Bathroom Trends For Homeowners, Designers, Educators and the Media Bathroom Manufacturers Association - The BMA is the trade association for bathroom manufacturers. Its authority is underlined by a membership that represents 87% of the mainstream bathroom business undertaken within the UK. In support of its role as the voice of the UK bathroom industry, the association has prepared a series of Fact Sheets and Generic Training Guides, which will help anyone to gain a clearer understand of products such as shower controls, shower enclosures, shower trays, sanitaryware, brass fittings and baths. This report offers a view on the factors effecting trends in UK bathrooms. It is focussed around lifestyle and design trends for the homeowner and interiors designer - as well as providing information to those with a more general interest such as journalists and educators. LIFESTYLE AND DESIGN OVERVIEW There can be little doubt that, in the last ten years, the Bathroom has moved to the top of the list of desirable home improvements. It has changed completely, from the cold, utilitarian room where we took our toilet and hastily washed ourselves, to a place of peace, privacy and pampering. Bathroom design gives us a very clear illustration of the way that consumer tastes and subsequently home design has changed since the mid 1990s. COLOUR & SHAPE - At the beginning of the 1990’s, half of the bathrooms sold in the UK had an element of colour, the other half were white. By the turn of the decade colour was out and white had taken over completely - and still has today – for the 21st Century we were turning our back on things intricate, fussy and cluttered It’s interesting to observe that styles such as these have a limited lifespan before they drop out of ‘mainstream’ interest and join the other style classics, such as Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveaux and Art Deco along with more modern counterparts like Scandinavian styled loft-living, each of which retains its own niche following of aficionados and adds perhaps to the growing eclecticism of design at the middle to higher end. In the past five years ‘Minimalism’ has been the prevalent fashion publicised in home interest magazines, although indicators today are pointing toward a gentle move away from the extremes of minimalism and toward a more ‘easy to live with’ style. Several UK manufacturers, encompassing a variety of product types, from sanitaryware to brassware are pointing to the move away from angular shapes to more rounded and softened shapes – geometric, squares and rectangles, but with more gentle, rounded, corners. This post-minimalism style is clearly building and is likely to be with us until the end of the present decade. ROOM DESIGN - This modernism in style was reflected in room décor too, which many believe has been driven by the plethora of TV programmes dedicated to home design. Programmes that got off to a shaky start, by promoting extremes of colour and texture with the design sophistication of a three-year-old’s nursery painting, all done for unrealistically tiny budgets in unrealistically short time frames. These programmes have become much more ‘real’ since the producers moved toward proper designers like Oliver King and Kevin McCloud and some of the original designer/presenters, have, re-invented themselves very successfully. Supplementary-product introduction helped too, under-floor heating systems boosted the use of the ceramic floors so favoured by warmer continental countries. Ceramic flooring soon found itself competing with laminates, timbers and Amtico type covering and the typically British carpet was rapidly being driven from the bathroom. So, a good guide, to catch the modern trend, is to recognise its eclectic nature, which means considering clean lines - white for the sanitaryware - chrome or brushed steel, for the brassware - remember the growing importance of showering and think clear glass and modern enclosure, trays and controls - remember to include storage furniture and accessories – and take advantage of the design opportunities offered by under-floor heating, flooring, wall tiling and lighting. Add gentle colours with flooring and in the wall coverings and storage furniture or from accessories like towels and floor mats. Consider too the current, eclectic nature of design, there is a desire for individuality these days, for something a bit different and while the majority of homeowners may be looking for a completely fitted and matching bathroom there will be others looking for unusual pieces from which they can construct their own bathroom designs. There is no right and wrong. THE LIVING SPACE - In the same time period the core design of our homes has altered and the ‘en-suite’ has come into its own, with many newly-built three and four bedroom homes now having an en-suite bathroom, or shower-room, fitted as standard. These houses also have to have a downstairs cloak-room fitted. Homeowners with dwellings built before the 1990’s may be at a selling disadvantage if their homes only have the one bathroom and potential buyers are seeing better facilities in newer homes, another way to see this is that houses themselves are carrying features that are turning them into fashion items. Driven to a large extent from new regulations, the lack of space in the bathroom can only continue into the future as planning guidance allows builders to put more houses on a plot of land by reducing the overall footprint of the dwelling. We are already seeing houses being built with less floor space but with an additional storey to make up for the living space, which probably also adds to the likelihood that bathrooms will continue to be small spaces. We have already seen an increase in the number of space-saving designs being introduced by manufacturers. The wet-room has taken a firm hold on the wish list of home improvers, providing as it does, a good lifestyle enhancement in a limited space. There is also an identifiable and growing trend towards opening-up the living spaces in new homes, with kitchens, becoming dining areas, becoming lounges with no dividing walls. We are seeing some early examples of bathrooms becoming open parts of bedrooms and that trend could easily grow, which would probably encourage baths and showers to be styled to match or complement the rest of the bedroom furniture; in these cases they may even become bigger! It is, however, highly unlikely that walls will be removed from toileting areas, in fact some commentators are offering the opinion that home design could swing back to the 1950’s practice of keeping the bathing area completely separated from the toilet, but we have no evidence yet, in mainstream home design, to verify this return. ENERGY EFFICIENCY, WATER AND SUSTAINABILITY Home owners and designers need to be aware of water-efficiency in the home. This subject is coming to the forefront of debate within the offices of home-builders and regulators, just recently an educational body called Waterwise, which is supported by water authorities and government, has been launched with the remit of educating us all on the better use of water in order to combat any possible shortages brought about by growth of population allied to changes in climate. The amount of water used in bathing and showering and in toilet-flushing, as well as water used during washing and shaving is all coming under careful consideration. Things you could think of when redesigning your bathroom includes reducing the ‘dead-leg’ of water left to cool in supply pipes that has to be run-off before hot water can reach taps or showers. The amount of water used in bathing and showering and in toilet-flushing, as well as water used during washing and shaving is all coming under careful consideration. These factors, as well as thoughts on setting an energy rating for new homes and regulating to ensure new homes are sustainable over much longer periods, will all effect the way bathroom products are produced in future years – in terms of style trends all of these factors look to be likely to keep the room in which the bathroom sits tight for space. THE INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS – let’s look now at the individual components of a full bathroom design – brassware, baths, sanitaryware, showers, storage furniture. Brassware – Taps and mixers and shower controls have moved away from Victorian or Edwardian shapes to much more simple shapes – we have stopped buying taps in gold or in mixage finishes - chromium plated finishes have become as universal as the white sanitaryware that carries them. The UK market has seen brassware (taps and mixers) coming from the pens of designers from Scandinavia, Germany and Italy as well as the London design houses. There have been some introductions of taps that help the user to save water and a little movement in electronic controls but perhaps the most significant factor in brassware is the growing momentum to fill baths and basins with water that is at a controlled temperature, in much the same way as we have had thermostatically controlled showers for a number of years now. Baths - Traditional Roll-Top baths that had been popular at the top end of the market have begun to shed their nostalgic look and take on more modern shapes, featuring a variety of carrying cradles in wood or metal, or even ensconced in furniture. The other modern feature effecting baths has been the emergence of the specially designed shower-bath, made from acrylic with heavy reinforcing from glass-fibre or from cast resin or other chemical compounds, these baths have a wider, often flat based ‘tap-end’ to stand in while showering - the other end being a normal ‘bath shape’, for laying down. Sanitaryware – Vitreous china remains the staple material of Sanitaryware. Washbasins - We have discussed the way that styles have changed, in the case of wash-basins, they have swapped the extravagant rims and up-stands for more simple shapes, the basic bathroom basin is still supported on a pedestal, although a whole plethora of alternative designs exists, including wall-hung basins, vessel basins, semi-countertop basins, inset basins, corner basins, so much so that many now see the basin as the signature piece of new bathroom suite designs. Some manufacturers even provide individual basins that are designed to stand alone rather than be part of a bathroom suite, a forerunner of this trend was the circular bowl in a variety of coloured glass and while it would be wrong to say that the glass bowl fashion has ended, it does not have the same media coverage it once had and is probably a dieing trend. Water Closets - The UK consumer finally began to embrace wall-hung and back-to-wall WCs, which five years previously had only been sold in Germany, to continue the theme of clean and simple room design. In functional terms, the hottest topic on WC’s revolves around the volume of water needed to flush the pan. Regulations introduced a few years ago have reduced flushing from 7.5 litres to 6 litres for new installations, which includes new-build and RMI – with a lower flush level of 4.5 litres to clear liquid waste. The recommendation in either case is that users hold the flush-button down for 3 seconds to ensure best possible flush. Showering Showering has entered the British psyche in a big way – sales of Shower valves has grown by over 9% per year, shower trays by 11% and shower enclosures by over 12% per year for the past five years, with shower screens showing a 20% growth year on year. For homeowners looking at their homes as an investment, these figures give an indication of the importance of installing a shower in modern homes. Academic studies too, are indicating that shower use is only likely to grow in the next few years. Like the rest of the bathroom simple modern styles are to the fore, extravagant patterns etched into the glass have given way to clear glass and ‘frameless’ or ‘almost frameless’ styles. We have taken to speciality showers too, from ‘walk-in’ designer enclosures, and wellness systems - mostly at the top end - to one of the potentially strongest growing trends, the wet-room. Whilst not a huge seller - current estimates are around 2% of all enclosures sold - the wet-room began life as a ‘talking-point’ product in London showrooms and is now being asked for by consumers in showrooms throughout the country. The wet-room relies on a completely water-proof room, which is not difficult to achieve these days, even upstairs on chipboard sub-floors, however there does still remain a concern in some home-owner’s minds about installing wet-rooms, if that concern is insurmountable a simple alternative is the low-level shower tray that can satisfy demand but uses the more familiar product mix of shower tray and enclosure. Storage Furniture The amount of grooming and cleaning products relating to the bathroom has grown enormously during the last generation and the need for storage in the bathroom has grown in response. The small, wall hung mirrored cabinet is no longer enough in many households and homeowners are installing more and more fitted and semi-fitted furniture, which has been especially designed for the bathroom. Another trend for furniture is the production of accessory pieces, like mirrors, or free-standing furniture in painted finishes, laminates or polished timber. So, if you are just about to embark on new bathroom installation or renovation, there is plenty of choice – before you visit any showrooms, why not see what is available by downloading the Fact Sheets on this web-site - begin with Rate Your Bathroom, to see what you need - and then visit the manufacturers’ web-site links shown. The next step is gathering brochures and this site can help you with that, most of all enjoy the experience of renewing an existing bathroom or installing a new bathing facility, there is plenty of choice and the freedom to choose what suites your lifestyle. Shapes have changed too, as this colour fashion has changed – styles have moved away from more intricate ‘traditional’ shapes and toward more simple ‘contemporary’ shapes. During this journey of change, bathroom design has flirted with a 1950’s retro look and caught the spiritual simplicity of Feng-Shui. Click Here To Use The Masco Bathroom Design Tool. Click here for a copy of the 2006 Bathroom Trends Report Compiled By The Bathroom Manufacturers Association. |
