BATHROOM DESIGN
19 August 2008
“Written in Stone”
I feel a little strange in writing this particular blog because one of the strengt
hs of our marriage is that my wife and I both take the view that nothing is written in stone. Well, except our wedding vows. We’re completely serious about those! But for the rest, we’re flexible, and certainly so when it comes to design. I always tell her that there’s about a million ways to design any given project, and we only have to find one that we both like.
And now here I am promoting bathroom designs that are written in stone! Actually, the one at the top of this blog is written in concrete, and far from being rigid, it is proof of just the opposite, of how flexible that particular medium can be. Concrete seems, when you think about it in the abstract, to be such a cold, unyielding, ugly product, suitable only for sidewalks and foundation slabs. But in recent years a number of companies have taken this drab old product and transformed it in every possible way, starting with the shape, of course, but continuing on to utilize it in some wonderfully innovative ways.
What I find myself particularly liking about this particular sink, though, is that it is a chance to go in a different direction, or if you will, to a different time altogether. The design depicted here
is an ammonite, which is an extinct species of cephalopods (please don’t ask me what that is!) which is said to have lived in the sea about 400 million years ago. Someone like myself (I read a lot of history) might well find something like this to be just the conversation piece I’ve been in search of for my bathroom. And if the gray is all that holds you back, you should be advised that HighTech produces this washbasin in several sizes and colors.
The other item in stone that caught my eye really is in several varies of stone: carrera marble, honed basalt, and onyx. It’s a new line of basins from Stone Forest which I’m told can be purchased for between $1010 and $1200. They’ve reduced the stone to its bare essentials, then dressed it up a little with stainless steel brackets and grill drains. There are also countertops and shelving of the same materials that can be combined in a number of different ways, with the emphasis on minimalism. It’s an old line, but sometimes less really is more—and especially so if you’ve written it in stone!
Joseph
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