Turning white with envy

Bathroom envy strikes when you least expect it. Visiting a friend’s house or staying in a new hotel, you suddenly realize that you cannot live without Italian glass tiles, marble counters and a sink that looks like an oversized earthenware pasta bowl. Before you succumb to a complete renovation that will drain your bank account, consider some relatively inexpensive home-spun options that give you the home-spa look.

The first step is to mount one of those top-shelf, nickel-plated racks that seem to have been invented mostly to show off one’s good taste in towels and toiletries. Inspired by train and bistro racks from the late 1900s, Restoration Hardware’s collections include models with glass shelves and white ceramic rods that look at home in even the most streamlined 21st century bath.

Nothing says fresh and clean like white, but the trick is to use tones and textures to induce a mood that is sensual rather than sterile. Stock your new shelves with a host of self-indulgent summer luxuries: fluffy towels and robes to wrap yourself in, woven mats and shaggy cotton rugs to tickle the feet. For a little warmth, add ivory-colored accessories reminiscent of an old apothecary and fragrant pastel potions that soothe the skin and spirit. If you insist on having an element that is clinical, you might include a thoroughly modern scale that measures weight and body fat.

Feeling ambitious? A coat of pale paint or matte-finish wallpapers in a graphic or powder-room print will stir up envy in someone else.