Have a seat … in the shower

I am currently working on a bathroom renovation for client’s who live in a wonderful Victorian house. Everything about the house is amazing. Soaring ceilings. Detailed mouldings and tall windows.

The master bath, however, needs some TLC.

We’ve nailed down the design plan and are looking to start construction in mid to late August. There are a couple of details to be finalized but one in particular is still being debated.

It’s the throne … and I’m not talking about THE “throne” but rather the shower throne. Where do you sit down or rest your toes to do whatever you need and want to do in the shower?

I had originally specified a teak fold-down shower bench like this one …

via moi

I chose the fold-down bench instead of a built-in bench for a few reasons.

One was to maximize space in the shower area.

Also, a bench that is built-in can be at a higher risk for water leakage (this shouldn’t be a problem with a good contractor but any time you build a cavity that need tiling and a marble slab on it you run a risk).

The third reason was to help manage the budget. Building a built-in bench or having a custom slab of marble cut requires more labour and material to install.

The fold-up teak bench is economical, cost conscious and just looks damn good.

Here’s a shot of a teak bench in another bathroom …

via

I’m all for sharing a balanced perspective … so here are a few shots of bathrooms with built-in bench seats …

via

Or what about this one? You could have a nap in here ….

via

Here’s another bench seat …

via

Another option is to have a custom slab made and installed as a bench seat ….

via

And finally, another option is to extend the adjacent tub deck into the shower area …

via

If it was your shower, what would you prefer? Fold-up, built-in or custom slab?