Turn your bathroom into a luxury spa (or Turkish hammam)

http://pinterest.com/pin/237377281/

Summer is over, nights are drawing in, the central heating comes back on. Time to cosy up our homes and get into some serious pampering. No better place to pamper yourself than in your own bathroom. Bubbles in the bath, candles on, glass of wine..you get it. I don't know about yours, but our bathroom is small and always runs the risk of looking messy with too many shampoo bottles and other stuff lying around. No bathroom is going to going to look like a luxurious spa with lots of clutter in sight, so look out for some pretty baskets to store towels, bath products or use for your laundry.

West elm

http://pinterest.com/pin/241518973/

I really like the idea to step away from the standard mdf bathroom cabinets and replace them with a vintage glass cupboard, painted in a nice colour.

Image: Madam Fafa on Flickr

Have you ever been to a Turkish bath house or 'hammam'? Some of them are grand and very decorative, others - especially traditional ones - are pretty basic (after all, they were bath houses for people who didn't have a bathroom at home!). What makes some of them very pretty is the dome-like architecture, arabic decoration, mosaics and natural stone. Usually they also have a big heated stone platform in the centre where you can get your back scrubbed by some old lady ;-) And don't expect a gentle massage here!

http://hotsprung.wordpress.com/category/hamam/

Anyway, back to the comfort of our own bathroom, let's see how we can add some hammam-style to your own sanctuary. Tip one: swap your high street brand shampoo bottles and soap bars for something prettier (or at least hide the family size plastic bottles in the bathroom cabinet!). Lots of people are now into making their own soaps, so why not buy a few bars from an independent soap maker? Plenty on etsy, or try and make your own.

Frog Goes to Market on Etsy

100layercake.com tutorial

I'm definitely going to give this DIY salt scrub recipe a shot. Looks very simple to make but delicious and pretty in a nice glass jar:

DIY salt scrub tutorial

And how about replacing your soap dishes with some vintage bowls or little saucers? Who says these things are for kitchen-use only?

Dennis Anderson on Etsy

Or pick something else that's a step up from your standard plastic or white sets:

Handmade soap dish from Prince Design UK on etsy

West elm

I love the beauty and feel of cotton hammam towels which give your bathroom instant stylishness. (I recently imported some to sell in my online shop, which I would love to keep all to myself but that would make me a rather silly shop keeper!). Drape them over an old ladder or roll them up in a pretty basket.

http://www.unstitchedblog.com/category/textiles/

http://tinyurl.com/659gh7b

Something I also like and gives a real 'spa-like' feel, are pebble floors. They now apparently come in easy sheets that you can simply buy from your DIY store....keep that in mind for your next bathroom project!

Pebble floor

http://pinterest.com/pin/244311902/

I hope I've given you some ideas. I certainly know I need to take a good look at my own bathroom and de-clutter. I've got the day off today though, so who knows. Maybe it's time for a bath first.

***