Le Bain d'Herb.

After seeing my apartment tours on Decor8 yesterday (thanks again, Holly!) and earlier this summer on Apartment Therapy SF (thank you, Leslie!), a few of you have asked to see more details of my bathroom. So I am here to happily oblige. As you may or may not have read, Herb Caen, the infamous Pulitzer Prize winning columnist of the San Francisco Chronicle, used to reside within the walls of my humble domain. He was a great character of San Francisco, much beloved, fan of martinis and the originator of the term 'beatnik' and apparently he also quite popularized the term 'hippie'. So you gotta know right there he was a super cool guy. Anyhow, quite often when I'm laying in my big bathtub I think, "Wow, Herb was here. Maybe even thinking up his next column." It's pretty great. Yes, perhaps a little weird, but good karma, I believe. Okay, so now that you have that little tidbit of totally irrelevant background, here are some details.


I'll begin with probably the least pleasant aspect of the tour, but really, the main purpose of one's bathroom, the inevitably hideous toilet tank. Always a conundrum - do we pretend it's not there, or disguise it with objects d'art? I opted for the latter of the two and keep a vintage mirror with some of my sea shell collections and a votive to give off nice light (when I'm in Herb Caen's bath) on top of mine. Why not, another space for 'stuff'.



I like to keep all my daily necessities, like cotton swabs, q-tips, etc. in vintage glass jars I've found at flea markets. I like the clear glass with the white fluff showing through. The one with cotton swabs has both Chinese and English writing on it and is marked Made in San Francisco. I don't know what it once contained. Rest assured, I have washed it thoroughly.

For all my baubles and bling, which are mostly ebay, garage sale & flea market finds, I like to keep them in these translucent aqua bowls from Anthropologie Home. I like to accessorize (doesn't every fashionable girl about town) and I like to be able to have choices right there in front of me. It's all very simple - I know where to find everything, instead of searching through jewelry boxes. Mind you, I do have necklaces hanging off the tie-rack in my armoire, but that's a story for another day.


I am nearly blind, so I completely rely on this retractable mirror from Ikea. Cheap, and I've probably had it for at least 12 years, but they still carry them. And above that are some nice wall sconces so I can see every bloody wrinkle forming on my face. And, last but not least, a sparkling little capital "B" for Bath (or Bain), of course. I used to have a "P" for Powder Room but I can't tell you all the things my clever, witty friends thought it might stand for. So, enough of their ridicule, "B" it is. The Bath.