FIRST, CONDO developers mined urban loft style and “open plan” layouts and built apartments where you can almost cook while sitting on the sofa, the spaces are so compressed (I’m not even talking about micro-units here). Hotels noticed and tweaked their own rooms: Spa-like bathrooms now share space with the bed and desk, partially separated by a thin, sometimes translucent wall. The worst offenders plop the toilet in full view of . . . anyone who’s in the room. I picked out a couple of examples here:
A junior suite at the Waldorf Astoria in Panama City, Panama, boasts(?) a peekaboo shower.
This room at the Canal House hotel in Amsterdam isn’t shy about mixing the functions of bed and bath.
Really? The Portobello Hotel in London seems to anticipate a couple sharing a long, languid, sensuous soak in the tub. But presumably those curtains can be pulled across to afford a bit of privacy.
Even at home that glass cube of a walk-in shower seems a little impertinent, even if you’re alone while showering; indeed, the clear glass might encourage you to lock your spouse out lest he come to a fuller understanding of what stretch marks are.
So I’m happy that Toronto designer Yanic Simard has provided an excellent overview of shower glass on the home-decor site Houzz.com, from the clearly clear to the mildly translucent to the strategically frosted.
If you’re considering ripping out that old tub and doing a walk-in shower instead (less agility required and more flat surface for moving around on), take a look at the possible ways to seal off the water and, yes, temper the naked truth.
—Nancy McKeon