have it in the bathroom!
Although, our towels are purple & blue, and while I’m not considering replacing them (they’re in great condition) – I’d love to insert a little green apple in there. Hmm…
I adore your shower, its so pretty. I really like the fabric you have on hand…I agree with you add some black trim to both sides ith will ground the pattern