say hello to my little flange.

or, how to make your own copper pipe shower curtain rail.

Call me Kylie (for i am that *lucky with this one), but i need to tell you about the time my delicious landlord granted me a wish and allowed me to pretty up my bathroom.

The previous iteration was wildly dated (and, tbh, a little gross), but being a rental, i was aware i couldn’t push my luck. On a functional level, everything still worked, so there was no real reason for him to spend any of his landowner pennies on my urge for improved aesthetics.

Yet, somehow, he still did. Swoon.

Decorating a space on someone else’s dime is a lesson in compromise. There’s heaps more i would change if it were my place, corners i wouldn’t cut. But, there are things you simply can’t ask for. Well, you can, but it feels rude to take the piss.

To start, i painted over the sallow yellow walls with Farrow & Ball Pink Ground. The room is north-facing and cries out for a peachy glow on the darkest of Cotswold mornings. Warm undertones were a must. Something gentle, nurturing, feminine. PG hits that spot.

The biggest ick in the old bathroom was the wall tiles. Big white squares, with grout stained almost orange by hard water, limescale, and in a twist too far, the copper water pipes that run through this old gnarly house. i kid you not.

Those tiles had to go.

Being simultaneously budget conscious and wanting to keep the renovation simple for his farm manager/builder dude, i sucked it up and chose anything but extraordinary white metro tiles. Nothing too offensive or likely to be rejected by the laird, i figured.

i asked for them to be fitted vertically, to draw the eye upwards and hopefully make the room feel a little taller while echoing the lead on the window close by. Dark grout was also a must… no more yellow! (Can you tell it’s not my favourite colour?).

The previous floor was also tiled. There wasn’t all that much wrong with it - other than being an ick (big, huge, squares and dirty grout). It was also cold on the feet. My heart wanted to rip it out and lay teeny mosaic hexagons, but i was vetoed and encouraged to lay vinyl over the top (for ease: his, not mine).

i accepted this fate.

Samples were brought over, but i recoiled in horror at all his offerings: they were just so… ordinary. Life would be so much simpler if i could settle, but i find it so, well, unsettling - downright discombobulating and stressy, in fact.

After days of indecision, i took the hit and ordered something i knew i would love and feel proud of - something that honoured my whimsical heart, something a little extraordinary, something… peachy.

i don’t regret it at all. Contrary little thing, i’m telling ya.

Unfortunately, as much as i adore brass, the chrome shower, vertical radiator and old tap fittings had to stay. You have to get over it. The glass shower screen though, that also had to go. Enter the copper pipe shower curtain rail (keep reading for a super simple how-to).

As for the rest of the room, i was in charge of finishing touches: sourcing the shower curtain, shipping S hooks in from California, switching out the loo roll holder, that kind of thing. i guess you could say i was in charge of the vibe.

It’s still not finished. It needs art on the wall, fresh towels, etc. - the wish list is always long. But, it has come a long way, baby, and i am so happy about that.

For the rail itself, here's a quick how-to, should you want to fit one yourself!

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What you need:

• 2 metres of 15mm copper pipe (or measured to fit your shower space)

• 1 x 15mm 90-degree copper elbow

• 2 x wall/floor flanges to fit 15mm pipe

• 6 x screws

• soldering iron

• solder

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What to do:

1. cut down the pipe into two pieces according to your shower space/size (one long piece and one shorter piece for the ceiling to rail drop)

2. using the soldering iron and solder, connect the longer pipe to the shorter pipe using the corner elbow

3. similarly, attach the two flanges to the two ends of the now joined pipe

4. screw the flanges into the ceiling and wall

All done! Easy peasy, and pretty as a peach.

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Where to buy:

for the shower curtain rail:

flange

copper pipe

copper elbow

screws

for the vibe:

shower curtain (no longer available, sorry)

shower curtain hooks

bath rack (not pictured)

toilet roll holder

storage crates

paint

wall tiles

vinyl flooring

pinterest board of joy

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Let me know in the comments if you ever give it a whirl, or if you have questions about anything i’ve listed. Or just to nerd out about styling the vibe; that could be fun too!

Lyss. x

*not so lucky in love, lol.