Friday 10 June 2016

Through the looking glass








In a previous blog post, I showed you part of the display of odds and ends on top of our bathroom cabinet.

As it got some lovely comments, I thought I would show you some more details.

So, welcome to my bathroom!


First of all, I must say that our bathroom is one of the smallest in the history of mankind and that it was not what sold us the house.

It has naff flowery tiles and just the space for a hipbath-cum-shower, a washbasin and a toilet.

There is no possibility of an extension and not much room for improvement, save for a complete overhaul, so all we’ve done to it so far is purely cosmetic.



The boring bath taps were replaced by much nicer ones found for just a couple of Euros at a flea market many years ago. The "K" is for "koud", which I think you guessed means "cold".










In order to break the monotony of the floor-to-ceiling tiles, we added these bath prints which were bought in Bath (I'm not joking!) many years ago.


The mirror was a recent addition, charity shopped for € 8.



We paid the same price for the vintage bathroom cabinet, also charity shopped. It was made by French company Gilac from a plastic material called Ornamine, and it's very heavy. It probably dates from the late 1950s or early 1960s. The cabinet has three oval-mirrored doors with a little drawer beneath each one. One of the mirrors has some damage, but we decided not to replace it, as it does not really bother us.



We are on the lookout for more Gilac items for our bathroom and have already found some hooks as well as a bathroom stool in a similar design.


The odds and ends on top of the cabinet were collected over many years.



The wooden Boots first aid box was bought in an antique shop in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire two years ago. It still contains a list of instructions as well as some of its contents: medicated wound dressing, a triangular bandage and an unopened bottle of smelling salts!



The Shingling Clipper box, with the 1920s shingle-haired lady on the lid, still contains the actual clipper inside.



The powdered shampoo, which needed to be dissolved in water, was one of the first products marketed by German company Schwarzkopf. The shampoo as well as the cartons of kirby grips were found at various flea markets over the years. The lady adorning the shampoo package always makes me think of Cate, whose hair is just as lovely.

This box (top left and bottom right) containing a Valet "Auto Strop" Safety Razor (but without the actual "Auto Strop”) still has the instruction leaflet inside. It’s got a Bakelite brother which does not live on top of the bathroom cabinet, but which I wanted to show you anyway. This one still has the razor as well as the “strop”.



Since we’re on the subject of bathroom paraphernalia, a bar of Sunlight toilet soap is a must, of course. Although this particular bar is more recent, Sunlight soap was already marketed in Belgium in 1888, and in 1905 a factory, "Savonneries S.A. Lever Frères", was opened in Brussels, which was a model factory just like the one at Port Sunlight.

The disposable razor, complete with little packet of razorblades, is German made and found at a local flea market last year. 



Last but not least is our vintage roll of "Popla" toilet paper.


Popla, a Dutch brand of toilet paper, was well-known for its iconic TV ads, the earliest dating from 1964. It made use of a popular children's song with alternative lyrics which accompanied an animation film featuring a king, an emperor and an admiral, all using Popla toilet paper of course!

I 'm sure a lot of people have long forgotten the original words to the song but can still remember the lyrics to the TV ad's version.  I'm betting that any Belgian and Dutch readers are already singing along by now ...



24 comments:

  1. I love vintage toiletries and retro packaging, Ann. I could happily spend hours in your bathroom despite its diminutive size. The cabinet is gorgeous, I've a weakness for old taps and the Bath bath prints are great fun.
    Loving lovely through the looking glass. xxx

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    1. Thank you Vix, but believe me, you get claustrophobia if you spend too long in my bathroom. xxx

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  2. you made the most of that micro-bathroom! fabulous!
    i have to knock vix out of it to take a long shower in the cosy room ;-)
    ours is still awaiting the big overhaul - all the installations are more or less wracked.......
    xxxxxx

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    1. Thanks Beate, yes, Vix will have to come out first, as it's much too small for 2 people at the same time. xxx

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  3. My mum has a minute bathroom. It is a stolen corner of the landing at the top of the stairs.
    One could have been made from the secondhand bedroom as some of the other houses have done, but this way mum has a guest bedroom/craft room/laundry room. A much better use of space.
    I love your cabinet and think the mirror is gorgeous.
    I'll squeeze in for a look round once Vix gets out the way xxx

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    1. I would prefer an extra room myself. If I had one of them converted into a bathroom, there would be no room for my dresses! xxx

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  4. The cabinet is the grandest thing I've ever set eyes on. I must say, I really like the floral tile.

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    1. I must say that the tiles are growing on me. I used to hate them when we first moved it, but now I think they are okay-ish. xxx

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  5. I adore the cabinet and the hooks you found! The vintage items are really cool! No way, really, those prints were of Baths from Bath!?!? Love it!

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    1. That's what we call them, the baths from Bath! That cabinet really was a lucky find. We paid more for the hooks than we did for the cabinet. xxx

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  6. One would never know, had you not said as much, that this was a super small space, because you've filled with with such a large array of jaw-droppingly incredible pieces. That cabinet is honestly one of the most stunning home decor pieces I've ever seen. Thank you for the fun bathroom tour. Your house is so immensely lovely!

    xoxo ♥ Jessica

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    1. Thanks Jessica. I really love that cabinet, and it's very spacious inside as well, which of course is a bonus. xxx

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  7. Oh my, that cabinet is so much fun! Far superior than the drab cabinets available these days xxx

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    1. Thanks Melanie, I had to have that cabinet the moment I laid eyes on it, and at only € 8, it would have been crazy not to buy it. xxx

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  8. This is a very peculiar subject for a post! You have a lovely small bathroom full of beautiful pieces! Those bath taps are very cute...
    p.s.
    My flat has a really tiny bathroom too, old buildings sometimes have small delightful spaces ...

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    1. Maybe it is Dan ;-) I just wanted to show some of my vintage treasures, as I didn't have any new finds to show, and I was too busy for outfit photos. xxx

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  9. Amazing. I love the Bobby pins and the cabinet

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    1. Thank you! That cabinet sure is getting a lot of love. xxx

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  10. Oh wow, what a collection! I particularly like the Boots Home First Aid Kit, that's amazing that it still has a few unopened pieces in it, especially the smelling salts. I wonder what they smell like now!
    Aw shucks, I'm so flattered. The lady on the shampoo packet is gorgeous and I love that you think she looks like me. xx

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    1. If the bottle of smelling salts wasn't sealed, I'd have a tentative sniff ... On seeing your lovely hairstyle in your post, I immediately thought of the lady on the shampoo packet, which I will now forever associate with you! xxx

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  11. I think you need to start doing tours Ann! I'm interested. Now that you've found bath prints in Bath, maybe you need to go and find something nice in Nice?! This is a really unique, cute little bathroom. My man used to have vintage loo roll in her bathroom. It was called Izal and it was like baking paper. Horrible! Xxx

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    1. We actually call our modest dwelling "the museum" and always joke to people that they're lucky we don't charge them ... xxx

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  12. I misread 'Popla' as 'Poopla'!

    Your bathroom is full of excellent treasures.

    I remember the Izal 'trace your bottom' paper Tania mentions. That was horrible stuff! We had it at school.

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    1. I guess that's why they never marketed Popla in the UK ;-))

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