Livinghouse.co.uk
Oblongs are so yesterday. This smart fibre-resin cube is intended to exude Japanese-style chic. Awkwardly proportioned bathrooms will absorb it gratefully since it can squeeze into tight corners and, with extra plumbing, double up as a shower unit. It comes in three sizes but you have to sort out the panelling (pictured is a smart but impractical fabric) round the sides and the taps are sold separately once you’ve decided where you want the holes.
From £780
www.livinghouse.co.uk
01722 415000 Photograph: Guardian
Utopia group
Your personal hygiene requires a bath and a shower unit but your daintily sized bathroom does not allow it. Here’s the solution. The tub has an in-built extension at one end to mimic a shower stall so that you can sluice vigorously without irrigating the floor. The squared off extremity will also indulge bathers with fuller figures. The black gloss and walnut panels pictured come separately and you can order matching drawers to avoid space waste. It comes left or right handed.
£543.19
www.utopiagroup.com
01902 406400 Photograph: Guardian
Livinghouse.co.uk
The only stress you experience as you languish in this beechwood vessel will be the memory of the price you paid for it. Its audacity should make it timeless, however, so why not forgo that kitchen makeover and concentrate on liquid pleasures. Boat-building techniques are employed to create it and it comes with a 10-year guarantee, but you will need to be fully persuaded by the picture because, since it is made to order, it is non-returnable.
£7,448.33
livinghouse.co.uk
01722 415000 Photograph: Guardian
Bathstore
The free-standing look need not be slavishly Victorian. These angled corners are for edgier souls who require unthreatening sophistication at an unfrightening price. It’s large enough for company and you can decide where to drill the tap holes to minimise impediments should you be entertaining a guest. The fabric is acrylic.
£449
www.bathstore.com
0800 232323 Photograph: Guardian
Imperial Bathrooms
Since free-standing tubs are now within the budget of the masses, it’s a challenge to be different. But few of the nation’s bathrooms will have seen this rare indulgence: an enamelled cast-iron roll-top in a hand-stitched leather jacket. Decadence was the stated aim of the manufacturer, but it’s a practical decadence since the leather is water resistant and comes with a 20-year guarantee.
£3,746.25
www.victorianbathrooms4u.com
0845 463 1550 Photograph: Guardian
BC Designs
Tasse is German for cup although this bath looks more like an elegant oval soup bowl. The glory of it, apart from its visual drama, is that the curving sides will accommodate your prone flesh at any angle. It’s made from a hi-tech conjuring of acrylic, polyester and resin which will resist the distressing staining of your ordinary white tea cup. Taps are sold separately.
£1,871.35
www.victorianbathrooms4u.com
0845 463 1550 Photograph: Chris Redman/Guardian
Victoria Plumb
Glamour on a budget. Bathing guests will assume that you are far richer than you really are as they wallow atop four chrome-plated aluminium feet. The fact that the tub is acrylic is no embarrassment, since it will spare you a chilly jolt when you settle into it and will keep the water warm for longer than posh steel alternatives. There are no pre-drilled holes, so you can choose where you want the taps – which are not included.
£279
victoriaplumb.com
0844 804 4848 Photograph: Guardian
Livinghouse.co.uk
For the price of a car you can soak in Hollwoody glory provided you have an en suite ample enough to accommodate this Travertine stone sculpture. You’ll need to be sure that you won’t be moving home anytime soon for it weighs 1000kg and is likely to stress ordinary floors. Those inconveniences aside, it will cleanse you and selected comrades in curving comfort and since it is made to order you can specify your preferred dimensions.
£11,644.25
www.livinghouse.co.uk
01722 415000 Photograph: Guardian
Bathstore
If you’re sluicing young children your lower back will regret this choice, but should you desire to lie up to your neck in bubbles without enraging your bank manager you can’t go wrong. It’s stylish, affordable and it’s deep – it stands 64cm high so a certain agility in the lower limbs is a bonus. A stone resin lining on top of two layers of acrylic makes it feel weightier than it is and holds water heat. The stone resin feet can be painted any colour to perk it up a bit.
£299
www.bathstore.com
0800 232323
Photograph: Guardian
Bathstore
Sometimes a simple trough is eloquence enough. This crisp rectangle can preside over the centre of your bathroom as elegantly as rolltops and claw feet and the near vertical sides and sharp corners add wallowing space as well as visual drama. It’s made of non-slip Lucite acrylic and comes ready-packaged inside its white side panels. A decent tap ledge has been added to the foot and the holes can be drilled according to your desires by the installer.
£329
bathstore.com
0800 232323
Photograph: Guardian
