New bathtub ideas that will transform your bathroom and revolutionise your bathing experience.
If you are looking for bathtub ideas that are a little outside of the norm, then you have come to the right place. Indeed, you find no recommendations for bog standard moulded fibreglass baths in gloss white here. Yet, what you will find are ten wonderfully innovative and unusual bathtub ideas that will not only transform your bathroom but will also revolutionise your bathing experience. Read on to find out what they are.
1) Make Your Bath The Focal Point
The first bathtub design idea you should consider is arranging everything else around your tub. Of course, to pull this off successfully you will need to choose the right tub, and not just any old white fibreglass moulded rectangular option will do. Instead, if your bathtub is to become the focal point of your space it needs to be striking, unusual, and bold.
With that in mind, why not throw the traditional design sensibilities out of the window and opt for a beautifully round freestanding bathtub? The key advantage of choosing a free-standing tub is that you can choose to have it plumbed into any spot of your liking, rather than sticking to the traditional wall-hugging designs of standard tubs. Although, it does pay to consider carefully whereabouts you will place your tub in your room. For example, a centrally placed tub can help create a more cohesive design, while leaving space for other features and elements around the edges of the room such as a sink.
However, if you have an alcove space such as a bay window, placing your round tub at least partially within it can be an excellent way to frame it and draw even more attention to the tub as the main feature within your bathroom.
Choosing a round tub will also help draw the eye, and it's still quite a rare and unusual shape for a bathtub in UK bathrooms. Not to mention that a round tub will provide even more space for soaking and enjoying your bathing experience.
2) Enjoy The View As You Bathe
Another great design idea for your bathtub is to incorporate your surroundings into the bathing experience. One of the best ways of doing this is to place a large and luxurious tube like this roll top right next to a picture floor-to-ceiling window. Then instead of sitting there watching the condensation slowly roll down your bathroom tile you can lose yourself in the beauty of the outside view.
This kind of window front bath works particularly well in a setting where you don’t have to worry about being overlooked. One such setting would be if you had a home with some substantial land around it, so you could bathe in peace looking out without needing to worry about whether anyone else is looking in.
Another option is to use one-way film on such windows which will provide you with an uninterrupted view of your garden, grounds, or even a city vista while safeguarding your privacy while you get in and out of the bath, and bathe at the same time. Yes, that’s right you could take a bath while gazing out at the bright lights of the City at night, or at the rolling green hills that surround your home. You can even install a skylight for clouds and stargazing above your bath.
One of the unique examples of positing a beautiful bath right next to a picture window is at Port Lympne Safari Reserve in Kent. There you will find a tiger lodge, a luxuriously appointed cabin with picture windows that face directly into the tiger enclosure. Directly, next to one of these windows in the cabin's bedroom is a bath so, if luck is on your side, you can relax in warm soothing waters while your favourite beasts are less than an arm's length away on the other side.
3) Be Unique
Sometimes the height of fashion is breaking away from the trends that everybody else is following and striking out on your own. Here we are talking about being unique and creating a bathroom with a bathtub that is uniquely you.
Unfortunately, many people shy away from choosing a customised bathtub because they feel intimidated by the selection process. After all, you not only have to choose the style and shape but the finish texture and accessories as well. Indeed, this can be a lot to have to picture in your mind, while also imagining what such a customised tub would look like in the bathroom you are designing.
The good news is that you no longer have to bear the mental burden of imagining what a customised tub might look like before you choose to buy it. Instead, you can use our custom bathtub gallery and 3-D configurator on worldcoppersmith.com. A simple visual tool that will take you through each stage of the customisation process, and update the product picture as you go. That means you can see exactly how your bath will look in polished brass, or red fire copper without even having to leave your home. We can even send you a free, no-commitment quote for your dream bath so you can keep an eye on your budget as well.
4) Create A Spa-Like Experience
If you have ever sunken into the warm and soothing waters of a spa, you will know just how relaxing and restorative such an experience can be. Sadly, many of us only get to experience the healing powers of a spa on the odd occasion. Unless that is, you choose to channel the essence of a spa in your very own home bathroom.
Indeed, there are a range of things you can do to create a spa-like experience in the bathroom of your own home including using high-end toiletries, placing candles around your tub, and keeping your bathroom as clutter-free as possible.
Although, the most effective tactic to use when creating a home spa is to invest in a deep soaking tub. After all, the part that we all love when we visit the spa is being able to submerge ourselves in the water of the pool, and this is very tough to do in a standard bath. Happily soaking baths are designed to be much deeper and provide a much more spa-accurate experience where you get to soak away the worries and aches and pains of the day, rather than just wash.
5) Minimalism Vs Maximalism
There has most definitely been a trend toward minimalist bathrooms over the last 10 years. With such spaces tending towards simple, plain white designs. Indeed, minimalist bathrooms can be very effective, and provide a restful space as long as they are done correctly and don’t come across as too clinical.
However, it is worth noting that not everyone enjoys spending time in minimalist spaces. Indeed, many of us like a warmer, more vibrant, or cosy maximalist feel to our interior design, and there is no reason why such an aesthetic can’t work in the bathrooms just as well as it does in the rest of the home.
For example, in a maximalist bathroom space, the warmth and opulence of a heritage copper roll-top bath is the perfect accompaniment to heavily patterned wallpaper, especially one that features bright jewel-like colours against a darker background. Indeed, the radiance of the copper the bath is made from will not only fit perfectly into your design but will also help reflect light in the space making it brighter and more pleasant to be in.
6) High Contrast For The Win
Another very effective bathtub design idea is to use high colour contrast within your bathroom space. There are many ways of doing this including choosing a white suit and contracting it with dark tile or wall paint.
However, if you are looking for something a little more original, choosing a dark tub to contrast with light walls is perfect. Indeed, a tub like this stylish rectangular soaker, finished in blackened brass will contrast perfectly with bright clean white walls. Similarly, a bold heritage roll tub bath in blackened brass could work wonderfully against a modern colour scheme of peach, and red. Especially if you have accessories with modern brass framed mirrors to complete the look.
7) Revel In A More Historical Design
When it comes to ideas for your bathtub you’ll hear plenty about modern minimalist design. However, it's always worth considering some inspiration from the past as well, especially if your tastes tend towards opulence and luxury. In particular, clawfoot roll-top bathtub designs are very popular, an image of which you can find among our freestanding bathtub pictures, and with good reason. They are classic and luxurious, as well as synonymous with old-school Victorian style.
Indeed, a clawfoot bathtub in an eye-catching finish such as Verde can both harken back to days of old and demonstrate your modern-day style chops at the same time. Although if you get such a bold design for your tub, surrounding it with more neutral tones and colours can not only help it stand out but ensure that your bathroom stays restful and doesn’t become too overwhelming.
8) Metallic Moments
One of the leading trends in bathtub designs in the last 5 years is making them from metallic materials. It is not surprising that metallic baths have become so popular either, as they not only look stunning, but are more hygienic, and durable than traditional baths, not to mention they also keep the water hotter for longer, helping you save both energy and money.
You can, of course, choose from a range of different tubs made from metal, with brass and copper as you will find in our copper bathtub pictures on our website being very popular. Another very on-trend metal to choose for your bath right now is the ever-popular stainless steel. Indeed, as you may gather from its name, stainless steel baths couldn't be easier to keep clean and shiny. They also have a very sleek, modern, and minimalist look that can help you create a restful and calm space with little effort. Last of all stainless steel tubs are often a lot lighter than their copper or brass counterparts which makes them ideal for homeowners that want to reap all the benefits of metallic baths but do not have the necessary load-bearing wall structure.
9) Let The East Inspire
There are so many wonderful bathing experiences from the East you can turn to for inspiration when choosing your tub. One particular trend is the soaking tub, which is often round and designed to be much deeper than a traditional Western bath.
The advantages of a round soaking tub include deep water that allows you to immerse yourself and your tired muscles for better relaxation. Additionally, because soaking tubs are higher and more narrow they provide less surface area for the water they hold. This means the water will much more effectively retain its heat, so you won't have to replenish the hot water nearly as much when bathing. Something that can help you save energy and money, while also providing a top-class bathing experience at the same time.
Of course, it is entirely up to you, how far to go with the Eastern influence in the design around your tub. You could introduce traditional wooden floors, rock formations, and bamboo. Although a simple minimalist design of white walls and white tiles, the soaking tub as the centrepiece can look just as stylish.
10) Embrace Biophilic Design Around Your Tub
Biophilic design is all about bringing nature and the outside into our interiors. The good news is that the bathroom, and in particular around the bathtub is a great place to introduce plants. Indeed, most bathrooms have a hot and humid atmosphere for at least some of the day, and that means plants like sword ferns and Philodendron will be in their element when placed around your tub.
Of course, you can further enhance such a biophilic design by choosing a polished copper tub. The reason is that the green of the plants, as well as the draping leaves of the sword ferns, will contract perfectly with the bright copper of the tub, creating a beautiful jungle-inspired paradise in which to enjoy your daily dip.
