Are Bathrooms the New Living Room?

It may seem like I am obsessed with bathroom decor (and I am), but I'm going to go out on a limb and ask: What's up with armchairs in bathrooms (and I'm not referring to dressing rooms, I'm talking about where we perform our personal exit strategies, hygiene maintenance, etc)? I brought it up to my mum who is an interior decorator, and we ended up discussing it for a good 2 hours. For example, she said, "Well, some people enjoy talking to other people while they're in the tub."

And I said, "But what happens when they run out of things to say? Is the person sitting in the armchair going to sit and thumb through an old magazine? And wouldn't it get a bit steamy in there from the hot water? And wouldn't the moisture affect the wood and the fabric of the chair?" It finally got to the point where my mum gave me a look that I haven't seen since I was in my inquisitive tweens (the one that says: "Shut up and eat your peas.")

Photo courtesy of LivingEtc.

-Grace

Comments (10)

If you have weird schedules, you might want to relax in the tub for a couple of hours. It's nice having the option of hanging out with your significant other in the same room, specially if again, time is limited. I think space is the only and main reason people don't do it more often. Think swimming pool / loungers, or stove / breakfast bar, not toilet / dinner table.

whoa, i would totally have an armchair in my bathroom, especially if it had a skylight, and a bevy of personal grooming assistants, and roses everywhere, and hot chocolate, and dressing gowns, and little chocolates on a silver platter. and i'd drape my silk dressing gown on the back of it, and my cat would curl up in it, and maybe there is also a fireplace there in the corner.
delicious.

annalyssa, you definitely paint a persuasive picture...Although I'd trade in the hot chocolate with a bottle of red wine. And a mini freezer to store Haagen-Daaz ice cream bars. Speaking of, has anyone tried those pomegranate with dark chocolate bars yet?

I like having a chair to sit in to do my nails, and just relax. Since there is a fan in the bathroom, I can avoid the fumes. I think an armchair would just be a step above that.

I would totally do it if space wasn't an issue. It would be nice to sit there and put lotion on, paint my toenails, etc. or like someone else said, to have my SO keep me company during a bath.

how about when you are taking a bath with your s.o. and one wants to get out and put lotion out while the other is not finished soaking? i would do it, totally. that is, if my bathroom looked like the one pictured.

Images of pre-revolution France keep popping into my head, with ladies taking visits from their lovers (and others) while sitting in their baths...

Timely for me. I just ripped out all the walls in the back half of my apt. [bedroom/bath/hall/2 closets] and am building one giant space. When finished, you'll see the sink from the bed, so I need to negate some of the subconscious cues that say "bathroom". One way is an upholstered chair to blur the borders/definitions/roles.

My cousin remodled the bath in her home in London (yikes 10 years now). It was lovely. As I recall, instead of two smallish rooms she had lots of windows, a double sink, armchair (like the one pictured), book shelf, big claw foot tub and the washer and dryer in a big linen closet. There was room for an ironing board. She had three young kids at the time and awkward pauses in conversation were not an issue. She was able to bathe one and the other two could play in the same room or she could fold laundry and supervise washing up and at the end of the day, enjoy a nice long bath when they went to bed. When I take a bath in my puny rental apt bathtub, I remember that bathroom and that tub wistfully.