WHAT has ailed most bathrooms until quite recently, has been the

Cinderella syndrome. While other apartments enjoyed tender loving care

and had money lavished on their beautification, the smallest room was

left out in the cold.

But all that has changed now. From a somewhat austere, chilly past,

bathrooms have entered the ever-growing home fashion stakes. The biggest

trend of all has been the return to popularity of the period bathroom,

following other areas of the home into a more nostalgic, romantic wave.

Where bathrooms are concerned, the Edwardian era ranks supreme in suite

styles, with Victoriana also enjoying a revival, although its more

ornate, moulded and decorated looks make it less generally popular.

As far as colour is concerned, white is the biggest seller these days,

in a complete turn-around, which has seen strong colours like chocolate

brown, burgundy and deep blue fall from favour. They have given way to

soft pastels in neutral shades, which blend happily with most colour

schemes. Additionally, they echo the gentler themes which have been

sweeping through homes in the late eighties.

Some of the trendiest bathrooms in the world are British. Czech and

Speake, a London company, was established only eight years ago, yet

their name has become synonymous with high-style living. The past year

has seen them export some 30% of their output to designer-conscious

destinations as diverse as Japan, Italy and the US. Just to complete

that designer-must of total co-ordination, they have introduced a range

of toiletries, from bath gels and perfumes, to towels and bath robes; as

well as a variety of matching accessories such as toilet-roll holders,

towel stands and mirrors.

The Czech and Speake style is one plain, classic Edwardian white

suite, with mahogany loo seat, and tap and shower fittings in uncoated

or non-tarnish brass, chromium or nickel plate. The free-standing bath

makes an important focal point, standing solidly on ball and claw feet.

The suite will set you back around #2500, surprisingly reasonable

considering it is seen in some of the trendiest bathrooms.

Just back from a major bathroom and kitchen show in Dallas, Frank

Sawkins said: ''There's an enormous revival in America of New England

houses, restoration has become more and more fashionable.''

Similar trends are taking place here too. David Stevenson is managing

director of D. O. Stevenson -- Nova Bathrooms in Glasgow. He too sees

strong evidence of the appeal of the period look. ''Many people are

modernising houses rather than moving just now,'' he explained, ''the

high interest rates have a lot to do with it. Period style suites can

look more appropriate in older properties.''

In his experience, the average expenditure on a new bathroom is likely

to be in the region of #2000-#2500, although many times that figure is

spent by some customers seeking a very special end result.

In addition to white, pastels and the neutral grey and champagne

comprise Glasgow's suite favourites with toning tiling, sometimes with

matching borders, or an inset ''picture'' composed from a set of six or

eight tiles.

With Glasgow's profusion of Victorian properties, some customers opt

for reproduction tiling of the era, taken to dado level, with wallpaper

or panelling above that, to retain the appropriate look for the period.

Wonderfully atmospheric is Sanitan's white moulded suite, selling around

#2000 inclusive of fittings, or Vernon Tutbury's cottagey suite with its

range of floral patterns, priced about #1500 to #2000.

The art deco influence has found new favour in recent times after many

years in the doldrums. Suites follow the quite aerodynamic lines of the

period, and again, there are lots of matching accessories to provide a

total look.

David Stevenson reports that showers have never been in greater

demand, with customers looking for increasingly powerful versions, made

possible with pump systems, which can give up to eight different water

effects from one head.

Existing water systems may need to be upgraded to cope with the demand

made by these high pressure showers. Prices range from just under #100

to #1000, for just the systems.

Still seen as a luxury, is the whirlpool or spa bath. In the more

powerful whirlpool system, water is pulled through an inlet outside the

bath, taken through a pump, then blown out with a mixture of air through

jets on the bath wall. Spa baths usually have jets placed along their

base, which pump hot air from an adjacent blower. Water is not

recirculated in this system. Both whirlpools and spas can be fitted to

existing baths, or the complete systems purchased, factory-fitted.

For those with the space to accommodate them, a sauna cabin attracts a

lot of interest, completely installed and fitted right down to vinyl

floor-covering for #1682. That includes a three-year guarantee, and the

little pine cabin is both neat and attractive.

In Edinburgh, Galleon Bathrooms report buoyant demand for fun tubs --

three foot long baths which offer a choice of depth, and come in a

variety of soft pastels. Starting from about #300, they can also be

fitted with a whirlpool, and prove popular among older people, and for

fitting in homes where space is cramped. Since they are only around six

inches longer than a shower, they offer an option to would-be bathers

for whom conventional baths are out of the question, for reasons of

space.

Fashion, whether in clothes or homes, means change of course; so now,

just as fitted bathrooms compete in the home budget with fitted kitchens

and bedrooms, signs in London indicate a newer look is on the horizon.

Free standing bathroom furniture such as country-look dressers is

creeping in. All very well for spacious homes, but bad news for the less

generously proportioned . . . and anyway, most women can live without

yet more furniture to be hauled out for cleaning behind. Long live

fitted units.