talk to me about how you chose your bath?

[Marinapeppina]

We've been able to test out a few in bathroom shops but none quite right and I really don't want to buy a bath before testing it out. Please tell me how you chose your bath? Do you love it.

We're looking at freestanding contemporary-style baths.

1. Can myself and partner lie reasonably flat in it, is it long enough?
2. Is the angle where my shoulders are going to be comfortable. I.e. not so steep that I'm upright with half my body out of the water?
3. Can I clean it, and clean around it easily?
4. Will water splash everywhere if I use the mixer attachment/shower?
5. Will it retain heat well?
6. Will it fill up fairly easily without using a lot of water?
7. Do I have somewhere to place my drink, phone, shampoo, toilets etc, i.e. a shelf?

For all those reasons, and not what you want to hear, but despite having the space and it being my original intention, I did not choose a freestanding bath. Yes, I love my bath, it's made by Heritage, it works perfectly as a bath.

Ours is a traditional style freestanding bath, not contemporary, but we chose it (Sottini) because we'd had the same one - albeit with different style feet - twice before and we're really happy with size, comfort and quality.

In another house we did once choose a slipper style (traditional again, I'm afraid!) from Clearwater which we hadn't tried first. It was uncomfortable to lie in and didn't retain the heat as well as the Sottini ones do.

We had my dream bath when we renovated our bathroom at our old house. It was really deep so I could have both my knees and boobs under the water, had lots of space around the side, didn't feel 'cheap', had a lovely sloping edge at the end so really comfortable to lie in, and had a straight end at the shower end so you could get close to the shower without losing your footing. Easy to clean. Yes it did take a lot of water to fill but tbh baths are my once a week indulgence and so for me it was something I was willing to accept.

We then moved house and I have inherited the exact opposite of the above :(

We will be renovating the bathroom as soon as youngest DC gets 30 free hours at nursery which means I have to put up with it for 31 months. Sob. I am counting them.

Free standing baths may look good but are a pain to clean around. For that reason I chose a bath with two flat sides and integral panel. Bath filler and separate retractable hose in corner. Easy to use and clean.