Insider Info: The Behind Scenes Story of My "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Bath for DXV

I am honored to be a member of DXV's 2015 Design Panel.  Meet the other talented designers chosen for the panel here.  As a designer on the panel, I was asked to design a bathroom with DXV Luxury products. DXV is a new division of American Standard and was introduced last year. 

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This year's theme was based on classic literature.  The object was to tell my story using DXV products while using a classic novel as my muse.   I chose Breakfast at Tiffanys by Truman Capote; because it is one of my all-time favorite movies and because the leading lady in the book, Holly Golightly is a southerner like myself.  Did you know that Holly Golightly was born Lula Mae Barnes and hailed from a small town in Texas? 

Once I had the book in mind, next came designing the space.  Again, I took inspiration from the movie.  In the opening scene, Holly Golightly is peering into the window of Tiffany's as if she were dreaming of owning a lovely piece of jewelry from the iconic store.  

 I knew I wanted a voyeur type shot to mimic that scene.  The photo above serves as an analogy for Holly longing for the jewels.  Don't you long to soak in the beautiful tub when through those beautiful Tiffany blue doors in a room flooded with natural light?  The DXV St George tub was the first item I chose for the space.  I could picture Holly Golightly luxuriating in that tub after a night out socializing on the town.  She was hard at work trying to capture a husband who could afford her dreams of a lavish lifestyle but other than that she did not work.  Late nights on the town and sleeping til noon was her typical routine, so spending time relaxing was important to Holly.

“My design is about taking a bit of mid-century chic—with the lighting and the atmosphere—then combining it with classic, high-society elements. I’m striving for a unique, eclectic mode here: chic and sophisticated but with a little whimsy mixed in, reminiscent of Holly Golightly herself.”

Holly's spartanly furnished New York brownstone inspired me to keep things simple.  I decided to make the walls white brick and the floors gray chevron rough-hewn wood.  If you look back at the movie her furnishing consisted of a bathtub cut in half and made into a sofa and zebra skin rug.  I didn't have the heart to saw one of DXV's gorgeous tub in half, so I chose to use a GreenHides zebra stamped cowhide on the front of the Vanities.  The zebra hide is the perfect inspiration for Holly since she was a wild little minx and enjoyed a good party.   I wanted the set to be mod and a little glam, so white lacquered cabinets with a champagne finished hardware seemed the perfect choice to create that vibe.  I discovered the Danish modern chairs on ebay.  The chairs were immediately purchased and sent to an upholsterer and recovered in Tiffany blue velvet.  I love the dressmaker details on the chairs. The scalloped apron with covered buttons and the long diamond trapunto design on the back fo the chairs, as well as the tall, graceful lines, seemed to represent Holly so well.  I also chose to mix the metals in the room as a nod to jewelry for the room much like Tiffany's offers many finishes of jewelry in their store. 

 The DXV products were important to the design of my bathroom.  I chose the products first and designed the room around them because I wanted them to be the stars of the room.  I chose the beautiful vessel faucet from the Rem Collection because of its sculptural, design.  It commands attention over the sink and draws the eye down to the sink. 

I chose the square vessel sink from the Pop Collection because of its sleek design.  The juxtaposition of the smooth lines of the sink against the rough brick walls and white lacquered cabinets provide the perfect tension for the space. 

The floor mounted tub filler from the Landfair Collection adds classic, refined elegance and works perfectly with the sculptural St George tub.   The cross handles feature porcelain buttons on the tub filler.

To achieve the look I was trying to create for the space, I chose  Balmoral Classic silver leaf finished mirrors from Michael Smith Collection from Mirror Image and the Mira Sconces in gold from Cedar & Moss.

 I also chose the Lola table from Emporium Home with quartz details as a compliment to the tub and the furry sheepskin pouf from Modnev here in Charlotte to add softness to the space.  The tub is filled with glass bubbles, and the bubbles are repeated in the lovely Pelle Chandelier hanging above the tub in salute to Holly Golightly's love of champagne. 

And yes, that is a real cat!  He is an actor cat and comes with his handler.  His name is Cooper, and he is exactly like the cat in the movie that Holly called simply "cat". 

 The beautiful doors are from the Fashion Forward Collection from Metrie and

 the hardware is brass doorknockers I found online. The Tiffany Blue color is a trademark color, so I had to custom mix my own. 

 I hope you have enjoyed finding out more about my bathroom design for DXV.  Please visit DXV to see all the beautiful designer product lines.  I love this company and plan to incorporate DXV in many upcoming projects.  

Also, please visit DXV to see the other designer's projects!  Each designer's intrepretation of their classic novel is amazing!. 

  

 I would like to DXV for choosing me as a member of their Design Panel for 2015.

I would also like to thank Earl Kendall, and the entire team at Kendall Studios for the amazing photography and creativity their team brought to this project.  

Thank you also to O'Reilly-DePalma, Modenus, Flying Camel.