Holly Golightly famously said that any gentleman with the slightest chic will give $50 for the powder room, but she never said anything about the decor. You can imagine that the restrooms she frequented were full of glamorous ladies in evening gowns perched on velvet settees powdering their noses under a row of lights, or perhaps applying red lipstick to the outer edges of the lips in the hopes of achieving a Jayne Mansfield pout. But somewhere along the way — was it in the 1970s or ‘80s? — bathroom decor became incredibly functional, and downright uninteresting. Why does this matter, you may ask? A clean sink and a working flush may be all that is required, but some people want more from their potty breaks. For the modern generation of Instagram-loving girls about town, the perfect bathroom selfie needs a backdrop that wows as much as the outfit. 

Area restaurants and bars have begun to heed the call and up their game in the water closet, and their dynamo decor has become hard to ignore. Here, we step inside four local latrines that are number one in design.

Insider/Outsider

518 Dauphin St. | Mobile

After working with restaurateurs Matt Lemond and Jake Peavy on their downtown cocktail lounge, POST, interior designer Katie Kirby was thrilled to tackle their next project at the Insider/Outsider. “The one request they both had was to make the ladies’ bathroom something to talk about,” she explains. Using the Gucci tiger wallpaper as her starting point — a wallpaper seen in pop star Miley Cyrus’s Hollywood powder room — Kirby introduced neon signage, geometric tile floors and black marble, creating a bathroom that is fun, energetic and memorable. The stuff selfie dreams are made of!

Provision

100 N. Section St. | Fairhope

Offering a vintage-modern aesthetic to go with your wine vintages and select coffees, Provision has become Fairhope’s living room. The only difference is that this living room has spectacular style and space for all. “It was important to me to weave our brand identity into the interior design,” says owner Elisabeth Hanes. “The bathrooms were another great place to do that — through tile colors that pull in some of our brand colors and wallpaper that echoed our brand’s persona.” She and husband William Hanes enlisted the help of commercial designer Savannah Metcalf of Atlanta to bring the look to life. “Bathrooms can easily be a forgotten piece in commercial spaces, but I love when interior design has a hint of fun in it, and bathrooms are the perfect place to add that playfulness.”

Knucklebones

202 Government St. | Mobile

Brad Custred, owner of the Social Experiment and Government Street’s chicest coffee shop, KnuckleBones, loves to collect images of spaces that inspire. When it came time to put his vision together, however, he admits the process was full of excitement and heavy cursing. “In reality, the only way we pulled it off was having someone to take it all and actually put it together,” he says. “Robert McCown of McCown Design is a friend and my go-to for taking something from inspiration to tangible. He put his magic on the layout and materials, and we really love the way it turned out.” While the dining room is a design destination all its own, the bathrooms don’t disappoint either. Penny rounds on the walls, quirky portraits and gold accents prevail, as does a massive mirror made for group photos with coffee in hand. 

“The process of filling the space with art and furniture was unconventional. It was during Covid and shipping stuff in a timely manner was horrific and I’m not known for my patience. So I had a one-way flight booked to Atlanta, a 20-foot rental truck waiting, and a list of vintage places to stop on my track back to Mobile,” he remembers. The first day, he hit six places and had just one single chair strapped in the back of the truck. “There was no way I was going back and raising that U-haul door for the team to come outside to help and see that lonely chair.” Thankfully, the next few days went better and he filled that truck from Atlanta to New Orleans with a lot of stops in between. “Needless to say, my dramatic raising of the door was a much more enjoyable experience when I pulled up to KnuckleBones. All the furniture and art was sourced, handpicked and delivered in a four-day period. The funny part is I didn’t even end up using that first chair!”

Vandal’s Street Kitchen

6601 Airport Blvd. | Mobile 

The over-the-top design of Vandal’s hits you in the face the moment you walk in the door. Owners Leslie McCleskey, Gerri Mach and Monica Rogers wanted a restaurant that would bring street food and street art together. “It felt right to do a vandalized bathroom with grungy and random things,” explains McCleskey. “We wanted to create a trendy and unique place to get great pictures before you dump … your photos on social media.”

The team enlisted the help of artist Jason Pittman to make their vision a reality. He was excited that the owners of Vandal’s had a cutting-edge vision for their restaurants and wanted to work together. “They basically asked for the art of contradiction, blending fine design with grungy vandalism.” The result is an exciting space that keeps your eye entertained, your stomach happy and your selfie reel looking cool.