I’m not really the mental psycho bitch that I am often portrayed as. For example, this weekend Baz came to France with me and helped me put skirting board around our tiny multi-angled bathroom, working around the cast iron bath, sink and loo already in situ. Despite these frustrating obstacles we worked well together, didn’t break anything and didn’t lose our cool in the afternoon heat. By the time we were cleaned up (Baz loved his first ever experiences of cast iron bathing luxury this weekend) and taking aperos we remained very relaxed and still on speaking terms
Always a good start to an evening
Through necessity, the bath is installed in a fairly small space and there is nowhere to put toiletries (the name ‘roll top bath’ sort of gives it away really)
A shelf on the wall next to the bath would look cramped, but my memory strayed back to childhood: we had a hideous broken plastic bath rack across the bath, as I remember
There are some vintage 1920s metal bath racks for sale as well as a few modern ones, but I felt that a metal rack could look very fussy in the small space. In fact, the designers of some of the modern ones have totally lost the plot, adding ugly random sticky-out bits to hold wine glasses, books, tea lights, as well as the necessary shampoos etc
Baz had some interesting ideas for add-ons but I cannot share these here
They’re a bit niche
I went into a very expensive bathroom showroom and said ‘I don’t suppose you get many people asking for bath racks, do you?’
It seems that my instinct was correct. He only had one silly rack which cost more than our entire bathroom
So I consulted my erudite friend, M. Google, who introduced me to the simple wooden racks – rather like chopping boards – that can be bought for not very much, according to M. le Goo
I decided that I would make my own, using a piece of old wood found in the house itself. I had visions of using a patinated oak floorboard, of course
There are none going begging, as far as I can see 🙂

But last night after the plumbers had left I found this unpromising shelf, recently ripped from a (probably late 1800s) walk-in bedroom cupboard to make space for a water heater. I removed a few hooks and nails from the underside, cut a piece off and then scrubbed it with steel wool and white spirit. As you can see, the wood came up nicely and I even left the original uneven unsawn edge. I added toilet seat dampers to protect the bath enamel and to hold the shelf in place, then treated it with an oil-based waterproof finish. Simplicity itself
I could have added a wineglass holder, but no-one tells this psycho bitch where to put her wine glass I don’t think I need one
It could almost double up as a cheese board!
If IKEA had made it, it would be called ‘BJÖRD’ or ‘BÊAM’
But they didn’t make it, did they?
Because it belongs to this house, a token minimalist item. And it cost nothing
The bath will be an even greater pleasure this evening, I am sure, now that I can enjoy a glass of red wine and listen to a bit of Lana Del Ray…
Well done!! Had a similar experience trying to find a housing for the kitchen sink. The extremely posh kitchen shop offered two completely uninteresting versions of laminate over chipboard and an eight week wait for an outrageous price. We skipped off to the local recycling shop found a cabinet just the right size for €70 and wrestled it home. I cut a hole out of the top as well as a couple of access holes for the plumber, re-engineered the left hand drawer, bolted the whole thing onto the wall and dropped the sink straight in. We had running water (hot and cold) the next day. The scrap from cutting out the top became shelves for our cook books. Our wine glasses are rarely at rest and never visit either shelf.
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Your wine glasses sound dynamic. Love your style!
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We cheated. I bought the skirting for a house we never actually bought in the UK and sent it to France with other stuff, sure that it would be useful one day. It saved us getting the entire walls boarded, so worked out well x
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There’s nothing more satisfying than DIYing your way to exactly what you want.
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Brilliant
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Psycho Bitch … let me introduce you to the woman in the mirror!!! Your plank is inspired. I love it. And I am glad you enjoyed a good weekend’s toil with a husband that you failed to fall out with!! X
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Sorry, who SAYS
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Lovely. I have something similar in mind, and I have already considered where to put my glass. Anyway, who days you are a psycho bitch, I thought that was my job?
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It’s perfect! Now you must reveal where you found skirting board with the proper shaped top in France- I’ve never managed it.
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