During our cabinet-scoping trip to IKEA last week, we came home with an unexpected item. You see, IKEA was our last stop for the day and we were starving. After a quick stop to customer service for a return, we struggled to work our way against the crowd to the cafeteria [trust me, you do not want to stand in our way when we’re hungry and there are swedish meatballs and ligonberry soda involved!]. And that’s when we saw it. Dark blue-gray face, with aluminum hands and a plywood wrap? Was this designed for chezerbey? At $10, we couldn’t pass it up.
Not only was our bathroom in need of some more visual interest, but where better to put a clock when you’re rushing to get out the door each morning?
And as part of the continuing effort to work through all the various settings of our new camera, here are a few detail shots of the bathroom. Happy Monday.
Hi, I just found your blog from Door 16. Beautiful work. The exterior of your house is fantastic. I’d go for the yellow chairs, without a doubt. Best wishes.
Haha! I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way about IKEA’s Swedish meatballs. : ) BTW. The pictures from the new camera are great!
Lauren, the detail shots from your bathroom are awesome! Impressed. You may have to give me some photography lessons some day. 🙂
I found your site from a link in the comments section of an apartmenttherapy inquiry re: IKEA cabinets. Your house looks great – I’m totally drawn to the bathroom. I have a question about the soap dish in the shower. Well, actually about the ledge. We are planning to retile our bath, and I have been trying to find innovative and durable options to the stainless steal rack or the tile insert for soaps, shampoo, etc. Are you using wood? How is it treated? How is it installed? Many thanks in advance. Again, beautiful home!
Hi Jane,
The wood is teak which is more commonly used on boats and outdoor furniture due to it’s natural oils, silica, and resistance to water and weathering. We coated it with about 6 coats of teak oil over a year ago and it’s still going strong. I imagine we will recoat it every 2 years. We used Daly’s teak oil which is a local company here in the pacific northwest. The teak shelf is also ‘sloped to drain’ so water doesn’t collect on it. The soap trivet is stainless steel and is actually an architectural sample for metal grating repurposed as our soap tray. Thanks for the feedback.
How did you manage an inset sink with a wood counter top and not get swelling when the wood gets wet??
Hi Nancy, we treated the wood (especially the cut side at the sink) so it doesn’t absorb water. So far, so good!
I think a blog post showing how some of your material choices have held up over the years would be a great idea. Did you make the right decisions? What would you have done differently, if anything? This plywood vanity is one I’m curious about. Thanks!
Thanks Mark, I actually have a draft saved for a “bathroom follow-up” so it’s definitely something we plan to address (just too many other projects going on right now!).
Is there any chance you remember the name of the clock (or that it’s on a sticker on the back)? It has been discontinued, but I was hoping I might find it used somewhere. Thank you!
Hi Jo, I looked on the back and no name unfortunately.
how do you care for/treat the interior wood on the windows? The interior of our windows look very similar to the one pictured in this post. Some of them seem like they need to be treated with something and I am having trouble finding information on what to use. They are about 10 years old but new to us. They don’t seem to have any varnish on them.