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.
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