The tiny overhanging bath or former outhouse needs the perfect sink

Can anyone tell me how they called these overhanging shithouses people used to have in the medieval times in European cities ? (and elsewhere ?) I do not even know the Italian expression for these tiny outhouse loos.

Anyway, we have one! And it is going to be our son's bathroom.
In my previous post I gave a sneak peek into the ongoing renovation. It is another green bathroom. We have ordered all appliances, except the sink. Advise is welcome!

But look and read from the start:

front facade of the house with the overhanging former outhouse on the right

 
a closer look at a BEFORE photo (we came a long way!)

above drawing by the architect shows the former privy on the right

the layout says the WC is 1,90 m x 1,40 m


above and below is the BEFORE bath,
there were a WC (left corner), a bidet and a sink


we took out everything (please note the "big" window)


with the help of an AFTER pic (note the former big and now shrinked window!)
I made some tiles planning




And finally, see and enjoy what Angelo made out of my amateurish drawings :






Shower tray, shower faucets and tiles are installed. Walls are painted. But what about the rest?

You may have noticed that the before bathroom had no shower, but a bidet. Now, we have decided that a shower is more important than a bidet. But we have another solution for "butt hygiene". We opted for one of the smallest WC, the Starck 3 compact model (360 cm x 474 cm), and will have a hose on the side of the toilet (like you often can find in Asia). This is simple, clean and space saving!

After all this, we still have not decided on a sink !
I have some tiny space saving sinks in mind and Angelo wants the largest sink possible.
Okay, I used to have a tiny Happy D sink (see pic below, no. 1) in my guest toilet in Germany where you almost only could have washed one hand after the other.


But the above Happy D (no 2) could do. It is 345 cm deep and 460 cm long - and it has soft round corners - ideal for a tiny kid's bathroom. But of course I can't decide just like this, quickly. There are other options by Duravit (and other manufactures for sure, that I have not checked), especially I thought of using the sink from the same series as the WC since we are in such a small room, it might be best to stick to the same design:


This sink comes in many sizes, but ours could be 450 cm wide x 320 cm deep (2 cm less wide and 2,5 cm less deep than the Happy D) or 550 cm wide x 370 deep, a compact version.

My sister has in her kid's bath room the above Starck 3 sink with metal console (480 cm x465 cm). Now, she lives far away from me and I cannot check if I would like it for our son. Not sure, the almost square sink and the metal console seems a funny match. But maybe a funny match is ideal for a funny bathroom?

I would rather prefer the little pricier sink Vero. This metal console allows to hang towels on both sides. The smallest size however is 500 cm x 470 cm.

once more the site : which sink matches best ???


Since we use no longer the service of an architect or interior designer, just Angelo and me are thinking of sinks. Actually, it is only me. Angelo would buy a big sink. So, it was me who asked for detailed measurements and Angelo came up with a rough excel sheet. He added the shower tray, which is 80 cm x 80 cm. And a WC (not delivered yet), that I corrected to the given size. Then I added different sizes of different sinks. It all seems quiet tide to me. Since Angelo hates tiny dwarf or smurf sinks, we agreed on the following: we wait until the toilet is delivered and he is mounting it. Then he would do some test sitting on the toilet and check possible sink shapes. From this test he would send pictures to me which would help me to make a good decision.

If anyone of you has a recommendation, has a similar bathroom situation and knows a solution, knows the perfect sink, please email me at "writing (dot) suzie (at) yahoo (dot) com" or leave a comment below.
Mille Grazie !

Black Magnetic Chalkboard


I love this big black magnetic chalkboard sliding door by Christine Lane!

My sister has a big black magnetic board till the ceiling in her kitchen.

And I want one as sliding door for my son's playroom.

It will be fun to stick his drawings on it instead of just filing them somewhere. It will be fun for him and his friends to draw on it. It will be fun to play teacher and student. It will be fun to write poems on it. Maybe in Chinese characters. It will support our creativity and be decorative at the same time.

I researched chalkboards on google images and found so many nice ideas. Sfgirlbybay did a peak worthy chalkboard round-up.

Get inspired and DIY !
Get magnetic primer and chalk paint in green or black.
Make a bold statement on a wall in your home office, entrance, kitchen or kids room or loo. Let guests leave a comment.

Entrance of Front Hotel, Copenhagen via hyggehouse

Stacking bed for guests

There are two popular stacking beds made in Germany. The first and original one is the modular stacking bed (Stapelliege) designed by Rolf Heide in 1966, produced by Müller Möbelswerkstätten.


It is not only practical in a guestroom, but also for a kids room. We decided to take the short version of 1.90 m length for our son's room (because the room is so small). For future sleep overs he can accommodate his friends. Or when we have guests over night his room will transform into a guestroom.


As the stacking bed became so popular for kids the manufacturer now also provides it in colourful and real small sizes:



The alternative to Rolf Heide's 'Stapelliege' is the 'Lönneberga' bed designed by Alexander Seifried in 2007 for Richard Lampert.



At the furniture Messe in Cologne in January 2009 a low budget version in white was presented. It will be available soon:



The overall size of this bed is 2.10 m x 0.95. No shorter version is available.

BTW, the name of this young stacking bed comes from the famous Swedish character 'Emil of Lönneberga', a tale by famous kid book author Astrid Lindgren. All accessories have names from the tale like 'Alfred' the cushion that stores bedding and serves as backrest for a fine daybed.

**********
This stacking bed is for our home in Germany. I am still busy with the fine tuning of its renovation. But hope to be back to the blog more often now. However I have no news on our 'Palazzo Project' for now. The outside is done. The inside to come.

Vintage Furniture designed for Kids

Bianca & Family
When a kids magazine (Beijing Kids) asked me earlier this year to compile an article about vintage furniture for kids I had to google about 'vintage furniture' as I only was familiar with 'vintage cars' - so far.

That's why the article goes like this:
"A car is considered a vintage car when it is at least 20 years old. The same goes with furniture. Vintage furniture may have the aesthetics of the colorful and playful ’70s or arouse a serene feeling from another time – one that was simpler ..."

The article with a list of addresses can be found online:
article in Beijing KidsClassically Chic - Vintage Furniture designed for kids

It was not easy to find good addresses for kids' vintage furniture. Most finds were French shops - and my favorite address in France is Bianca & Family

Since I was in contact with them for the article I receive their newsletter about 'nouveautés' ...

I always wanted to make a small post about them. They not only sell their finds, they also restore old kids furniture, mainly old school desks and chairs (see first pic above), and they have vintage toys. I am really tempted to get one desk set for my son, although the desk space seems a bit small. Maybe a double desk. It reminds me of my childhood at school.

Bianca & Family
268 rue des Ecoles
35800 Saint Lunaire, France
Phone: +33 (0) 688 790238
info@bianca-and-family.com
www.bianca-and-family.com
Shipment worldwide upon request.

Two more cute French shops with vintage stuff for kids:
Petit Blanc d'Ivoire
Serendipity

Another good address not only for kids:
Maison du Monde

Alternatively register with ebay and define some long term queries and get finds by email - e.g. from Ebay (France)

Further more:
The German Architectural Digest (AD) magazine features in its November issue a 6 pages long article about the 'First four walls', stylish children rooms (Kinderzimmer).
The following brands are mentioned:
Bianca & Family, Richard Lampert, Habitat, Petite Boutique, Ralph Lauren Home, Petitcollin and Oliver Furniture.

More vintage kids stuff in blog land (with further links):

Harry's (New) Room via ABTHarry's (New) Room by Anna Spiro


vintage rooms via Designers BlockVintage Kids Room for Pink by Di Overton


vintage for kids via Style Filesvintage furniture for kids by Danielle de Lange