...a room that functions as more of a hybrid between the a dressing room and the bathroom - a place for taking a long bath and getting ready for an evening out.
What do you think of adding in upholstered pieces to the bath? A luxe statement for those who have the room to spare or just an odd choice?
These five examples are in the Best Bathrooms of 2008 photo gallery on House Beautiful. Check out the full slideshow here for lots more.
Photos: House Beautiful






Comments (24)
who are these people white an upholstered chair in the bathroom?
The third bathroom got me green with envy. That window... the color... getting that one for my design archives ASAP...
Now I'm lighting a candle so that one day I can have a room like that jejeje.
how does upholstered furniture hold up in a consistantly humid environment? are these pieces covered in indoor/outdoor fabric?
Whose bathroom is constantly humid? Maybe if you/your family are taking showers all day and leaving the door closed and/or never cracking the window, then you'd have a constantly humid environment that would lead to rotting fabric. All these bathrooms look airy, have lots of windows and high ceilings. Doubt they get super-humid and stay that way.
slowdown: "Consistently," not "constantly." And the point is- who has a bathroom that looks like one of these? Maybe the fabric choice doesn't matter if you have a bathroom the size of my apartment... but this is apartment therapy here. Most of us are working with small bathrooms, and if they're a rental, chances are the ventilation is poor.
I'm lucky enough to have a bathroom large enough for a chair- but not large enough or well ventilated enough to keep the fabric from becoming warped or musty. I love the way a comfy bit of upholstery looks in a bathroom, but it's simply not practical unless you use some sort of outdoor, durable, and maybe waterproof material.
This reminds me of the "sofas at the dining table" issue...
Maybe I've read the stories about the poo germs flying out of the toilet when it's flushed too many times to like this.
I would love the space to have a chair in my bathroom, but probably not an upholstered one.
poo germs can fly??
amazing.
(flying poo germs, that is)
but also a nice comfy place to sit while giving your kids a bath would be awesome... and maybe a fireplace.... and a little fridge to keep champagne and....
Slowdown -- something for you to think about - people don't always live alone, so leaving the door open is not practical and not every bathroom has a window.
I find it completely ridiculous to have a chair or other crazy furniture in a bathroom - beyond some cabinets and possibly a vanity if you have room, what else could you need?
Re: "Poo Germs"--
They cannot fly far if you flush with the lid closed :)
(At least, I hope not!)
I had an old ikea stool and recovered it with a towel for our bath http://www.flickr.com/photos/30160010@N07/3325905866/
Its handy to have, and no signs of any mold or rot in the year and a half.
Beeeyoutiful. Even if I had the space and were just as lovely as the above examples, I'm not sure I'm really the type to lounge around in my bathroom. Not out of any germophobia, but because as the post originally said-- there's something about the bathroom that is just utilitarian. It's like how my funky old bathroom has a phone jack in it...who'd want to be messing with talking on the telephone when you're in the bath (or heaven forbid indisposed any other way ;))?
That said, those bathrooms all appear to be about the same size or bigger than my current apartment!
I'm one of those people who believes baths should be as richly decadent as possible. I don't get to do it very often at all, of course - but when I do have a perfect bath, I love to lounge in water that's terrifically hot until I turn bright red, then jump out and lounge on a big fluffy towel to cool off. Aaand repeat until the water is the perfect temp to just lie back with a good book and a bowl of cold grapes.
It's like a cheap home version of having a sauna, really.
It would be an absolute dream to have a comfy chair or chaise lounge to relax on instead of a make-shift towel. Make it with weatherproof outdoors cushion material and a soft towel fabric cover that can be pulled off for cleaning, and it would be perfect.
A comfy upholstered chair in the bathroom sounds lovely. I'll file the thought away for the day when we have a) a bathroom large enough to fit a chair, and b) more than one bathroom, so no one will be hopping up and down outside the door waiting for me to finish lounging.
Does a velvet button-tufted vanity chair count? I love to sit there late at night, to cool down after my shower. I usually polish off a glass of wine at the same time and read a few pages in a book. But I cover the seat with a small towel though, so it doesn't get damp.
At first glance I thought the second picture was a dining room!. I have a pretty big bathroom and in the evening when myself, son and hubby are all getting ready for bed, a small chair would be great as I usually find myself sitting on my small son's stepstool.
Wouldn't a non-upholstered chair, bench, or stool make much more sense in a bathroom? Something that could be cleaned if necessary, and covered quickly with a towel for comfort? When would you ever sit on the chair other than helping kids in the bath? I can't imagine putting a naked, wet butt on fabric which will hold moisture, germs, odors, fecal matter, etc. The chair in the bathroom is nice to look at, but in my estimation, not practical in any sense of the word.
Eh...another polarizing post that doesn't apply to 99% of the demographic on this site. I love ApartmentTherapy because it's "news I can use", so to speak. I hope this isn't an example of what's to come. I like the stuff that actually applies to my household.
I agree with pxlchk1 - this is honestly not practical for most on this site. We're talking about people in apartments (the name of the site should help) and not many apartments feature a bathroom bigger than my bedroom.
Amen, K T G. For me, this site is an ideal balance of "aha!" and "I wish..." However, I reserve the right to offer a little delicate criticism on the wishful thinking.
Double amen on the bathrobe though- seriously, who sits on anything bare-assed?
KTG, i'm totally with you on that. I live in a "suburb" of Chicago (insofar as all citizens of southeastern Wisconsin have finally ceded to the fact that no one knows where you're from unless you reference Chicago) and some of the apartments we looked at had room for entire love seats in the bathroom. Of course, we traded that kind of luxury for a two story unit that had room for a dining nook in favor of practicality, but there are certainly people who can do more than dream about this.
I can see a nice teak bench, maybe. Nothing upholstered. I couldn't deal with toothpaste splatters, spilled lotion, mildew, whatever on the cushions, so I'd prefer a seat (if there was room, which there is not) that is meant for a moist environment.
Though upholstered bathroom chairs look elagant and sophisticated but it is not a practical choice for a small and ordinary home bathroom furniture.
You need bigger space to have such kind a furniture in the bathroom.
Comment Though upholstered bathroom chairs look elagant and sophisticated but it is not a practical choice for a small and ordinary home bathroom furniture.
You need bigger space to have such kind a furniture in the bathroom.
Jeanne
This is looking good. You may also look Ballard Designs to see more upholstered chairs. I've bought a new one for my house from them and it looks awesome.