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 Most British people love to wash and get dressed in a designer bathroom that feels seventy years out of date, because it appeals to the cultural sensibilities of the nation.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!