Bathroom Design
We tend to spend a lot of time in the bathroom, so designing your bathroom is very important.
If you are remodeling or building a new home you should spend as much time designing the bathroom as you would on the kitchen.
A pedestal sink works well if you have limited space, but a timber vanity is also nice and often adds to the resale value, especially if it is a double sink vanity. The layout of these items will typically depend on the actual shape of the space.
If the room has very little light you should go for light colors and mirrors to make the room look brighter and bigger than it is. If the room has natural light you can go for a darker color.
Accessories need to be functional but matching: accessories such as towel rails, bath mats and shower curtains can bring a whole new look to your bathroom.
Choosing the right bath is also just as important - longer baths (6 ft) are great it you want to lie back and read. The shorter lengths (5 ft) are useful for smaller spaces. For a traditional look a freestanding bath is ideal and comes in two finishes acrylic or cast iron.
Acrylic Baths
Acrylic baths usually weigh less than a similar size cast iron bath, which makes for easier movement and installation. However, their light weight also makes them easier to bump out of place after installation if not anchored to the floor.
An acrylic bath interior surface is also much easier to scratch than the extremely hard porcelain glass interior surface of a cast iron bath, so an acrylic will typically lose its shine and lustre well before a cast iron bath does. However, scratches in an acrylic surface can be repaired easily by sanding and polishing methods, whereas this is more difficult with a similarly scratched porcelain enamel tub.
Acrylic baths are usually better insulated against heat transmission than cast iron baths, although once heated a cast iron bath will have a much greater thermal mass than an acrylic one and stay hotter for longer.
Claw foot baths are of course free-standing therefore have exposed plumbing. The exposed plumbing is part of what makes a claw foot bath beautiful, and complementing tapware, plugs and wastes should be used.
Cast Iron Baths
Always a sentimental favourite, cast iron baths offer a traditional feel to your bathroom: a bathtub that is both rigid and immensely strong.
Cast iron baths are very heavy therefore you should make sure the floor can support the weight. This is especially important on second floor bathrooms and over basements.
The surface on a cast iron bath is usually easier to keep clean as compared to an acrylic surface because of its superior hardness and scratch-resistance. However if you drop a heavy object in the bath it will chip the surface.
Cast iron is an excellent conductor of heat and will be delightfully warm when you get into your bath tub.
Claw foot baths are of course free-standing therefore have exposed plumbing. The exposed plumbing is part of what makes a claw foot bath beautiful, and complementing tapware, plugs and wastes should be used.
One of the most romantic features of a cast iron bath is the outside finish - whether this be the original undercoated finish or the smart and elegant appearance of enamel paint with traditional brush marks. Painting allows you to change the outside finish again and again to co-ordinate with the existing decor.
Other inherent characteristics to the traditional production process of manufacturing cast iron baths include ripples, dimples and tiny black specs in the enamel surface. These features are quite normal and will not affect the life of the bath - they are just part of the characteristics that make a traditional cast iron bath a cast iron bath!
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