Bath Shower Home Design

Sign up for eletters today and get the latest how-to from Fine Homebuilding, plus special offers. Freestanding bathtubs are popular, and with good reason. Whether modern or traditional, they add elegance to a bathroom like nothing else. Though often reserved for bigger baths, freestanding tubs can work in smaller spaces with the right layout, design, and tub choice. (Still, while freestanding tubs are perfectly suited to master baths, they’re not right for all situations. They may be problematic for bathing small children , for example.) A freestanding tub is typically the focal point of the bathroom, so it makes sense to determine its location first and then to lay out the other elements — the shower, vanity, and toilet — around the tub, using them in ways that support the design. There are several things to keep in mind when including a freestanding tub in a bath, starting with the size of the tub. Tub length is best determined by having the bather try out different tubs. A 6-ft. tub...

The privacy, comfort, luxury and extreme sanitary conditions that we associate with our bathrooms today are the result of thousands of years of civil engineering and social change. Indoor plumbing, flushing toilets , heated water, water pressure , electricity and ventilation may be features we take for granted in our modern bathroom. But all of our bathroom’s high tech gadgets had a long history in the making. Although humans have always had the need to use toilet facilities and have used bathing as a way to cleanse themselves, it took centuries for our culture to bring these two important functions together into one convenient room. Let’s explore the fascinating history of the bathroom and see how much, or how little, has changed. Ancient Societies and Public Bathing When we talk about the activities we perform in our bathrooms today, we tend to speak of everything that relates to taking care of our bodies: washing, bathing, cleaning, relieving ourselves, manicuring our outer appear...