Yesterday the last piece of our accidental style of interior design arrived. We have lived in this house for nearly 3 years. Having designed every inch of the actual Old Mortuary ourselves, it has been a challenge living in a house designed by someone else with the express purpose of selling the house. Obviously their strategy worked, as we bought it . Most of the house was refurbished very sympathetically to its 150 year old bones. The family bathroom, not so much. The bathroom was an industrial fantasy of communal bathing. A grey homage to the interior design of the Starship Enterprise. If the bridge of the Enterprise had a crew bathroom where the crew could go for off duty fun that was exactly our bathroom. The shower and the bath can comfortably hold 4 people.

It has been a head-scratcher of a project, made all the more complex by every house plant we own choosing to live in the bathroom as a reference to death. The plants obviously softened the look but without ripping out everything and starting again we have been a bit lost.

Reading this book was our lightbulb moment.

Beata says that the secret to living in an old house is to represent every era that the house has lived through when you redecorate and redesign.

We replaced the industrial grey flooring with soft green Victorian Tiles. Bought an Art Deco mirror on Facebook Marketplace.

And yesterday took delivery of a Nathan mid-century modern turntable unit , with a drop-down door and sliding-out shelves. Which makes a perfect bathroom cabinet and plant holder. Thanks to ebay and HookeandTaylor.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/hookeandtaylor/3320946114200509313?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=YXF0ZzU4bWI2OTEx

I’m not certain which of these two retro pieces is the game changer for the room but the turntable cabinet warms my heart more than I imagined. My parents were mid-century modern sort of people and owned a whole room of this Nathan furniture. When they died I was not able to house any of it and gave it all to a distant relation. But their love of this furniture and my Dad’s obsession with his record collection and Hi-fi equipment made me know exactly what was needed as a quirky and safe bathroom cabinet. ( We have three grand-daughters for whom the bathroom is their happy place) Nobody under 10 will work out that the door is a drop-down rather than the usual side opening.

No more head scratching for us. The bathroom has a new personality and the plants are very happy.