• 1 Beautiful tub seen on Tongue in Cheek (a cute blog by a lady living in the south of France) with a vintage patina.
• 2 Twin claw foot tubs in the bedroom at the Brighton Hotel du Vin and Bistro.
• 3 Golden gilded legs on an ebony tub at the Kensington Hotel.
• 4 A high-backed "Marie Louise" bathtub from Sinks, Faucets and More.
• 5 Apparently the Hotel du Vin and Bistro loves the twin tub idea, and so do we. As seen on Better Living Through Design.
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I grew up with clawfoot tubs and when I was looking to buy that was one thing on my "to look out for" list. I love how the tub itself is cast out of iron (with a veneer of porcelain on top), so that it gets really warm from the water, and how the curves are so relaxing to lean back on :-)
we're redoing our bathroom right now. we scored a clawfoot on craig for $100. i just had to spray epoxy on the outside.
We have a claw foot bathtub (a beautiful one, in a beautiful bathroom) in our current rented apartment! We fell in love with it instantly, and taking baths in it is a delight. But we don't have a separate shower, and let me tell you, taking a shower in a claw foot bath is NOT a delight. The shower curtains surround me and cling to me when I turn on the water and move around. Eww! All the pleasure of showering is gone, and we now dread taking showers.
The tubs are nice, but never instead of a real shower stall!
Does anyone else have shower-in-clawtub-bathtub experiences that are not annoying?
Ugh! Showers in claw foots are not nice! I've lived in two apartments with claw foot tubs and taking showers in them was a claustrophobic nightmare. But they're beautiful to look at, and if you're lucky enough to have one that doesn't need some serious reglazing to be bath worthy, they're the perfect bath tub.
Nomadchicky, try cutting down your shower curtains. Ideally you want them to only fall into the shower a couple of inches. If they are too long, they do cling!
I bought 3 Ikea white fabric curtains, cut them down, and ended up sewing magnets into the hems. They never billow anymore!
Our clawfoot tub is the first thing my husband and I bought together... we bought the tub before we even closed on the house! Tells you how much we wanted one...
We painted the exterior of ours a matte black, and paired it with vintage reconditioned un-coated brass (a nice warm, matte brass). Oh, the baths we took in our tub! I still miss it.. (that was the house we bought in '91, long since sold...).
I shower in a clawfoot tub every day and it is a total delight. My curtains are long but they cling to the tub, not to me! I have clear plastic curtains and I don't feel calutrophibic at all. We also have a lovely shower stall, but I much prefer the clawfoot--there's nothing like iron underfoot!
Its true. Showers in claw foot tubs are clastophobic. But taking a bath in a claw foot tub...that's the stuff dreams are made of. My old apartment had a clawfoot tub. Such a luxury.
"Showers in claw foot tubs are clastophobic."
I don't get this at all. How is a clawfoot any more claustrophobic than a shower in a standard tub?? While my spelling was incomprehensible, you should try having just a clear curtain around the tub. It ain't claustrophobic at all if you can see through it.
Yeah I don't get that either, djs. . . there's more space in my over-tub shower than a shower stall, so how is it claustrophobic? Maybe you guys have really narrow tubs. . . No complaints for showers here!
I too hate showering in the claw foot tub, because curtains need to go all the way around the tub and they never fit well. They have to wrap around the pole for the shower head and any ceiling rod attachments - causing either openings (and leaks) or bunching (and moldiness). Not great for those of us who only like showers...
The clinging curtain has a lot to do with the temperature of your shower and how well you "seal" yourself in. Hot air rises, pulling the curtain in around your calves, if it can't be replaced with cool air some other way. Leaving a gap at the end will help...but that usually means you'll end up with water on the floor!
That's why we got rid of mine...water on the floor for so many years meant mold was well established before I even bought the house. Anyone want to buy my old one, it's for sale on CL. I'll give you an AT discount, $100 off.
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/mat/1628050832.html
You'll notice that in most design magazines that show the lovely clawfoot tub, they don't have a curtain hoop or curtain. You're supposed to have a separate shower stall, which honestly, can be a waste of space. I'd rather have a linen closet.
I guess it all comes down to how often you like to bathe.
I LOVE baths. Nothing better than hot bubbles and a good book. So for me a clawfoot tub is a dream come true!