Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - Imagining the Possibilities
Over the years, bathrooms have gained an ever more important place in the home, and the bathroom design profession has expanded considerably. Homeowners invest increasing amounts of money every year in what has become a real spa culture - bathroom design today includes Jacuzzis and whirlpools, water jets, huge bathtubs, saunas and steam baths, indoor swimming pools, and even high-end audio-visual equipment for the ultimate cinema-spa-bathroom experience. The possibilities are really endless. In this series of blogs, I rely on my experience as a London-based bathroom design professional to uncover the secrets of how both historic and contemporary bathrooms can be wonderful spaces to luxuriate, unwind and refresh.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - International Perspectives
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - International Perspectives
Do you ever invite guests from abroad to come and stay with you? When travellers from continental Europe or the United States enter the bathroom of a London home, they are often astonished at how old-fashioned the bathroom design can appear. Instead of fabulous and shiny bronze-trimmed fixtures and the fitted bathtubs and basins that are so familiar to them, they will experience antique taps, claw-foot baths, and lavatories with pull-down flush chains! Even the wealthiest London professionals whose homes are showcases of interior design excellence will often have bathroom designs that - to foreigners - seem almost prehistoric!
However, it is essential to understand that a bathroom design that harkens back to a bygone era need not (and often does not) diminish the impact and interior design quality of the rest of most London homes. Indeed, bathroom design teams in London will often very deliberately create such a look. Great Britain loves its traditions, and even very contemporary bathroom fixtures will often include features that echo an historic past.
Do you ever invite guests from abroad to come and stay with you? When travellers from continental Europe or the United States enter the bathroom of a London home, they are often astonished at how old-fashioned the bathroom design can appear. Instead of fabulous and shiny bronze-trimmed fixtures and the fitted bathtubs and basins that are so familiar to them, they will experience antique taps, claw-foot baths, and lavatories with pull-down flush chains! Even the wealthiest London professionals whose homes are showcases of interior design excellence will often have bathroom designs that - to foreigners - seem almost prehistoric!
However, it is essential to understand that a bathroom design that harkens back to a bygone era need not (and often does not) diminish the impact and interior design quality of the rest of most London homes. Indeed, bathroom design teams in London will often very deliberately create such a look. Great Britain loves its traditions, and even very contemporary bathroom fixtures will often include features that echo an historic past.
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - Controlling Water Temperature
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - Controlling Water Temperature
Some people consider it a disadvantage that many London bathroom designs do not include mixer taps. In the olden days, the hot and cold taps were often positioned on different sides of the washbasin, so that the hot water could cause minor burns and the cold tap could then be used to reduce the resulting inflammation and swelling! In order to address this problem and create a more comfortable solution, London bathroom design professionals in the 1900s started to recommend detachable double-ended rubber hoses that would connect the two taps and create a single stream of water at a blended temperature. In the 1980s, with increasing foreign travel, some London hotels and resorts implemented new bathroom designs, with fittings that are similar to mixer taps, mainly to better accommodate their international guests. However, they failed to include the essential internal mixing tumbler in their bathroom design specifications! As a consequence, if you go to any London hotel today you will often find that the water coming out of the seemingly standard single-stream basin tap is scaldingly hot on one side of the stream and close to 0˚C on the other!
Some people consider it a disadvantage that many London bathroom designs do not include mixer taps. In the olden days, the hot and cold taps were often positioned on different sides of the washbasin, so that the hot water could cause minor burns and the cold tap could then be used to reduce the resulting inflammation and swelling! In order to address this problem and create a more comfortable solution, London bathroom design professionals in the 1900s started to recommend detachable double-ended rubber hoses that would connect the two taps and create a single stream of water at a blended temperature. In the 1980s, with increasing foreign travel, some London hotels and resorts implemented new bathroom designs, with fittings that are similar to mixer taps, mainly to better accommodate their international guests. However, they failed to include the essential internal mixing tumbler in their bathroom design specifications! As a consequence, if you go to any London hotel today you will often find that the water coming out of the seemingly standard single-stream basin tap is scaldingly hot on one side of the stream and close to 0˚C on the other!
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - A Brief History of Bathing
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - A Brief History of Bathing
Exploring London bathroom design schemes is often very fascinating - and not only because of the wonderful sense of tradition and connections to the past! Most British people love to wash and get dressed in a designer bathroom that feels seventy years out of date, because it appeals to the cultural sensibilities of the nation. We Londoners love to make do and hold onto the familiar, rather than having to deal with all the hassle and disruption of a bathroom design update! We absolutely adore anything that seems antiquated or historic.
In the 1800s, many London houses did not feature a room that was designated for ablutions. Indeed, in those days the profession of bathroom design was only just beginning. As far as we can tell, residents of London in the 1850s washed much more infrequently than we do today. The lack of good approaches to bathroom design meant they would typically wash themselves in bedrooms or walk-in wardrobes. Their key implement was a piece of furniture called the "washstand" and plenty of waterjugs that the servants would fill from the local public fountain and heat over the kitchen fire. Only the poshest bathroom designs would include a bathtub with its own water supply via built-in pipework. Even though London 's first ever piped-in bathtub dates from the 1100s, such luxuries did not become widespread in British bathroom design until many centuries later!
Exploring London bathroom design schemes is often very fascinating - and not only because of the wonderful sense of tradition and connections to the past! Most British people love to wash and get dressed in a designer bathroom that feels seventy years out of date, because it appeals to the cultural sensibilities of the nation. We Londoners love to make do and hold onto the familiar, rather than having to deal with all the hassle and disruption of a bathroom design update! We absolutely adore anything that seems antiquated or historic.
In the 1800s, many London houses did not feature a room that was designated for ablutions. Indeed, in those days the profession of bathroom design was only just beginning. As far as we can tell, residents of London in the 1850s washed much more infrequently than we do today. The lack of good approaches to bathroom design meant they would typically wash themselves in bedrooms or walk-in wardrobes. Their key implement was a piece of furniture called the "washstand" and plenty of waterjugs that the servants would fill from the local public fountain and heat over the kitchen fire. Only the poshest bathroom designs would include a bathtub with its own water supply via built-in pipework. Even though London 's first ever piped-in bathtub dates from the 1100s, such luxuries did not become widespread in British bathroom design until many centuries later!
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - Portable Baths and Showers
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - Portable Baths and Showers
In the olden days, before the "golden age" of bathroom design, portable bathtubs were very popular. They could be moved around and used in practically any room. Bathroom design professionals created a number of different models, including the terrific "slipper tub". Imagine one of the fashionable ankle-high black boots that you often see being worn today by London ladies. The slipper tub is very similar in shape, extending to the height of one's shoulders while one is seated in the bath. Often the bathroom design professional would select a tub with an inbuilt stove - the fiery coals would keep the water nice and toasty. An innovation that was a hallmark of London bathroom design in the early 1900s was the portable shower system. This remarkable device was basically a portable vat of heated water that could be held aloft by a butler and flushed out onto the resident's head in any splash-safe area of the house!
In the olden days, before the "golden age" of bathroom design, portable bathtubs were very popular. They could be moved around and used in practically any room. Bathroom design professionals created a number of different models, including the terrific "slipper tub". Imagine one of the fashionable ankle-high black boots that you often see being worn today by London ladies. The slipper tub is very similar in shape, extending to the height of one's shoulders while one is seated in the bath. Often the bathroom design professional would select a tub with an inbuilt stove - the fiery coals would keep the water nice and toasty. An innovation that was a hallmark of London bathroom design in the early 1900s was the portable shower system. This remarkable device was basically a portable vat of heated water that could be held aloft by a butler and flushed out onto the resident's head in any splash-safe area of the house!
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - The Public Bathhouse
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - The Public Bathhouse
Bathroom design professionals in the 1800s would often find themselves employed to create not bathrooms but bathhouses. The bathroom itself only started to become popular when well-heeled London gentlemen started to equip their country mansions with smaller replicas of Roman-inspired dive pools. Enterprising London bathroom designers then started recommending more compact versions for city residences. They advertised the benefits both in terms of regular cleansing (protection from the diseases of the city) and to aid certain ailments. In addition, such luxury bathroom design schemes definitely added to the feeling of opulence and plushness that aristocrats of the era craved!
Bathroom design professionals in the 1800s would often find themselves employed to create not bathrooms but bathhouses. The bathroom itself only started to become popular when well-heeled London gentlemen started to equip their country mansions with smaller replicas of Roman-inspired dive pools. Enterprising London bathroom designers then started recommending more compact versions for city residences. They advertised the benefits both in terms of regular cleansing (protection from the diseases of the city) and to aid certain ailments. In addition, such luxury bathroom design schemes definitely added to the feeling of opulence and plushness that aristocrats of the era craved!
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - Bedside Bathing
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - Bedside Bathing
It wasn't until the 1800s that London residents began to ask bathroom design professionals to actually install fixed baths and handwash basins in what were then called "dressing rooms" or "cloakrooms." But even in those days, many of the more wealthy landed gentry would typically prefer to enjoy their weekly bath beside the bedroom fire. They kept asking their bathroom design team: "Why would I ever want to pay for having water piped into my home when I have servants who will carry it to my bedside for me?"
In my entire career as a London-based interior design professional, I have seen maybe just one or two of these antique portable bathtubs in residential settings. If you are very fortunate indeed, you might spot one in the corner of an ancient farmhouse that has been converted into a B&B in the Scottish Highlands. These days it will typically be kept only for historic or cultural reasons - these houses will have running water now that we're already in 2011!
It wasn't until the 1800s that London residents began to ask bathroom design professionals to actually install fixed baths and handwash basins in what were then called "dressing rooms" or "cloakrooms." But even in those days, many of the more wealthy landed gentry would typically prefer to enjoy their weekly bath beside the bedroom fire. They kept asking their bathroom design team: "Why would I ever want to pay for having water piped into my home when I have servants who will carry it to my bedside for me?"
In my entire career as a London-based interior design professional, I have seen maybe just one or two of these antique portable bathtubs in residential settings. If you are very fortunate indeed, you might spot one in the corner of an ancient farmhouse that has been converted into a B&B in the Scottish Highlands. These days it will typically be kept only for historic or cultural reasons - these houses will have running water now that we're already in 2011!
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - Victorian and Edwardian are welcome in 2011
Strategies and Secrets from the Notebook of a London Bathroom Design Professional - Victorian and Edwardian are welcome in 2011
Most bathroom design schemes in London today tend to feel not so much medieval but more Victorian/Edwardian. They harken back to somewhere in the range of 1890-1935. The most noticeable features tend to be standalone iron bathtubs and adjacent boiler tanks. On the continent, bathtubs started to be wall-integrated in the 1940s, but in London the idea never became very popular. However, the 1960s saw many of the older-style bathtubs being thrown out as buildings were renovated and bathroom design professionals were called on to revamp London 's living spaces. But in the 1980s and beyond, the fashions changed, and once again London's best bathroom design studios fielded request for modern versions of the age-old Edwardian styles of bathroom furniture.
Wealthy London residents in the 1980s would typically visit one of the better-known auction houses with their bathroom design professional at their side to buy beautiful restored antique clawfoot bathtubs. At about the same time, some enterprising bathroom furniture manufacturers started to mass-produce reproductions of the famed standalone designs. Without the eye of an experienced bathroom design expert, it can be tricky to know whether or not a historic-looking tub is authentic … but regardless, if you visit London today and have the opportunity to luxuriate in one of these Edwardian-style masterpieces, you will definitely get a great sense of what London bathroom life was like in the early 1900s.
Most bathroom design schemes in London today tend to feel not so much medieval but more Victorian/Edwardian. They harken back to somewhere in the range of 1890-1935. The most noticeable features tend to be standalone iron bathtubs and adjacent boiler tanks. On the continent, bathtubs started to be wall-integrated in the 1940s, but in London the idea never became very popular. However, the 1960s saw many of the older-style bathtubs being thrown out as buildings were renovated and bathroom design professionals were called on to revamp London 's living spaces. But in the 1980s and beyond, the fashions changed, and once again London's best bathroom design studios fielded request for modern versions of the age-old Edwardian styles of bathroom furniture.
Wealthy London residents in the 1980s would typically visit one of the better-known auction houses with their bathroom design professional at their side to buy beautiful restored antique clawfoot bathtubs. At about the same time, some enterprising bathroom furniture manufacturers started to mass-produce reproductions of the famed standalone designs. Without the eye of an experienced bathroom design expert, it can be tricky to know whether or not a historic-looking tub is authentic … but regardless, if you visit London today and have the opportunity to luxuriate in one of these Edwardian-style masterpieces, you will definitely get a great sense of what London bathroom life was like in the early 1900s.
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