Ahoy, matey!

Two days ago, I wrote a post on the nautical trend in fashion.  When I began browsing for some bathroom decor ideas for my new apartment with my soon-to-be-husband, something clicked: why not have a nautical theme in there?  Nothing too cheesy or over the top — just crisp navy trim, white frames, silver Julep accents, maybe a large print on the wall.

Let’s start with the basics: a dramatic white-with-navy-monogram-and-trim shower curtain (by Matouk, available at Neiman Marcus for $328):

Then we’ll add some plush navy towels by Ralph Lauren — monogrammed, of course! (Side note: my favorite home goods e-retailer, horchow.com, often runs special “event pricing” on RL towels and feature free — or extremely low-cost — monogramming.  I’ve had my friends’ initials monogrammed on towel sets and given them away as gifts!)

And maybe a couple of printed towels to spice things up (like these, by Ralph Lauren as well):

I’m envisioning re-purposing a couple of the engraved Julep cups I snagged from potterybarn.com for our toothbrush holder, cotton swabs, etc:

For the walls, I have a few ideas.  One: for the wedding ceremony, I commissioned a vintage-style hand-painted sign that has our name and our wedding date on it after browsing etsy.com (great spot for some unique artsy / graphic design products — most purveyors will customize their products to your specifications, which is always neat).  Though a number of different Etsy shops/designers offer similar products, I snagged mine from Funki Folk Art’s shop because I liked the rustic style, chipped wood, and size.  You can buy one at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Funkifolkart

At any rate, I am going to repurpose the sign and hang it in the bathroom — it just seems appropriate for a “out on the heavy seas” look — especially if I tie navy or yellow ribbon through the loops and hang it up by the bow.  At the other end of the spectrum, I’m thinking of hanging one of Jack and Lulu’s framed monograms (just can’t get enough of the personalized products!  Am I going overboard?) in a navy and green or navy and yellow print (they come framed in big white wood frames):

I figure my fiance will love the nautical theme for two reasons: 1) he loves sailing and he loves Ralph Lauren — i.e. all things preppy and nautical-inspired; b) his current bathroom at his bachelor pad is in navy and black-watch-tartan, so we can repurpose some of his towels in our new space.

He also has this neat old brown wood chest that he currently uses to store surplus toothpaste, advil, and other toiletries — that might be a nice way to round out the theme…