Articles | Freestanding Baths - The Centerpiece of the Bathroom

A lot of people invest in their furniture and appliances to make their homes look good. They consult professional designers to ensure that all the things they will get will match and will produce the desired effect. Great effort is usually done in the living room mainly because it is what is exposed whenever there would be guests. Next to that is the dining room and kitchen because guests are more often than not also invited to share meals. The bathroom is also given careful attention though this is not usually seen by visitors. In contrast with the purpose of impressing guests, people spend time and money for the bathroom for their own personal satisfaction.

A common way to make a bathroom beautiful is to put a bathtub. Bathtubs can either be built in or freestanding. Built in bathtubs are those that are mounted on the walls with most of the plumbing tucked away from view. Freestanding bathtubs on the other hand are not mounted on walls but are let freely standing on the floor.

Traditional freestanding baths have feet. There is a choice between cast iron balls or claw foot. The use of claw foot goes a long way. It is the in thing during the 19th century.

There are also freestanding baths that do not have feet but instead, they are supported by metal cradles. Metal cradles give a contemporary appeal to the bath. It matches most modern bathroom designs. If you want to be minimalist even with a big bathtub inside the room, the metal cradle will give that effect.

Freestanding baths can also stand without feet or cradles. They could go right down to the floor or they could be placed on a platform or pedestal.

Unlike most built in baths, freestanding tubs come in a wide variety of shapes. The traditional styles are still popular but you also have a lot of contemporary designs to choose from because modern designers now have made these baths into art pieces.

One traditional freestanding bath is the slipper bath. It has one end slightly higher than the other. The higher end is the called the head of the bath while the other is called the foot of the bath. The foot of the bath is usually flat while the raised end is rounded. The plughole is found at the foot. Sometimes this tub is also called the single ended tub.

Another freestanding bath is the boat bath. Unlike a slipper bath, the ends of a boat bath look the same. The ends can be both raised or both flat. Aside from having similar ends, a boat bath is also different from a slipper bath because the plughole is found in the middle. A boat bath is often called a double-ended bath.

Modern designs somehow follow the basic features of the traditional tubs but they incorporate some changes in shape. They apply some tweaking here and there to give the tubs an fancier look.

Freestanding baths can give the bathroom a certain sense of drama. They become the accent of the room. For most, they become the centerpiece of the bathroom.