Soho Grand Bathroom: Aviary by Schumacher

When my friends Emma and Jon were visiting New York earlier in the year, they stayed at the Soho Grand Hotel. I was living there at the time, so I strode in, looking like I belonged, and they sneaked me up to their room so I could have a look at the bathroom. Emma has a very good idea of what my taste is (she recently tore a photo shoot of Rita Konig's apartment out of a magazine for me as she knew I would love it, and she was so right - the Polaroids over the fireplace are one of my favourite design statements ever.)

At the hotel, I admired the metro tiles and the penny round tiles on the floor, of course, but I loved the wallpaper with a passion usually reserved for silver shoes, savoy cabbage gratin or daytime buying-property-at-auction tv programmes.

The wallpaper is Aviary by Schumacher. It was designed by Saul Steinberg, a cartoonist for The New Yorker, in the 1950s, and also comes in colour.

They also sell this charming New York wallpaper by the same illustrator, and there is also a similar design, Views of Paris.

I'm wondering if there is a place for the Aviary design in my flat - but I think a fourth bird wallpaper might be a bird too far.

Third image via Flickr. Bottom two images via The Peak of Chic.