by: Vinny Lee
Topics include:
Book Description:
The bathroom is an increasingly important room in a home--much more than just a place in which to wash at the beginning and end of the day. As well as offering a haven for a therapeutic soak, it may have to satisfy a variety of needs, from doubling up as an exercise area to providing a dressing room or even a laundry. Many homes now have a second bathroom, shower room or cloakroom. For example, a family with growing children who need to be ready for school at the same time as parents leave for work may find that a second bathroom is a necessity rather than a luxury. In other households a shower room can be the place for a quick invigorating start to a busy day while a bathroom is required later for a long relaxing bathe. Bathrooms is an inspirational source book of ideas that guides the reader through every aspect of putting a bathroom together. It explains the various stages of planning and design, and advises on how to make vital decisions about everything from the size of your bath to the most appropriate wall colours and accessories. Whether you taste if for a retro style with a huge Victorian rolltop bath for the very latest cutting-edge designs in glass and stainless steel, the bathroom is often a place to indulge your decorating fantasies. It can be a room for vivid colours or ethnic themes and, in what is usually a comparatively small room, it can offer the opportunity to use some luxurious materials than would be too expensive elsewhere in the house. Whether you are planning a bathroom from scratch or renovating or re-planning an existing one, this comprehensive book will provide all the advice you need, from helpful tips to professional know-how, as well as hundreds of inspirational photographs to allow you to create the bathroom of your dreams.
Reviews:
Beautiful book....for your suburban coffee table: This book could be described as a hardback edition of the "Best of Hello! magazine bathrooms". The most contemporary and modern bathrooms have been photographed to death and some commentary on bathroom planning has been added. As if anyone is reading. This is a book for the Upper middle class north-west London woman to ponder over, whilst wondering if she can afford ?0 for a glass sink. The pictures are very professional and the book is well laid out and lovely to look at. The cons? Look carefully at the photos, and you will notice a lot of recycling. A lot of the photos are the same bathroom from different angles. Second, it is very clear that a lot of these are not practical bathrooms for everyday use. I understand that that is not necessarily the point (these are bathrooms for mansions or Belgravia apartments)but if the text is giving advice on bathroom planning, the implication is that the reader may be planning a bathroom of their own. I would not recommend this as a book for someone planning a house. Do that in conjunction with your architect, and if you have money, the salespeople will adorn you with catalogues for free. Buy this book if you like looking at expensive houses.
Mostly concerns modern bathrooms with a cold anaemic look: This book gives a good insight to bathrooms with an ultra modern look but does not tackle other differnet styles such as traditional, rustic, Mediterranean or ethnic look bathrooms. This leaves the book with a cold feel about it and limited in scope. I found more design concepts and better ideas from bathroom suppliers brochures or DIY books especially where plumbing and different kinds of tiling are concerned.
Tantalising visualisation of all your bathroom dreams: I've never seen so many bathrooms in a book before. I've certainly never seen so many that I would like to own. If you are planning a bathroom or your just dreaming about one this is the collection of reference pictures that you need. Vinny Lee has pitched the copy just right. It's not too technical to put off the designer but it offers enough detail to explain to a qualified plumber how to construct the bathroom of your dreams. Buy it.