Customer Reviews

Great Bath Ideas

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was looking for a book to help me with ideas for an update (not a complete remodel or gut job) of our Master Bedroom suite. Because I wanted to update, I thought this book would be a good resource to evaluate what elements and features could be improved in our bathroom. I decided to write a review of this book because the previous review that gave it 1 star without any explanation which was not useful. I thought I would write a more detailed and hopefully more helpful review.

One thing I will say right up front is that the photography is great! The photos are a good size, sharp focus and with a multitude of styles in bathroom designs. I think this is extremely important in idea or design books. If you can't clearly see the pictures and designs, what's the use. No problem with that in this book.

The book starts with a chapter on Bathroom Trends. These trends include things like warming drawers for towels (vs. warming towel racks), TV screens incorporated into mirrors, mini kitchens and bars within the bathroom, innovative sink and fixture designs, bidets vs urinals and new technology in lighting and things like aromatherapy and chromatherapy.

I consider this a book on bathroom ideas, not a design book. When I see the word "ideas" in a title, I think lots of pictures and information about what's available and various styles, but NOT how to design, build or incorporate the ideas into the bathroom. I think this book fulfilled that promise of providing ideas that may work in a bathroom update or remodel. I am not going to go into every section of the book, but just enough to give you an idea.

With each photo, there is a caption that describes what you're looking at and also some helpful information about the item. For example, on page 28-29, there is a picture of a "hatbox" styled toilet. The text says, "Instead of a tank, it uses an electric pump to push water into the bowl to flush the contents. Its dimensions make it a good choice for a powder room or small secondary bathroom." Brief, but with good information about the use and functionality of this item. All the caption/descriptions of the picture items are in all caps, which is normally such a pain to read, but the font used actually makes it pretty easy to read.

This book is divided into chapters that include Bathroom Elements, Powder Rooms, Traditional, Glamour, New Country and Contemporary Bathroom Designs, so something for probably every style.

Bathroom Elements has 3 subsections titled Sinks, Tubs/Showers and Dressing Tables. There are lots of photos on the main page of the Amazon description for this book that shows some of the variety in the book. The "Sinks" section should be called Sinks and Vanities, because in some photos, very little of the sink is shown except with vessel sinks and the descriptions include information about not just the sink in the photo, but mirrors and vanities. This is a small quibble, but if you think you are going to look at sink options in this section, you're going to get it all. In fact, on page 44-45, the only mention of a sink is that you can place the sink by a window, you barely see the undermount sink they used and almost all the text in the caption talks about the mirror and generous counterspace. The Tub and Showers section was very good. Interesting shower designs and lots of non-traditional tub styles. I thought there were some great ideas for shower tile designs, which was one of the things I was looking for in a book.

The Powder Room chapter starts with a statement "Although small, these rooms have become a must have..." Some of the rooms shown seem larger than some main bathrooms I've seen. Others might meet the small criteria but have such busy wallpaper or other features that they look even smaller. Still interesting, but including the dimensions of the rooms they are considering "small" would be good. My Mom has a house that was built in 1960 and her Master Bathroom is 4 x 7...that's small. LOL. Some of the vanities shown in this baths look over 6 foot, with room to spare around them AND they don't even show the toilet. I know in small bathrooms it's hard to get the full photo, but most of the photos in this section seemed to focus on the vanity.

In the Traditional Appeal chapter, there is a 4-page section for each bathroom featuring some design element, i.e. "Study in Black & White, Arched Triumph or Totally Tiled. There are good descriptions of the 8 bathrooms and features.

The Glamour chapter, features rooms with glitz, bling, glass and mirrors, NOT. That's what you would think, but many of the styles featured were more classic and traditional with some glamour (mainly in light fixtures, chandeliers), but really nicely done classic bathroom. One of my favorite chapters.

The New Country chapter did not seem like the country décor I am used to...guess that's why it was called New Country. ;-) The style was all over, kind of a mix of regular country, some rustic, mediterranean, shaker style. Some seemed as if they would fit more appropriately in other chapters.

The Contemporary Comfort chapter has lots of stone, wood and steel with clean lines or a "Zen" feeling, basically what you would expect in a contemporary space.

Overall, this is an interesting book with a lot of frou-frou designs that obviously cost a lot of money. I think you can take bits and pieces from this book to incorporate into ideas for your own bathroom. It may give you some ideas, especially if you have a certain style in mind, but I found most of the rooms were more elaborate than my style. If you have an unlimited budget, it may be worth buying. I would suggest checking it out at the library first to see if it meets your needs. There are other books I like better: 150 Best Bathroom Ideas by Bridget Vranckx for gorgeous contemporary bathrooms and The Art of Tile: Designing with Time-Honored and New Tiles by Jen Renzi for great tile designs and Baths (Home & Garden Television) and Stone: Designing Kitchens, Baths and Interiors with Natural Stone by Heather Adams.

The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 3 ½ stars is because of the extensive resources listed in the books for so many of the products. That is always a wonderful thing to include in an idea book.

Betsy Speert is a favorite designer of mine. Her touches in a room make it a special place to be comfortable. This book 'Great Bath Ideas' is a high end bathroom collection of beautiful(but not always functional)high quality design features. Each page is a full color photo showing the new advances in appliances, tech and lighting for baths. You can purchase many of the products in the back of the book. Most of the baths are larger than my living room and have architectural details that most homes don't offer. And yet, all 275 photos are a delight to the eyes. That is why Betsy Speert designs are so beautiful, she shows you the unexpected.

Hated this book! Waste of my money and time! Did not want to waste time writing a review, but I thought people should know not to bother.