Bathroom Design Ideas

A designer bathroom is something that many people aspire to, since the opulence and sheer style that such a room possesses is truly remarkable and may give you the feeling of being transported into another world. Yet even importing your very own specified designer bathroom from abroad, or having it custom made to fit your specific needs by employing the designer yourself, may cause you some unexpected headaches.

Usually your designer bathroom will be installed perfectly and will look great, which is after all its purpose. To reduce the possibility of problems if things go wrong be careful, when making the initial purchase, that you have some kind of redress should your bath spring a leak, or the bidet stop working. It is true that purchasing a designer bathroom means that you are buying quality items, but they too can go wrong. The likelihood of this happening many be less than if you buy a very cheap bathroom, but remember that nothing is perfect, so don’t leave anything to chance.

You also need to establish whether you can obtain replacement parts if something does fail. When asking this, you should also check where the products are manufactured, since many items sold as designer are actually made in China and exported to Europe. From there they arrive in the UK, still under the guise of being Italian or French, ‘designer’ products. If you are importing a bathroom, you should also make sure that it is clear whose responsibility it is if anything is damaged during transportation.

Otherwise, just enjoy your beautiful new bathroom.

Cast iron baths are still available and can be easily sourced. This is despite presenting some practical challenges in terms of their weight, the fact that it is not always easy to fit such a bath, since you need to make sure that your floor can support the weight and that they can be difficult to manoeuvre through the bathroom door.

However, before you simply fall in love with the concept of a genuine cast iron bath, do think about the practicalities. Will your bathroom floor support it, if you are installing it in a first floor room? This is actually a serious consideration and although your floor may not instantly collapse when you get the bath into the room, it may lead to structural weaknesses, so check this out.

Next, can you get the bath upstairs? This may sound a stupid question, but it is a real issue. A cast iron bath is very, very heavy and you may well need additional space to get it upstairs, as well as a strong team of people to carry it.

You also need to think about how you use a bath. Give serious thought to the possibility that objects might accidentally be dropped onto it. The surface will chip if it is damaged and this can lead to the formation of rust. You can buy re-touching kits to cover any chips, but these are not easy to apply.

If, after all these considerations, you still feel that a cast iron bath is the one for you and you want that authentic feel to your bathroom, then simply enjoy it.

Freestanding baths can offer a real sense of luxury within a domestic bathroom.  They can either stand proud and alone in the centre of the room, or be close to a wall.  Some are fitted onto legs; others are actually on the floor.  Some have a roll top, which is a very traditional type of bath, but there is actually a wide range of designs now on the market, many of which are very chic, angular and modern in design.

The main design feature of the free standing bath is that it looks much less cluttered and fixed than a standard bath and through installing it in the centre of a room; you can make a real focus of the bath.  You can even have it near a window, so that you can gaze out on the sky.

The legs or feet that the bath has fitted can also make a real statement about your way of life and your sense of style and there is certainly a wide variety of accessories to complement them, so you can tailor your choice to your exact specification.

It is also possible to have a whirlpool bath that is freestanding.  However, if you do choose a freestanding bath, placed in the centre of the room, then you should bear in mind that you will have to have a separate shower, since it will not be possible to fit a powerful shower to the bath; you can have a shower mixer fitted to the taps, but these are not as powerful as an electric shower.