Bathing Culture and Fabulous Bathing Spaces (the Bathroom)

Sorry for the delay... I came home with an atrocious
cough which I've been nursing with Codeine so I can
get a decent night sleep.

In the mean time, I thought I might do a post on
bathrooms since I just came back from visiting Japan
which has a really great bathing culture. Due to the
number of volcanoes that litter up and down the land
of the rising sun, they have thousands of natural hot
springs. To this day, the Japanese are very serious
in their bathing rituals. It is quite the opposite in Hong
Kong or China where the Chinese don't really have such
a bathing culture. In Hong Kong, I'd bet 9 out of 10 pple
either do not have a bathtub -- and if they do, they don't
use it.

One of my favorite past times in Japan is to go to the
country side and seek out an onsen (hot spring.) It's
really not a great idea to find one in the city - it's really
not the same as it's probably not natural and without
the natural scenery, it just isn't the same.

There are so many styles a bathroom and bathtub
can be. In the end, it's all about what soothes you
and what relaxes you.

There are no rules. (What a fabulous view.)

If pink is what suits your fancy, then by all
means - do your bathroom up to be pink.

If you're into darker and something more
masculine, here's a great example.

This bathroom is defined by its crisp
clean lines and streamlined fixtures.

Want a little luxury? You really can't go
wrong with Carrara marble.

This reminds me of a posh 1930s hotel bathroom.
By the way, did you know that the word posh came
from the acronym P.O.S.H.? I'm obsessed with
etyomology. The word POSH stood for Portside
Out Starboard Home. It was for the upper class
when booking tickets aboard a cruise. Taking cruise
from England to India in those days meant that the
cruise ship would not stray far from the sight of land.
In this case, the better view would be the side of the
ship that could view land -- better known as Portside
(Left side on a ship) Out and Starboard (Right side)
Home. Because only the upper class could usually
afford these cabins, the word P.O.S.H. eventually came
to be used as a word to mean rich and luxurious.

The small round faucet gives a feminine
touch to this simple but airy bathroom.

Carrara marble + dark wood finish = POSH

This bathroom has a super tall ceiling. It's
neat how the counter space and faucet is
one continuous piece.

This is definitely a zen moment.

Small doesn't mean it can't be pretty.

And something special for last, I quite like
concrete as a finishing material. I rarely
see a bathtub encasement in concrete. This
is quite nice.

If you could design your bathing area, how
and in what style would you design it in?

Photos from Canadian House & Home