WEDDINGS
TRAVEL
TIPS & TRICKS
PROPOSALS
PRINTS
PERSONAL
NEWBORNS
MATERNITY
HEADSHOTS
GRADUATION
FAMILIES
ENGAGEMENTS
COUPLES
BROWSE ALL CATEGORIES
read the post
how to include dogs at photo shoots
read the post
how to prepare for engagement photos
read the post
why hire a wedding coordinator
read the post
A+B's gibson island club wedding
read the post
V+A's tranquility farm wedding
TOP POSTS
SEARCH THE BLOG
MORE ABOUT ME
Proud pup mom, type A creative, lover of the outdoors, Top Chef fan girl, and wedding and portrait photographer. Welcome to the blog!
HI, I'M RACHEL!
welcome!
micro WEDDINGS
elopements
Welcome to the third and final post in a three-part series on my condo decor! In the first two posts you saw my kitchen, dining, and living areas. Today I get to share with you all about my cherry blossoms bathroom inspiration as well as my zen, coastal-vibes bedroom.
Today I’m sharing two extremes: the room that has been changed the most and the room that has been changed the least. When I first looked at the condo, I knew the teal bathroom would have to go. That was the one room where things would be completely removed, rearranged, and restyled. The bedroom, on the other hand, was pretty much good to go!
Last week I described the journey I took that landed me on the bohemian minimalist style. The funny thing is, by the time I came to that conclusion I had already decorated my bathroom in that style! That’s how I knew it was actually a good fit. While originally I was lacking style inspiration for the rest of the house, the bathroom inspiration came to me very naturally. I knew I wanted everything to be white with brushed gold fixtures. From there I just needed a pop of color.
As you may have guessed from viewing my website, blog posts, and social media – I might be a little obsessed with cherry blossoms! So I knew I wanted to feature them in the decor of my new condo. It was either going to be in the office or bathroom. Finally I decided the pink from the petals would be that pop of color I needed for the bathroom. While I’m obsessed, I also enjoy minimalist decor and I’m not actually that much of a girlie girl, so I didn’t want the theme or the pink to hit you over the head. I wanted subtlety. And I think I struck that balance pretty well with my cherry blossoms bathroom inspiration!
The bedroom was a simpler undertaking and it was nice to have that room not need really any work. This was also true with the office. You’ll notice I’m not sharing the office in this blog series. And that’s because it is not at all ‘done’. It’s the one room where I set things up in a functional way without considering style. And most of the decor in there is from previous iterations of my style, so it doesn’t match the rest of the condo. Nothing is hung on the wall, there is no cohesive decor, and it often becomes a catch-all space for laundry, camera gear, paperwork, and storage. It’s not exactly a messy junk room, but it’s just not styled or done-up like the rest of the condo is. Yet. It’ll get there! I’m still looking for inspiration.
And with that, let’s get to seeing the bedroom and cherry blossoms bathroom inspiration! First I’ll share the before cell phone pics, taken in May 2021, followed by the current photos, taken in August 2022. I’ll also provide links for the decor throughout the text.
The color of the walls looks different in each of these cell pics. The color on the left is more accurate to what it looked like in person. It wasn’t a bad color, but obviously wasn’t aligned with my vision for the space. I did appreciate that there was white tile in the shower and the floor. And the toilet is Kohler, which is a nice brand. I also liked that there was a tub (some condos I looked at didn’t have a tub – only showers, and I like to take baths!) You can see in the reflection in the mirror that there is a window in the shower. I love that! (It has blurred glass on the bottom half so no one can see in but it still lets light through.) Aaaaannndddd… that’s about it! Like I said above, everything else had to go!
First of all – a pedestal sink?! In your only bathroom?! I can’t. There is no storage! Oh wait, technically there was storage. You can’t see in it these photos, but across from the sink there was a medicine cabinet on the wall. Someone actually made the decision to forego a mirror with a medicine cabinet behind it over the sink. And instead, put a medicine cabinet on the opposite wall, cutting down standing room in a small space. I knew there was a way to get more storage AND have it be stylish.
The rest of the decor just wasn’t my style and was a little dated, like the silver and glass.
And this is what it looks like now! I obviously had the room painted white (Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace) by the same folks who did the rest of the condo. Those same people did all the installation work as well. We replaced the pedestal sink with a white vanity from Home Depot. As you can see, it has three functional drawers and a cabinet. So.much. storage. I also added a medicine cabinet from West Elm above the sink – more storage. And kept the shelves above the toilet, but opted for thin white painted wooden ones from Home Depot. More storage.
This vanity comes in several colors, but it does not come with a faucet. Just the three holes for you to install one of your choosing. I loved that because it allowed me to customize it to my liking (from Amazon). It came with silver drawer pulls, but I swapped them out with pearlescent and gold ones I found on Amazon. I love love love this vanity and faucet! I love the functionality and convenience of the three drawers. The sink is the perfect width and depth. I like that the faucet is a little tall so it’s out of the way when I wash my face there. And the water runs out of it so smoothly and the knobs are easy to turn. It probably sounds weird, but it’s just really enjoyable to use all of it!
The medicine cabinet is fantastic too! It has three adjustable glass shelves plus a mirror on the inside back (go to the link and view the photos so you can see what I mean). So when you have the door open to access what’s inside, you can still use it as a mirror. For example, when I brush my teeth, I open the door to access the toothbrush and toothpaste, and then leave the door open while I brush and floss. I can see what I’m doing in that secondary mirror. I don’t have to open and close the door a bunch of times just to use the mirror on the front. Plus, it’s just so stylish!
I kind of rushed to find a brushed gold light fixture so I would have it in time for installation. I admit, I like the style of this one, but sometimes I wonder if it’s too much gold and if I should’ve switched up the finish. Plus it’s a slightly warmer shade of brushed gold than the gold on the mirror and faucet. In these photos it looks like they’re all very similar, but in person they read a little different. I do like that it’s dimmable, it’s super bright when at the max, and I like the overall style.
Before we move on to the smaller details, I have to tell the story of this rug (similar)! Initially I had wanted a statement rug. I found one I really liked at Anthropologie, purchased it, and it just did not look right. It was too much of a statement and kind of fought against the subtly of the cherry blossoms prints. I also realized the floor tile and grout already created a pretty busy pattern. Having a rug with a busy pattern was too much. I decided to go in another direction and found this simple light tan rug from West Elm. At first I didn’t think the grassy, natural texture worked in a bathroom, but it’s grown on me and I love it now!
I wanted to keep the shower curtain (similar) white so that the room would feel larger. I love the subtle monochromatic horizontal lines that give it a little bit of visual interest and texture. I originally planned to replace the silver shower curtain rod with a gold one, but I kind of like how the silver makes it blend into the white paint. You can’t see the shower fixtures in any of these photos, but it’s still the old stuff. That will get replaced eventually!
And last, in the third photo, you can see the new brushed gold toilet paper holder and towel ring. There’s also a matching towel hook on the back of the door. That is a set I got on Amazon.
So much of the style inspiration for this room came from three items in these photos: the draping ivy, the pink glass Voluspa candle, and the cherry blossom print. One of the first things I imagined for this bathroom was that ivy draping off of a shelf. It feels so feminine and romantic to me! OK… and pretty boho too! (Woven pot is from Ikea, similar) I saw that pink Voluspa candle online (bottom shelf) and knew I wanted to decorate with it in the bathroom. I searched high and low for it – it was out of stock so many places! Finally, I found it at Nordstrom! Originally I planned to get a larger size, but they didn’t have the one I wanted, so I settled for this size. It actually worked out better for the space. I also got the smaller one (top shelf), and they both smell divine!
And of course, my cherry blossoms print. This is my fav cherry blossoms print of all time, so of course I had to find a special place to display it. I love the subtle gold frame with the negative space around the print. (I’m realizing now looking at the picture of this, that the print is slightly off-center in the frame! I gotta fix that!)
It took a while for the rest of the shelf styling to come together in a way that really looked good to my eye. I knew I wanted to display my oils in a bowl. I had a very specific idea of what I wanted the bowl to look like (flat bottom, two-inch sides, frosted glass with vertical lines) but never found it. I tried a couple other things but none of it looked right. Then one day at Target, I happened upon this pink dish on sale! It was the glass bowl I had imaged, but I actually like this better! It hides more the brown of the bottles, and it came with that lid, which I could also display.
Both of the trays in this photo are also from Target (top shelf center and on top of the toilet). I love the marble one because it has pink specks throughout and it’s super sturdy. The funny thing is, I don’t wear perfume anymore, but I thought a few of my old bottles were pretty. So those are just for looks! haha And finally, my crystals. The two pink ones are rose quartz and the clear one is clear quartz. I forget where I got those exact ones but it was probably one of these two places.
I tried to keep the wall opposite the toilet and sink pretty simple. The door opens onto that wall, plus like I said, it’s a small space. I wanted whatever was there to be decorative and flat! So I added two of my cherry blossoms prints from the shop, in these beautiful natural wood frames with white mattes from Target. The plant on the sink is a crocodile plant from Trader Joes. The soap dispenser is from West Elm (it has a matching toothbrush holder too! That’s inside the medicine cabinet). And I forget where I got that match bottle.
My final note about the bathroom is that with the white paint and shelves and modern gold finishes, this is a pretty versatile space. If I ever get sick of the cherry blossoms or the color pink, I can very easily switch it up! I can put different prints in the frames and get different color accessories and poof! A whole new look very easily and inexpensively.
This room is so basic, I only took one cell phone picture of it when I moved in! haha This is one view of the room, and if you turned around 180 degrees, you would see two giant sliding doors to the walk-in closet. When I moved in, I initially intended to have this room painted white as well. But when I got the quote from the painters for this room and the office, I decided I could live with them as they were! haha I eventually would love to replace the carpet in here and the office with the same flooring that’s in the rest of the condo. But that’s not a priority right now. So basically, this room hasn’t changed at all. The one thing I do want to change is update the blinds. These look dingy and don’t really block out the light from street lamps at night.
And now, it has furniture added to it!
Before I dive into all the details, a little history on my past bedrooms. I haven’t always prioritized decorating my bedroom. I figured no one else really saw it – it’s not like that’s where I have dinner parties! And I didn’t spend that much time in there. So I would find nice bedding and leave it at that. But this time I decided I wanted to put a little more effort into it. It became a good place to repurpose some items that I still liked and wanted to keep, but didn’t fit elsewhere in the house. And I didn’t just throw things in there for storage. I took my time to style the pieces and make it look cohesive and put together. So while this room isn’t necessarily my ultimate bedroom style, I feel good about how it looks for now.
The bed frame and the nightstands are all about 12 years old. They were the first large investment pieces I bought completely on my own. I was lucky enough to have help purchasing furniture when I moved into my first apartment after college (thanks to my grandma and aunt!). But these pieces came later. I was really into dark wood back then, and didn’t understand that you could get nightstands that didn’t match with your bed frame – haha! I actually wanted to get a whole new bed set when I moved in, but that was one of the things that got sacrificed when I decided to spend half my budget on painters unexpectedly. For now, these do just fine!
Since the walls are powder blue (which is actually pretty peaceful) and all the wood is so dark and heavy, I wanted to keep the bedding light. This quilt is from Target (similar) and I have it laying upside down. The side showing is actually the underside. You can see the windowpane pattern at the end close to the pillows. And then I have an extra quilt (from Home Goods) laying across horizontally. This is for decoration, but it’s actually functional. I use the extra quilt in the winter for more warmth. Imagine that! And the ‘Be Still’ print is from a shop on Etsy that I had printed large at Staples.
I have a few favorite books piled on the nightstand on the right side, plus a bunch of crystals, a lamp from Home Goods, and a plant from Trader Joes. The basket underneath holds makeup, notebooks, and my Kindle when it’s charging. I also store my big surge protector there with all my plugs for charging stuff. The nightstand on the right just holds plants, an old desk lamp from Target, and my weighted blanket underneath. Above that you see some old prints of mine. Those were repurposed from what used to be hanging in a previous bathroom.
This is the view opposite the bed. That shelf is super old, from Target. I believe I got it in 2007, on sale. I absolutely love it – still! This is definitely a catch-all space for extra decor from throughout the years that I still don’t want to get rid of. So I half-heartily styled it here and called it a day! You can kinda see it behind the TV, but there is a large canvas print from a photo in the print shop. I want to hang it on the wall behind the TV but haven’t made it that far yet! Ya know what I didn’t do before I took these photos? Dust! Ugh – that is one dusty table top – please excuse that! haha
The two hanging prints in the entryway were again repurposed from a previous bathroom. (Oof, I need to replace that old light switch plate!) That little bench at the end of the bed is from Ikea (old), and the baskets underneath are also from Ikea, I believe. One holds bathing suits and one holds flip flops and an extra blanket. The rug is from Home Goods, purchased about six years ago. I have to have a large area rug in the bedroom because someone (ahem… Milli) likes to pee on the carpet in the night. Not on the area rugs, mind you – the actual carpet. Rude.
The other view is leading into the room and you can see one of my fav photos of all time from the print shop hanging on the fart wall (a canvas print), plus my TV stand and Milli’s crate. And more dust.
And that’s it! That is the complete condo tour – for now. I’ll check back in with an update once I finish the office. I hope you enjoyed this series and even that it helped you in some way. Decorating my home is a major creative outlet for me, and one that brings me so much joy and fulfillment. So I’m excited I got to share with you this other aspect of my creativity 🙂
Did this post get you excited to book a photo session with me?! If yes, send me a note and we can chat about what you have in mind: contact me
Hi – I’m Rachel! A wedding, engagements, and headshots photographer in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and northern Virginia. I love taking photos of elegant people who love to laugh, as well as of much in-love couples. If you’re a dog owner, that’s a plus! I’m currently booking 2022 portrait sessions, as well as 2022 and 2023 weddings.
HELLO@RACHELEHPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
Get updates, tips and tricks, and specials to your inbox!
Subscribe here
Back to Top
Rachel is a wedding and portrait photographer
Serving brilliant, elegant couples in Washington D.C. + Beyond
Copyright 2022 Rachel E.H. Photography | Website by Alex Collier Design
she / her