Bathrooms and kitchens are the two most important rooms when it comes to selling a house, with many buyers being instantly put off by a lack of cleanliness in either. Having said that, they are also the two rooms that buyers are most likely to rip out and renovate.
A freestanding bath adds instant luxury to a bathroom and Drummonds have some gorgeous ones, so feast your eyes on these for some bath time inspiration.
Do remember that a cast iron bath can be very heavy so check with your builder before you buy one. We had the joists in our bathroom reinforced even though our freestanding bath was acrylic and not cast iron.
Drummonds offers a 25 year guarantee on all its baths, which are made at its factory in south east Poland. The company was founded in 1988 by Drummond Shaw, who was, in classic entrepreneurial style, doing up his own house and couldn’t find what he wanted.
Shaw began specialising in architectural antiques but his passion was for classic bathrooms. Realising that it was becoming harder and harder to find original pieces that could be restored and work with modern plumbing, he decided to move into manufacturing.
Drummonds now also make basins and taps. Admittedly, it’s all a little out of my price range but the catalogues are just stunning and just because you can’t afford, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look. After all it’s inspiration.
And let’s not forget the cautionary tale of my friend Jackie, who decided she no longer wanted her claw foot bath as she wanted to go more modern. Her builders hauled it out into the street, where, within 20 minutes, one lucky couple had carted it away to their own house. If only that could happen more often.
I once salvaged a lloyd loom chair from a skip but I have to say it never smelt entirely right and it was shortly returned to the streets from whence it came.
Hello Kate
Love these, but especially the two James Audubon murals; any idea where I could source one of these?
I have never had a free standing bath, they look fabulous and luxurious, as a concept – are they difficult to clean around, on the floor, if someone is as splashy as me in the bath?
Without wishing to be sycophantic, your e-mail is the first one I look forward to opening up each morning!
Best wishes
Iona the cheese maker
Hello Iona, thank you for your kind comments. I have a freestanding bath and don’t think cleaning is an issue. If you’re very splashy then it’s probably more about what you have on the floor than the bath itself. As for the murals I’m not sure. I didn’t know anything about Audubon so I looked him up. He died in 1851 so I imagine you would be looking at posters. I found a canvas for £100 but it wasn’t very big. You could see about getting one of those companies like 55max.com, who create bespoke wallpaper, to see if they can create a mural for you. Or you could talk to Drummonds? Let me know how you get on. Perhaps it’s something to look at for a future post.
regards
Kate