BATHROOM DESIGN
1 July 2008
"Sitting Pretty"
Some of the most fun my partner and I ever had on this site was near the beginning when we did a series of blogs on toilets. Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but hey, we’re both happily married men who are faithful to our wives—we don’t get out much! I bring that up, though, because since then I have been on the lookout for something unusual in toilets. Recently, I came across the toil
et at the top of this blog, and that caused me to get another perspective on the entire issue of bathroom design.
I wouldn’t go so far as to describe the American Standard Porcher line as cutting-edge stylish or even unusual, but what it is, I think, is different enough to merit a second look, yet traditional enough to comfortably fit into a wide range of bathroom designs. The whole idea of a bathroom design, as I keep saying, is to make of it as luxurious a retreat as possible. But the question then becomes how much is possible?
The two problems most of us face with a major bathroom remodeling are space and budget. A great many of the items I have reviewed for this site are never going to fit into the cramped quarters that are, and shall ever be, the bathrooms I have to work with. And, for so many of us, there is a matter of simply how much does it cost, because much as we might like a particular item or bathroom design, spending twe
nty or thirty thousand dollars for a remodeled bathroom is just not feasible for many of us.
And that brings us back to American Standard. Many of the items in their signature line can really be described just that way—standard, but in recent years they have added a number of lines that are making some inroads on similar lines offered by other companies at a much higher price. The Kyomi bathroom suite shown here can be had for less than three thousand dollars, and given the price of wenge wood these days (it’s a moderately expensive exotic wood from Africa that comes by its dark color naturally), that almost seems a bargain. The other intriguing aspect of this bathroom suite is that it has the look of something made in Italy, because so much that is cutting edge domes from there these days. Interestingly enough, it IS made in Italy! But by Americans. And it’s sold for a price most of us are willing to pay. Isn’t that what they call a win-win situation?
Joseph
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