And the lamb fell in love with the lion ...

... and got herself a clawfoot tub for long luxurious "up-to-your-neck-in-bubbles" soaks.
Heh ...

One of the many things I adore in our historic rental apartment that we've been living in for the past 6 years is the clawfoot tub in the only bathroom. It's charming, it's quirky and it's simply perfect for a nice bath on a cold winter afternoon. It also has a shower rig and a wrap-around shower curtain for quick showers and is as versatile as it gets. I'm loving it! I also love the original penny tile with its baby-blue border design despite its cracks and discolored grout. I don't love the original farmhouse sink with the two faucets (one for hot and the other for cold water) and it'd be awesome if we had at least another half bath but for the past couple of years it's worked as well as it could. Did I mention that I love the clawfoot tub?

The Ugly Duckling has currently 2 full baths and an upstairs kitchen. None of them, however, have a clawfoot tub ... *sigh* Our grand plans have us chopping the downstairs full bath into a half bath to create space for a laundry area in the mudroom and turning the upstairs kitchen into a fancy master bath. WITH a clawfoot tub! Not like that would surprise you after my confessions above, n'est-ce pas?

So while we continue the waiting game for the closing date and the begin of our renovations I get to design budget-busting looks on polyvore and browse idea books on Houzz for inspiration. Wanna see?

traditional bathroom design by san francisco architect Doma Architects, Inc.

[Alright, so that's not really a clawfoot tub. It's a free-standing tub but it's gorgeous and I love the airy traditional yet fresh look of this bathroom]

traditional bathroom design by architect Coburn Architecture and Interiors

[There you have it, a real clawfoot tub! Fantastic!]

contemporary bathroom design by boston architect LDa Architecture & Interiors

[Here you get a sneaky peek at a clawfoot tub; again, bright and airy and crisp]

traditional bathroom design by portland interior designer Kirstin Havnaer, Hearthstone Interior Design. LLC

[Look, another free-standing tub. And wainscoting. And the fresh airy brightness like in the other pictures. Notice a trend?]

I love how clawfoot tubs don't care if it's a contemporary sleek bathroom with concrete countertops or a frilly frou-frou oldfashioned salle de bain - they fit right in into any kind of setting. Husband and I mix up to a "farmhouse meets NY City loft" kind of style and I'm telling you, the tub dots off our Ts and crosses our Is.

After poking around on the net and playing with polyvore's editor here's what I came up with for a first draft. Mind you, it hasn't been run past the husband for his approval but I think it balances the feminine and the masculine with the contemporary and the historical quite nicely. What do you think?

Master bath by Littleoldhouse

We're digging penny tile and think that using a dark charcoal, almost black penny tile (maybe with a border pattern of white penny tile along the perimeter of the room) will nicely ground all the bright white and light grey we have planned for the walls and ceiling and fixtures. We're torn on either using wallpaper or a monochromatic stencil (creating the pattern through using a glaze rather than a different color) to add a bit of visual interest so stay tuned for further development of this thought. We'd like a vanity from an old dresser with crisp ceramic vessel sinks. And of course a clawfoot tub. Maybe a corner shower. Maybe. We need to take the measurements over at the house and draw it out on the floor. Maybe even use blue tape to lay it out on the floor? Hmm ...

Oh, yes, color! We love the clean, almost austere look of this mood board and since this room gets a LOT of sunlight we'll actually be able to have a live plant or two in this room as well for a pop of color. We're still debating the matter of curtains: airy white Roman shades come to mind.

So, what do you think?