BATHROOM LIGHTING DESIGN
4 July 2008
"How Do I Light Thee?"
The whole idea of bathroom design, if it is to be successful and different, is to do just that with it—make it different. And how many ways can a person make a simple bathroom different, especially bathrooms as small as those the wife and I have? Well, as Shakespeare said, "let me count the ways." Really, all that limits you is imagination—yours or someone else’s. If you haven’t thought of it, someone else has. A case in point is simple bathroom lighting.
A century ago bathroom lighting, if it existed at all, was a simple affair. Skibo Castle in Scotland was purchased and renovated by Andrew Carnegie at the turn of the twentieth century, when Carnegie, who had been born working class poor in 1835, was the richest man in the world. Given the amount of money that went into that restoration, there was surely no element of luxury that went wanting, but they could only u
se what they had. Electric lighting of any sort was cutting edge in those days, as was indoor plumbing, but the fixtures themselves were rather stodgy. This is a picture of a guest bathroom, which I chose because it gives a view of the lighting they used. Carnegie’s bathroom was nicer, of course, but all they could really do to make it so was to make it larger. But we do have to remember that at the time of Carnegie’s birth, most people used an outhouse and took a weekly bath in a tub in the kitchen, which would surely have been young Andrew’s experiences before he made an absolutely obscene amount of money on the backs of his steel workers. But I digress.
I bring that up because growing up in the 1950s, all we had in our bathroom (ONE for seven people!) was a simple light fixture, not much different, sadly enough, than the one that now graces the wife’s bathroom. But nowadays you can do whatever you want to do, and she will eventually hold me to that!
So that, at some length, brings us to PSCBATH, an absolutely wonderful company with a line of products that just boggles the mind. I will
most definitely have more to say about them in the future, but for now, I want to concentrate on their bathroom lighting, as they have come up with some rather innovative solutions to what is largely an old chestnut. Before I started writing these blogs, bare bulbs on a light bar and stodgy over-the-mirror lights was as much as I knew about lighting a bathroom. PSCBATH has enlightened me—or should that be lighted?
There are probably as many ways to light a bathroom these days as there are companies willing to go into that particular line of business, so the only other company I am going to mention in today’s blog is Cherry Tree Design. On a purely personal note, the company I would have guessed to be headqu
artered in either Japan or California is, instead, located in Bozeman, Montana, some 90 miles from my home town of Helena, Montana, which is not necessarily a reason to purchase their products, but I couldn’t help noticing once again how small the world is these days. But what most caught my eye about the company is that they make all things Japanese out of wood, and do so with an amazing grace.
Back in the day when Carnegie was old and rich and looking for ways to spend the money he had made off the backs of his workers, all he could purchase to light his bathroom was a simple lamp. Now we get to use any number of products that are absolutely cutting edge, and things that old Carnegie, for all his millions, could never possess. Kinda neat, huh?
Joseph
4 Responses to “BATHROOM LIGHTING DESIGN”
July 6th, 2008 at 1:54 am
Sadly, the bathroom photograph that you show was not an original Carnegie bathroom but a dressing room converted into a bathroom in the early 1990’s by The Carnegie Club’s founder, Peter de Savary.
Carnegie’s bathrooms all had tiled walls and mosaic floors. While some were en suite many were not, guests being required to cross corridors to get to them. Given modern sensibilities, these could not be used and parts were canibalised to be used in the converted dressing rooms.
I write as a former Club Secretary of The Carnegie Club and someone interested in Skibo’s history - not as an expert in bathrooms!
July 6th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Well, I guess there’s no substitute for thorough research! Never having visited Skibo, I thought what I was seeing online was the genuine article. At least what they did seems to have been in keeping with the type of work done in that era.
Thank you very much for your input, though. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the whole world of remodeling. I suppose re-doing those bathrooms caused a fair amount of controversy, but given, as you said, “modern sensibilites,” the alternative would have been a much less successful venture.
Thank you again.
Joseph
July 30th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I love pulling inspiration for new lighting from old rooms. What was old once is new again. Inspiration for can come in all forms.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Also, vintage bathrooms are making a huge comeback.