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"Ladies And Gentlemen, I Give You The Back Side Of Water!"

When I was seven, we went to Disneyland. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Chippendales. But what stood out to me was the Jungle Cruise. The skipper brought us in front of a waterfall, then took us behind it and told us to behold the eighth wonder of the world — the back side of water! Whoa....my mind was blown. You think yourself a savvy guy, a world traveler, but who knew water was two dimensional??!

Skip forward a few years, and word started to go around that girls were made of sugar and spice. Wow, that was very interesting news. I may have been a jet setter earlier, but how was my tweenage self going to crack the Gordian Knot of wooing a fair maiden? I needed that something extra. A touch of savoir faire. That’s right, baby, I started taking daily showers!

Sure, I discovered that water was two dimensional in places other than the Magic Kingdom, but the point of all this is I think we can agree that showers are integral to a healthy lifestyle, so what are some of the secrets to designing a great shower?

Well, it’s contingent on the entire bathroom. What size and shape of clay are you working with? I’ve said to clients for years that now is the time to fix the sins of the past, but the truth is it’s actually the time to investigate fixing the sins of the past. Meaning what will it cost and would it be worth it?

We recently walked into a house where the kitchen sink was on a peninsula overlooking the family room, but six feet away was a large window looking out to the backyard. I immediately said, “Hey, I have a crazy question, but have you ever considered moving the sink to beneath the window?” It was $2,000 to move the plumbing, something she jumped at, and now she has a kitchen she absolutely loves.

We’ve walked into dozens of bathrooms with nearly the same footprint. A 3’ x 3‘ shower tucked into a corner, with a closet door to one side and a built-in tub on the other that fills the remainder of the wall and sits under two windows. Then the vanity goes 90º from the tub down a second wall to the third corner.

They always ask how they can get a larger shower, but unfortunately this is when fixing the sins of the past could be expensive. It’s possible to have a window in a shower, but two windows of 12 square feet on adjoining walls — leaving no place for plumbing — is dead on arrival. Unless you’re willing to skip mirrors, the vanity can’t go there, and a free standing tub will take up nearly the same amount of space.

You could remove the windows, which is not quite as expensive as you might think, since it’s just 2x4’s and drywall on one side, and matching the siding on the other, but most HOA’s wouldn’t allow it. You could 86 the tub, but it there’s no wall space by the shower — in front of it or next to the window — then the shower can’t be made larger. Some soaking tubs are more vertical than horizontal, but again, that won’t matter if there’s no wall available. Basically, the architect backed you into a corner and your layout is set. That said, even 4” to 6” longer in each direction might not sound like a lot, but could be enough to save your elbows while shampooing.

Hopefully, your bathroom allows placing the shower where you want. Probably the most efficient use of area is a corner shower with its door facing the middle of the room. However, while this provides space for loitering beneath the rain shower, if you’d like to add a bench, you have to be strategic about it.

If you place it along the wall with the showerhead, you’ll be able to sit and luxuriate below. However, most prefer the bench on the far wall, but in a corner design the outside walls aren’t as long and you don’t want benches impeding the entrance. You could put triangular slices in the corners, but since they’re smaller, they’re not as comfortable for sitting and leaning back as much as for placing your feet for balance.

Finally, your preference on the glass walls could impact the bench. Usually, we design pony walls — half walls essentially — for the outer sides, with the glass sitting on the top half. This allows two walls to secure a bench, but if you want your glass to go floor to ceiling, confirm with your contractor that he’ll be able to properly affix any benches. For this reason, a rectangular design will be more accommodating if you want a large bench to meditate upon, particularly if you’ll be adding a steam shower.

There are other applications for pony walls. They’ll often be capped with the same material as the vanity counter; those can double as shelves inside the shower. Or perhaps you’re tight on space, so you need the vanity to end just next to the shower; the wall obscures the vanity from being seen inside the glass.

In two weeks, we’ll discuss the finishes available.