Home Improvement

Since the 1960s, coloured bathroom suites have gone completely out of fashion. On programmes like Homes Under the Hammer, we are led to believe by Lucy Alexander and Martin Roberts that no bathroom suite is preferable to a coloured bathroom suite, the ultimate abomination being the avocado suite. Although brave individuals have attempted to encourage a comeback and revitalise interest in the coloured bathroom suite, most bathroom designers have returned to the white suite and fashions revolve very much around anything white and ceramic.

However, there have been some interesting diversions away from the plain white suite, particularly in basins. Roper Rhodes, for example, create the ultimate in contemporary design where basins can be small, recessed, pedestal, semi pedestal, retro, distinctly modern, and made out of a variety of materials such as stone, glass and composites in a variety of subdued tones. These small bowls can even be attached to antique commodes to create a feeling of authenticity in older houses. Continue reading ‘Bathrooms and back to basics?’ »

When it comes to marketing showers and bathroom furniture, the terminology changes as quickly as the technology and yet often they seem to represent the same thing don’t they? However, the term shower enclosure has now superseded the cabinet and cubicle to become the most popular term for sanitary engineers and bathroom retailers to use in their marketing specifications.

In marketing products, great care, expense and effort is taken by companies to create a sense of luxury for the consumer. Additional add ons such as ‘walk in’ to ‘shower enclosure’ will bring with it a feeling of ease and space. The consumer is not only provided with something potentially high tech where hazardous plastic sides to shower trays and footboards are removed, but also given something desirable where showering becomes easy first thing in the morning when getting ready for work. Continue reading ‘From shower cabinet to shower enclosure’ »

The first thing to remember, if you are looking for a small bathroom suite, is that you are not alone. Most modern bathrooms are a good deal smaller than their predecessors; in fact, the average British bathroom is just 2 x 2.5 metres so it’s no wonder that more and more people are searching for a petite bathroom suite.

Before you go out and buy the first bath of the right dimensions you find, consider the choices allowed by your current plumbing and water systems. Continue reading ‘Small Bathroom Suites – Things To Consider’ »

It’s strange isn’t it! Taking a bath in Roman Britain was commonplace but it has taken over 1500 years since the decline of the Roman Empire for it to become commonplace in Britain again. Up until post WWII, many houses did not have plumbed in bathrooms and certainly if most people felt the need to take a bath, it was a visit to the public bath houses or filling the tin bath in the kitchen. Of course, things have changed somewhat now. Practically all houses in Britain have baths and showers and for modern Britons like the civilised Romans, bathing has become very much a part of life.

Taking a bath, however, still remains a very British preoccupation, and for many of us somewhat of a ritual. Although showers are used extensively, it is the physical act of soaking in a warm soapy tub surrounded by candles at the end of a hard day at the office that often appeals. The shower is, for some, the early morning shock into consciousness, whereas the bath is the relaxant which heralds bed and sleep. People who like a glass of wine in the bath are not unusual. Continue reading ‘The British and their love affair with taking a bath’ »