Concluding part of An Aesthetic Bathroom I had a Roca bathtub 🛁 which I’d taken almost a decade ago… around 9-10 years back, it had a few Whirlpool/Jacuzzi attachments which I never got to use because the installation was never done, it was a drop-in tub which required a panel or a proper concealed enclosure but my father never bothered to call the mason either, the work kept getting delayed for 10 years I was just 16 so I had no experience in this field… I wasn’t aware of any contractors, I was in college and it was not my job to get it done, anyway it’s natural for me to be indignant, that unfinished, shoddy work was making my bathroom extremely unpresentable, it was looking like a mess so I decided to sell that tub and get a plain bathtub this time. It was also taking up a lot of space as I had kept it vertically… which is why I have now opted for a smaller alcove tub with a ready front panel. I had the option of going in for a Japanese soak - it is very elusive here in India, they are more in height than breath or length which optimises more space, they come with a mini seat inside where you can sit and soak yourself, the water level is obviously higher, it reaches almost upto your neck/shoulders to “soak” you up completely, it’s basically like a sauna in a tub.
I did a little research and my final verdict was a big no, no… Here are some factors which you too might want to consider before going for a Japanese Soak although these are my own personal opinions, so it is all very subjective:
1. You need a step stool to climb in which makes it more accident prone.
2. It can also lead to drowning once you sink inside, as it’s very difficult to pull yourself out even while using a normal bathtub (I’ve used the ones in Hotels) the water pressure can easily weigh you down.
Keeping that in mind, I also feel it’s not very much ideal to sedate yourself with scented candles or aromatherapy etc. and sleep inside any tub just to imitate those hackneyed, platitudinous “Self Care” or “Me time” fads, I would be getting the headrest for adequate neck support but I won’t be sleeping inside for sure. However, this problem can be resolved to a certain extent by installing a Grab Bar.
H&M should start with their Home segment in India but we don’t want ethnic locally made stuff, we have plenty of that here, otherwise there is no point even my fellow Indians agreed when I commented that on one of their posts, the demand is higher for modern contemporary and vintage European style.
As for the alcôve bathtub, the only catch was my bathroom’s breadth, it is too small to even fit a standard sized tub so I obviously couldn’t get a 5 ft one which is 60 inches (in length) I had to hunt for smaller options, I read somewhere that they usually start from 4 ft if you have limited space, that size is also used by adults but you can’t stretch out your legs.
48 inches or 4 ft. Bathtub 🛁
Small alcove sink-in bathtub
The one which I got is 1380 mm which is exactly 4.5 x 2.5 ft, it is comparatively a little bit more comfortable. My previous bathtub was around 6 ft but it had only 35-37 inches at the bottom (I’ve not calculated the back or the front slope because I am very specific about the leg space, since I have long legs) this one also has 35 inches without the back slop, luckily it doesn’t have much slop so the difference is very incremental… the Roca tub had bigger rims on each side which were utilising almost an entire foot and it also had a lot of slope in the back as well as the front. Moreover my current bathtub would not require Mason work as it already comes with a front panel, it does not have any water jets or jacuzzi fixtures so we won’t require another circuit board in the bathroom, for those of you who don’t know, all those water currents are created using electricity which is a little riskier… the nozzles also obstruct and poke here & there when you are trying to lay down comfortably and they are a bit sharp because they are made out of metal.
My new bathtub has an anti skid area which was missing in Roca :/ I don’t know why and it is also relatively glossier, there is merely a 2 inch difference in the bottom space, although that one has more width which according to me doesn’t matter especially if you are not willing to compromise on the rest of your bathroom space, so I feel this one’s comparatively a lot better. If you are situated in Delhi then I would suggest Romania bathtubs because they make both Jacuzzi as well as plain ones and they’ve got smaller sizes as well and for Mumbaikars we have only one manufacturer in Maharashtra, the service is really good, it’s called Apple Bath and their store is located in Juhu. They also make Freestanding tubs if you are into something fancier…
Here are a few cons though:
1. They can be a bit flimsy if you don’t get them from a proper brand, however the Apple ones look nice & sturdy.
2. They are always more expensive, they start from nearly a Lakh
3. Some of them are very heavy so you have to make sure if your floor would be able to carry that much weight.
4. They are also little bulkier so your bathroom’s door frame has to be wide enough for the bathtub to go through. Drop-ins are the most affordable and so are alcove tubs, then you get drop in jacuzzis for which the price range can vary, they can be cheaper than freestanding bathtubs or they can range between 120-200k depending on the number of attachments you choose. Mine was more basic, it only had a few water jets and the prices were not that high 10 years ago, secondly they are a bit perilous because like I said they run on electricity.
In the age of Pinterest & Bloggers 🧴 it is impossible to have a Bathroom without a Bathtub, they have become a major attraction for girls and they are extremely popular amongst aesthetes.
I would be putting my showerhead above the anti-skid part so that I can stand in the bathtub while using it, I’m combining the shower area with my tub… I will be having all my fixtures installed on the side wall below the shower🚿 so that I can have everything right next to me. My golden faucets and shower units (both head and hand) would go perfectly with Apple’s oyster white bathtub. I was also looking for a small stool (for when I have to shave my legs or do a pedicure) which could replicate the ones you get in Japanese Soak tubs as in one with bamboo or faux bamboo (plastic) slats ref. they look like a mini Park bench… and luckily I found one in white to go with my white bathtub, all those bamboo ones come with matching bamboo bath soaks, this one’s PVC so I don’t have to worry about the material and it is exactly what I was looking for… it has those slats and it looks “wooden” it is very small so it can easily fit there, at other times I can also stretch out my legs, I’m not very tall, I am 5’4” but like I said, I have long legs… so I needed a bathtub with lesser slope - which is more ideal if you have a longer upper body.
My dad picked up this shower trim and lever from town - the centre one, which also has the same spout & diverter that I got as a bathtub filler and hand-shower unit, we also got the internal attachments - valve/thermostat in the same finish which is French Gold. Although it’s hard to make out from the pic it has H and C embossed on it below ‘Kohler’ (which is again not visible) to denote Hot & Cold. I removed the body sprays which were from Jaquar, two of them had already spoiled, I don’t know how, I hardly ever used them… I never liked their quality, back in time ie. 9 years ago Body Sprays were a “new thing” they had just been launched so I got them for a fraction of a price but now they’ve soared to more 10k per piece. The Rainforest showerhead had also spoiled & the automatic thermostat had stopped cutting out hot water flow… everything was from Jaquar. I can’t switch to matching golden body sprays which are for around 12k now (in Kohler) so I’ve decided to quit them, they are anyway used in shower cubicles because you need to use them from a distance otherwise there’s no point, moreover, my head shower doesn’t have a lengthier arm like most square rainforest ones (which are not that appealing to be honest) so it wouldn’t have been possible for me to use those body sprays even if I would’ve opted for a cubicle because I love my round showerhead and I wouldn’t have switched to the Square one just to use them.
More Details:
I anyway have the Rainduet 3.0 in hand shower so I won’t be needing them at all, another thing, we should conserve more water… these jets or sprays shoot/consume lots of it!
Apart from that, using more equipments would’ve led to a much more complex + time & money consuming plumbing work with an additional three way thermostatic valve and more diverters and levers, etc. all that wouldn’t have looked very neat, it looks better in a cubicle where people put shower panels and different kinds of consoles because they are supposed to be ultra modern but if you have a bathtub then that instantly makes your bathroom more “fancier” and less contemporary. The Autosense thermostat was too expensive and modern looking so I opted for a lever which was at half the price, it’s not automatic but like I said even the automatic one which I had from Jaquar had spoilt long back, back then I wasn’t in charge of my bathroom fixtures or shower fittings otherwise I probably wouldn’t have got all that and explored other options, it was cheaper compared to gold cuz it had a chrome finish, the golden ones start at 11k and apart from the steep pricing, here’s another issue: It’s not easy to switch or turn those cubic rotators especially with wet and moist hands, on the contrary levers can give you more grip because you can easily hold them, they also look fancier and much more vintage. After removing the body sprays I only required a single function shower trim with a lever & diverter button and a two-way mixer valve at the back.
The “Hotelier” Towel rack on Kohler (they only had Rose Gold) was for a whopping 21500/- it’s as if they have used Rolex ka “Rose Gold” and because of them all other local brands also started selling the Golden ones for minimum 10000/- the chrome plated ones are barely for 1500/- everywhere but they are behaving as if the Golden one has actual Gold Plating… the prices are INSANE! When I asked my father to find some Chinese version in South Bombay, the prices over there were also the same and they were giving it for 6000 after discount but I wasn’t willing to pay more than 3500 because the plain silver/chrome plated one is for 1500
& even if you calculate it’s double it should be for 3000/- I don’t understand why 10k? Hahaha how effing unrealistic and superficial? I told my father NOT to buy anything in that range… I found one on Home Centre but it was too tacky and all the other affordable ones on Amazon were very Ethnic, they wouldn’t have gone with my Mediterranean theme.
My dad got one from town (with heavy discounts) I am glad he asked me which size I wanted before purchasing because I didn’t want a 2 ft one, I wanted 18 inches which is approx. 1.5 ft since we opted for a smaller size, the price went further down…
I got this Crochet bath mat in Light Sage to keep it outside my tub. It looks more like mint green in real life, the colour is gorgeous and it came wrapped in a beautiful white ribbon like a perfect little gift! I got it from a small handicraft store. It will look good in combination with my Coral bathmat Price: 590/-
I also got a set of small monogram napkins
- ‘D’ for Darling
On my Wishlist: Guest Napkins
‘Miss’ Napkins, how very thoughtful, they not only had ‘Mr & Mrs’ but also Miss
I actually wanted the Bvlgari Guest Gift Box but it was for 12000/- it has Black Tea ☕️ fragrance which would’ve been great but the last time I tried a tester with Black Tea (another brand), I remember it was nothing like I’d expected in fact it was quite repulsive. This set consisted of mini toiletries & wet towels... but like I said it was too pricey so I curated another one in a budget of 1950/- I won’t require Shampoo Conditioner Miniatures & I chucked the Guest Soap Set from L’Occitane
It has a Gentle Honey Moussé Shower Gel + Body Milk + Hand & Body Cream + Milk & Honey Soap Bar + Handwash
I checked Roca’s recent prices, their plain bathtub is for 25000/- in the UK, I saw on one website it was for £ 248 (I’ve done the currency exchange) but in India the same Bathtub is for 80000/- now this begs the question, Why? Because there can’t be any import charges like Porsche, it’s not an automotive vehicle, it doesn’t carry freight charges either and the reason why we are not liable to these duties and taxes is because… our Bathtub manufacturer told us, “Mam at least we have our own manufacturing unit, you don’t know where Roca makes their tubs, they are made here in India itself at random places and then they just put their label.” My mother told him that I’m a blogger and I would be writing about them in one of my posts for which he said, “Oh then we’ll be getting free advertisement, I’ll have to work more hard haha” He was then talking about his own daughters, I think one of them works at Cadbury as a Graphic Designer for their packaging department, she does all the special Celebration boxes… I am not disparaging Roca, they’ve also started with anti skid bathtubs but the design element remains the same, minimal, simple and relatively a bit boring
Since I didn’t have a blog back then I am taking this opportunity to finally voice another opinion about Roca, I hope they’ll take this constructively, the surface of the bathtub has completely eroded from inside, it has developed lines and no, it’s not because I’ve used any toxic or harsh cleaning agents, I’ve never done that, it just got eroded with water, plain water :/ and I would always make it a point to drain it, so there’s no question of any stagnant water, how can it get tarnished like that? It has totally lost its lustre from inside… and I had noticed that long ago, not after 8-9 years, also, we had taken it from an authorised Roca dealer, if I am not wrong it was C Bhogilal.
My bathtub looks similar to this, it will only have a front panel not the side panel because it will be fixed wall to wall… it also has a beautiful flowy design
somewhat like this…
I was offered the best price so I got it for ₹ 25000/- with a front panel, drain kit, stand and headrest.
Additional Note: What are Grab Bars? And why are they installed?
Grab Bars are supposed to lend you a hand when you are losing grip, especially in slippery bathrooms… they are also a better alternative to tub handles; water can easily weigh you down which makes it hard to pull yourself up so putting a grab bar would be a good idea if you hate those black plasticky handles or brackets, they’ll neither ruin the beauty of your tub nor look like a utility.
Grab bars weren’t available in gold finish here, in my region so I came up with an idea…
Here’s what I did to put a matching grab bar in Golden Finish… Cons - None Pros - Most Grab bars are between 14-16 inches long (and 3 inches out) which is too lengthy, this one is only 10 inches & 2.5 inches in depth (FYI it is NOT a grab bar) Secondly, they are not branded so a lot of times inspite of paying 70$ (on fraud international sites) people end up getting cheated, the fake chrome or stainless steel coating comes off within 10 days and it gets rusted very fast… third, they are usually round so they tend to get more slippery, this one’s sleeker and it’s square-ish so it’ll give a better grip. I got it on a 30% discount ie. 1890/- you pay the same for Brass Grab Bars (that is, if you are buying from a proper website although they can’t give you any guarantee/warranty either) It is from Kohler, it’s 100% Brass obviously, in French Gold finish, it is actually their Mini Napkin Bar haha… I was like why not get the smaller towel rod? It was only available at one shop throughout Mumbai 😇 #lucky I feel blessed cuz he immediately sent me all the dimensions and also gave a nice discount.
That’s all for now, I’ll be sharing more details in my next post…
Xoxo
Love, Zara
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