The Apple Room

Love my Apple Bathroom!
I thought it was the tiniest room ever when we moved in 16 years ago.....claustrophobic for sure! I used it with the door ajar for a long time! But now it's one of the favorite spots in the house for the grandkids and me. The photos tell the story; but I'll give you some background.

 We had the decorator paper it to complement the room that holds a long double sinked counter, seperate shower and tub and an entire mirrored wall! This room, as well as the attached walk-in closet...could easily hold a couple of twin beds. In fact, we keep a big comfy chair in front of the counter.....great for his shaving comfort...and for me doing nails and makeup! It was this tiny 'toilet room' (what they used to call a water closet) that seemed so out of scale. Whatever to do with it except add toilet paper!?!
And so this blue striped room remained functional but bare for years.

Our entire home is nautically decorated from 40 years of living near oceans and lakes and coastal vacations. Every place we've lived has had a nautical theme! We have devoted whole walls to paintings and plaques of Sydney Harbor (where I climbed the bridge), sailboats, beach scenes and vintage signs advertising lake cottages and seaside rentals. Ropy trimmed cushions and table covers, shell shaped placemats and dishwear, giant jars and bowls in each room filled with sand, stones, seaglass, shells and pieces of driftwood collected everywhere we've stuck our toes! Right out of Coastal Living! And although the big bathroom is painted in deep blue and sandy khaki with nautical maps, fake seagrass bouquets and a nautical medicine cabinet......we always dismissed the second bathroom as nothing but a necessity in times of need.

During my 30 years in education, I aquired lots of  cute apple stuff! Knick knacks and books and ornaments and frames that worked beautifully around my classroom. As soon as I put a few on display, more kept coming with each new group of fourth graders. At the end of one school year, as I packed up my room for the summer, I had a brillant brainstorm!!!!! Maybe all this apple stuff can go in that little bathroom!  I carried boxes and bags home and told my husband my idea. "It's your bathroom" he said!  And so...that summer the apple bathroom was born! My oldest granddaughter who was 3 or 4 at the time and still needed reminders about potty breaks.......declared she would only use the "apple bathroom!" Not only did this teeny closet space now have a theme......it had a fan!!!!

Before long, family and friends started buying me apple decorations for birthdays and Christmas.  I have photos and trinkets and soaps and corny signs.....it's adorable! I have grown to love this small room for my ME space.....time to think, time to smile at the kids' pictures as they've grown through the years, and time to share this lovely story of the little room that could!




This has been linked to On Display Monday  at Snippets of Inspiration