Other awkward things about our bathroom, and our home in general, is that the cabinetry was apparently built for NBA stars. (I didn't feel like standing in the shower to take pictures of the cabinets, so you'll have to use your imagination.) I can hardly reach the top shelves, let alone put anything up there. It's basically wasted space. And the shelves are too close together to put lotion bottles or anything tall...so those items sit on top of the toilet.I'm looking for a long, flat basket or tray to set on top of the toilet to corral the items that sit there... unless you have a better idea.
We have not a single ounce of counter space, so it's imperative that the toilet seat always be down, since it's the only flat surface in the room. I won't be a happy camper the day that my jewelery holder falls into the abyss.
But really, other than those complaints, the bathroom does have a lot of room for storage, even if it's only helpful to giants, and the shower has brand new tile and faucet. The hot water is SUPER fast too, which is a huge plus during the cold winter months.And, it's consistently the warmest room in the house because it's so small the heat gets trapped in there.
This last photo is above the toilet. All the cabinets that I've been whining about are above the towel bars that you see. I took all these pictures at night, and I'm editing them from work, so now I'm realizing that I should have shown you more. But this will have to do. At least we now have a pretty shower curtain and matching hand towel (Target) and a pretty blue and gold door pull on the medicine cabinet (Urban Outfitters) and the bright and cheery art print (Life Rearranged?)
I also wanted to take just a moment of your Friday to remind you of my Dad's campaign on IndieGoGO, here's what he has to say about it:
The honest story of how Smart Spot came to me began on a stormy Monday morning. I set off to work, stopped off at a local coffee shop for my coffee, and proceeded into the office. Like always, I started my day by placing my phone on my desk, my keys followed, then I spilled my coffee on my phone!
So being a product designer, by noon I had a design of a platform on which I could safely set my phone -- so it would not get dunked again! Like always, I emailed my initial design to my favorite critic, my daughter. Her response was not very positive: “Dad all the phone accessories are so over done! There is literally an accessory for everything. Try something else!”
Call me stubborn, but by the end of the day I had machined a prototype of Smart Spot. I personally fell in love with it, but what do I know? So, I showed it to my secretary. She laughed, and said, "What have you invented today?" It was time to close out my day -- I had literally done nothing on my to-do list.
Spilling my coffee had turned out to consume my entire day.
After a few modifications to Smart Spot, by Friday that week I had in my hand a product I felt was worthy of showing to my biggest critic, my wife. You have to understand that for 26 years of marriage I have been bringing home inventions. Here's how it usually goes: I walk in the door with my prototype in my hand and say, "Honey, look at this!" Her normal response is, "Yea, that’s great, the trash needs to be taken out!" This time it was different, she set her phone on it and went back to texting. We were sitting at our kitchen counter, and then she moved into the kitchen and took it with her. Moving from there to the patio to enjoy some wine, I noticed she took it with her again. At this point, I still had not got much of a review from her. Joking around I said, "You know, I have to take that back to work on Monday right?" She responded, "You will bring it home Monday night, right?" --- I guess she likes it after all.
That next week I made a few more prototypes, and made the decision to send one to my daughter and see what response I would get when she had one in her hand. A few days later her response came in a text message. “Okay, I got your Smart Spot in the mail. I need one for each room in my house and one for my office.” Ha! Now that both my critics have seen the light, the work begins!
Colors, material for the face, non skid for the base… these projects always seem so simple in the beginning -- and then everyone has an opinion. It gets overwhelming at times. Staying focused, I made the decision to carry my prototype with me and showed it to as many people as possible. When I ran out of friends, I went to Starbucks and sat at a table near the line of caffeine depleted people. In 45 minutes I had 22 people ask about Smart Spot. Normal response was, "Hey, that’s very cool! Where can I get one?"
Now I am all in! I ordered mold bases and made a prototype mold. Wow, that sounded so simple, didn’t it? Well, I spent an entire week, plus the weekend making that mold, a sum of 60+ hours. Not kidding, ask my wife, when I get consumed by something not much else in my life gets much attention. Sorry honey, I love you!
Now all this may sound crazy, but I truly love this product!
My goal is simple: get it launched in time for holiday sales. Impossible you might say! Well, if this were a huge company we would still be in meetings discussing designs, colors …etc. This is NOT a big company, and I am the big cheese, head honcho, and chief. Now with my prototype tool in place I can manufacture a limited number of units and promise delivery for the holidays.
Smart Spot comes in two different materials. The lest expensive Smart Spots are injection molded bodies, filled with sand for weight. The more expensive Smart Spots are CNC Machined hand polished and sent out for decorating.
