Bathrooms and washrooms have been through many changes over the centuries, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that houses started to be built with indoor toilets and bathrooms as standard, says Zoe Hendon, head of collections at Middlesex University’s Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture. “At that time, bathrooms were seen as a luxury.”
Yet for many decades after, even these indoor bathrooms remained cold and uninviting. Their main purpose was to keep residents relatively clean, and people spent as little time in there as possible.
Anyone living in a suburban semi built in the 1930s would probably find their bathroom upstairs. But if a bathroom needed to be added to an older property, it would get tacked on to the back of the house as a single storey extension.
With the introduction of the combination boiler (which heated both the hot water and the radiators), big water tanks in the attic were obsolete. That freed up space, which allowed some bathrooms to migrate up from the ground floor.
By the 1970s, most people, even in flats, were no longer sharing a bathroom with neighbours, says Hendon, and 88% of British homes had their own indoor bathroom. With technological advances and the introduction of central heating, bathrooms started to become more pleasant rooms to spend time in. Users no longer had to rely on “a tiny heater on the wall”, says Hendon.
In the 1960s and 1970s, fashion-conscious homeowners experimented with coloured-bathroom suites. The avocado version sticks in many people’s minds, but pastel shades of turquoise, pink and yellow were also popular.
Many coloured units were banished in the 1980s as people’s tastes moved on and the role of the bathroom started to evolve into a spa experience, with sunken baths and whirlpool effects selling well for a while. Stand-alone showers were all the rage, with showerheads becoming ever more powerful, leading to the arrival of wet rooms. The wet room has now become a status symbol, suggests Hendon.
While it’s quicker to have a shower than a bath, we are taking more and more time in the bathroom. People spend an average of 30 minutes a day in there, according to bathroom company Map, and “one in four of us spend more than an hour”.
That’s hardly surprising given how technology has allowed us to transfer our modern obsession with personal grooming from the beauty parlour to the home. In the bathroom, epilators and shavers now supplement electric toothbrushes.
UK consumers are some of the heaviest spenders on beauty and personal care products globally, according to market research company Euromonitor. It says: “An increasing obsession with image has intensified the desire of UK consumers for a consistently well-groomed appearance.”
The internet of things is also changing the way we control our homes by making our interactions more efficient and increasing our comfort. The Hive thermostat includes a hot-water boost feature and as Kassir Hussain, director of British Gas Connected Homes, explains: “This means if you have a separate hot water tank and you need extra hot water because you’ve got guests, or kids coming back from a muddy football game, you can just hit boost for a hot shower.” Hive will soon have a Multizone function, which will allow you to keep your heating on upstairs so it’s nice and cosy while ensuring you don’t waste energy keeping the rest of the house warm.
From a cold and uninviting room, to a haven of relaxation made possible by technology, the humble bathroom has been on an incredible journey.
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