KÄSCH In-Floor Bathtubs Keep Luxury On the Downlow

A funny we noticed while attending last week's media event with bloggers hailing from the States and Europe: while the Europeans tended to go out and party after the media presentation events were over, the Americans would regularly return to their rooms or the lobby to work well into the night. It was during one of those 2:45 am stretches while working from the Penha Longa's lounge we met Manuel, the creator and writer for Le Blog Deco. He was the lone Frenchman who was fastidiously working while his fellow countrymen painted the Lisbon streets red (with wine, of course). We didn't speak a lick of French, but Manuel spoke English pretty well enough for us to understand we had found a compatriot, and we quickly became acquainted with his excellent design and decor blog. An example of his keen eye? These Red Dot Award winning in-floor tubs from KÄSCH he just posted today...

KÄSCH's Overflow series of floor sunken tubs has us wondering if we'd prefer this style opposed to the traditional style if given the option. There's no doubt the in-floor design gives the tubs a more luxurious and relaxing appeal, possibly because they remind us of jacuzzis. But then again, these looks as expensive as they do inviting.

Be sure to keep an eye out in the coming weeks while we work with Manuel/Le Blog Deco for some European house tours and a Behind the Blog feature over at Unplggd. Here's to US/France relations!

Comments (27)

INSTANT RAP VIDEO!! hahahaha

Love them!

Wow those are really fantastic. Want!

omg I love them so much.

i can imagine falling in and killing myself as i make my way to the bathroom in a haze of half sleepiness in the morning. nice idea, but it seems impractical. do you have to lie on your stomach to clean it, or is that for the housekeeper to figure out?

Kahlil - agreed. I can just imagine the spillage of water as one gets in and would be the same water you kill yourself on getting out. Beautiful and good for design, yes - practical, no.

Gregory -- Very nice to look at, well done. Now, tonight, please go out and party a bit -- Lisbon's a great town!

If only I had unlimited funds...I just love them! Of course, there are lots of practical reasons why they might not be the best idea, but since I can't afford to do this anyway, I might as well just enjoy the beauty.

These people must put their parents up in a hotel when they come to visit.

But, seriously, are you never going to sprain your ankle, or get some sort of knee/hip strain? Worked with police photos for a while. Slip and fall bathroom deaths are horrific. Bathtubs still kind of creep me out.

The first three appear to have a gap between the tub and floor for overflow.
I don't see any issue getting out and walking on wet wood floor really no different then the old school redwood hot tub and wood floor I grew up with. This design makes it easy to get in and out of instead of climbing over and out of the standard tub.

I'm with Kahlil. There's no way I could live with one of these deathtraps around. I would totally fall in. Give me an old fashioned clawfoot tub any day. The worst I can do with those is trip and crack a couple of toes.

What exactly are some of you doing in your bathrooms that you'd forget you spent thousands install an in-ground hot-tub, fall in and kill yourselves?

Do you often trip and fall into pools as well?

TheCount - I'm one of those up-for-the-bathroom-20-times-a-night people. I don't want to wake my husband every single time so, rather than turn on all the lights in the house, I feel my way through the dark. And at least once a night I stub my toe on the edge of my dresser. I haven't forgotten that I spent so much money on it and I certainly haven't forgotten it's there but in the dark of night, in my sleepy fog, accidents happen.

So the fact that I know this type of tub wouldn't work for me doesn't make me an idiot or anything. lol. I just know my limits.

Beautiful design, but dangerous if you have babies/toddlers/small children walking around.

Gorgeous, especially the first one. I like the curved wall-into-floor effect, too. Like a carpet unfurled.

You'd definitely need a maid to care for these installations. More products for the very well-heeled. sigh.

...and one more thing. The huge, jetted bathtubs that everyone seemed to be putting into their homes in the 1990's and early 2000's (what's the proper term for that time?) tend to go largely unused - at least among the people I know. After the novelty wears off, the tubs sit and collect dust (or are used to wash the dog). They take an enormous amount of water, and that water takes an enormous amount of energy to heat. They take a long time to fill. People just get tired of all that, and use the shower.

So these big in-gound goodies are not exactly eco, and not quite on point these days.

I love it! If we didn't have terrazzo floors and no money, I'd be up for it.

Perhaps in our eventual villa in Provence? Hmmm...

It's not about forgetting that you spent all the money to put that tub in - LOL - because I doubt many would soon forget it. It's mostly the accidents that occur in the dark when people are trying to be considerate and not turn many lights on when they are getting up and down at night.

A pool is much much different - normally you are getting into it when the sun is out -- and you'd at least have some outside lights on if you planned to get into it at night. These look huge and would be a huge waste of water anyways - and would look like a huge hole in the floor with no water in them.

I'm with the poster above who said she runs into her dresser occasionally - I do that with our coffee table in the mornings. It's the half-sleep daze or the "I'm tired and so if I don't see it it must not be there" setting.

I can see falling in one of these and breaking my neck or arm or something....with a normal tub, I might break a toe if not careful (but more than likely just cause a bruise).

awesome! but i dont think i can have this in my house with my 2 year old daughter around

The slip and fall to my death sounds about right...but they are gorgeous...maybe if they had sort of a lid you could open?

these are beautiful. and very functional - I tend to disagree with the other posters. they lend themselves smartly to small spaces if you place a LID OVER THE TOP when it's not in use. a beautiful wooden lid that matches the surrounding flooring. creating more floor space and covering the tub for safety. I also see how the addition of simple stairs and a retractable railing could make this a wise choice for safety

Mind the gap!

greenfairytina: you mean like a coffin? ;) But I'm sure many people will be too lazy to take off the lid and put it on again everytime.

These can be terribly dangerous. Deadly. That is why the stones are around the outer edge, so the foot knows the terrain has changed.

A corner tub with a staircase surrounded by windows can do a better, safer job.

I wouldn't want to live in fear of falling into my tub.

The whole lid thing would more than likely make the tub less likely to use. A good question gets brought up with that - where to put the lid while you are taking your bath. I doubt most of us have bathrooms as large as the ones pictured. In my opinion, I'd only recommend these to people who like to get injured.

beautiful and completely user un-friendly. not worth the medical bills or the lawsuits.

Original! Love them.