What Has Happened Before

Welcome to the first installation of the bathroomgurureview design training series.

In this series we have broken down the design process into four main categories

1. An introduction to bathroom design

2. Refining the design process

3. Planning your design project

4. Construction and execution techniques

This module is entitled: Looking Back on Bathroom Design

In order to get the full benefit of designing and remodeling your bathroom you need to first understand where it came from and where it’s going:

“Summary: Bathrooms used to be very predictable and ordinary in layout and execution. A prevalent trend in design is the personalization of the space. Homeowners want a beautiful and exciting planned bath that is visually integrated into the design of the rest of their home.”

A Brief History of Bathroom Design

So, before we actually begin the design process let’s briefly take look at how the room has changed over the years and why homeowners are remodeling the room. It should come as no surprise to anyone that technology has been a major influence in the evolution of your bathing area. It started out as a convenient space for performing personal hygienic tasks and has progressed over the years to become a room of rejuvenation and relaxation but for the most part, to be realistic, the bathroom itself is still a room where privacy has always been a requirement.

Baths of Distinction

That of course would all depend upon who is using the facility and is also dictated by lifestyle adaptions. Couples for example would be more willing to openly share the space whereas individual family members might be a bit more modest, so you have to take this into consideration when coming up with a layout that will work for everyone.

I believe that one of the most noticeable changes to the bathroom in the latter part of the century is the fact that lavatories used to be very predictable and ordinary in layout and execution. Nowadays, for the most part, bathrooms have developed into showcases of distinctive design ideas and have gone the route of greater individualistic expression.

We can really see this change if we look back at how the typical home was laid out. There were the characteristic entertaining areas such as the dining room or living room and then there was the bathroom, yeah that room, the room hidden away at the back of the home where people did their unmentionables. It was all hush, hush. You went in closed the door did your duty and nobody talked about it unless it backed up or broke down.

This mentality for the most part was the reason why home decorators primarily concentrated their design efforts on the more public areas such as the living room, parlour and entry to the home. As families began to cocoon their lifestyles, due to economic slowdown or political unrest around the world, other areas of the home such as the kitchen, bedrooms and family room also garnered some stylistic attention as it became chic to turn your home into a personal refuge.

Cocooning Trends

The family home became a dwelling to focus and center your universe; a calm place in the midst of the ever prevalent chaotic steam of life. Family sought stability. Instead of starting the home buying process by purchasing small and selling your home every couple of years, each time buying a bigger home, families were now staying put and instead chose to expand and improve upon their present residence.

Where to Draw the Line?

Eventually this new train of thought spilled over into the bathroom to overcome the utilitarian mindset and spur on a creative revolution of high styling and chic decorating ideas. The spurned love child now became the cherished prodigy as it came of age showing its true colors. In some bathrooms, the fine line between the bathing area and the rest of the home has all but disappeared with the inception of open concept layouts such as wet rooms.

In other cases the distinction between the bathroom and[...]