Franny and Zooey

This bathroom is inspired by the JD Salinger book Franny and Zooey. My friend Jen asked me to design a room based on her favorite book and I accepted the challenge. I chose a bathroom because an important scene in the book takes place in a bathroom. Zooey Glass reads a long letter from his brother while sitting in the bath until his mother, Bessie, barges in and engages him in a conversation. The book takes place in 1955 and the Glass family lives in an old apartment in New York so it made sense to include an antique clawfoot tub in the room. Since Zooey sits in it for so long I chose the slipper shape so one can sit in it with comfort and ease.

The main premise behind the book involves the recitation of the "Jesus Prayer" so of course I had to incorporate some sort of religious artifact into the room. I didn't want to go overboard so I included a lovely black and white print of Mary praying with baby Jesus.

The Glass family is extremely verbose and intelligent so I thought the SAT words shower curtain would be a humorous addition. Also, Salinger describes the Glass living room to be jam-packed with books so why stop there? Why not add piles of books to the bathroom too? You can actually buy vintage books online to create "the feel and gravitas of a man of letters and means". I picture these books to be stacked on an old steamer trunk inside and out so I included a, perhaps impractical and extremely overpriced, but altogether beautiful Faulkner Table Trunk. Okay, so who has over three grand to spend on a table made to look like a vintage trunk? Not me but I absolutely loved it and had to include it anyway. Rusty vintage fishing weights are being used a bookends.

The vintage New York City subway sign is a nod to the location of the Glass apartment and also adds visual interest. During one part of the verbal exchange in the bathroom Mrs. Glass opens their rather large medicine cabinet and mentally ticks off its overflowing contents. So of course I had to include a medicine cabinet big enough to include apparently every toiletry and medicine in existence during the '50s.

Paint color is Benjamin Moore Pike's Peak Gray.


Resources:

Slipper Antique Bathtub ($4018.80) from SimplyBathtubs.com
Merola Tile Old World Hex With Dot tile ($4.75 sq ft) from Home Depot
Mary Reads a Prayer Book While Jesus Watches print ($184.99-framed) from allposters.com
Top 500 SAT Words Shower Curtain ($20) from Target
Vintage Leather Decorator Books ($10 each) from Harvest Book Company
Faulkner Table Trunk ($3,395) from Jayson Home and Garden
Fishing Weights ($99 for set of 4) from Restoration Hardware
Subway Sign Art ($795) from Restoration Hardware
Zenith Beveled Tri-View Medicine Cabinet ($149.88) from Amazon.com
Collection of Antique Rx Store Medicine Bottles - Set of 3 ($36) from Three Potato Four
Echo Large Art Deco Porcelain Wall light ($128) from Rejuvenation
Charcoal Damask Towels ($8-$36) from Anthropologie