A Summer Outdoor Bathroom: The Luxurious Way to Cool Off

Break out the barbecue, dust down the deck chairs and, umm… inflate the paddling pool. Yes, summer is here and it’s so warm, you might be thinking about kicking the kids out of their watery retreat and jumping in there yourself. Has there ever been a better time to indulge your fantasy of an outdoor luxury bathroom?

Photo by Taryn Elliott from Pexels

Outdoor showers

At the very minimum, a stunning waterfall shower attached to the exterior wall or freestanding with its own cubicle gives you the option of cooling off after an hour on the sun lounger without having to go back indoors. (Just don’t forget to re-apply the sun screen!)

If you do decide to build an exterior shower cubicle, will you want to isolate it to give it its own sense of space and privacy within the open? Will it be a case of a couple of simple partitions above a grate in the flagstones? Or will you put in a luxury shower tray to really help distinguish the shower as a little bit of indoors brought out into the garden?

Outdoor Shower at the Sea Shanty Bali

Outdoor bathtubs

There’s little more indulgent than an outdoor freestanding bathtub. Whether it’s set beneath its own private pergola to draw attention to its place and space, or decked up high, right out in the open, a garden bathtub embraces the privacy of your outdoor space and allows you to, excuse the pun, soak in the views as you relax in the lap of luxury.

For those of you who love the idea of a long soak in a Japani-style environment, a sunken bathtub might be the way to go. Recessed into the decking or tiled at the edges to protect the surround, a sunken tub gives you that feeling of being at one with nature, putting you quite literally at ground level for a relaxing, indulgent soak.

Outdoor Bathtub at the HILLSBOROUGH RESIDENCE III

Tiling an outdoor bathroom

To tile or not to tile? That is, indeed, the question of the summer bathroom installer. After all, you’re out there in nature where surface runoff happens anyway. Do you even need to tile your exterior bathroom? Well, the short answer is: no, you don’t. But you might well want to do it anyway.

It’s all about the aesthetics of your outdoor bathroom design. Do you want it to feel hidden amongst nature, almost as if you’re stumbling upon it? Or do you want it to feel like a defined bathroom space of its own? Because tiles will just draw attention to the space, even in the most subtle of designs. But, if drawing attention is the effect you’re after, you can really go wild on tiling.

Landscape gardening around the bathroom

For many of us, an outdoor bathroom is simply a luxurious extension of a pre-existing outdoor area. But for some of us, the summer bathroom is actually a key feature of the garden design and plays an important role in the way the outdoor space flows.

Perhaps you’ll build a pathway leading to your outdoor bathroom. You might choose your garden materials around the style of bathroom furniture you put out there – a rockery, decking or lots of lush greenery. You’ll certainly design your plants based on the utilitarian water feature they surround – let’s say succulents if you’re going for that Mediterranean feeling, rainforest plants if you want that tropical island paradise vibe.

Outdoor Bathroom in a cottage via Sharon Barrett Int.

Maintaining your privacy

An outdoor bathroom is all well and good if your home is isolated to the point where there’s simply no chance of the neighbours’ prying eyes happening upon you. But that doesn’t mean those of us living in closer proximity to other people shouldn’t enjoy the spoils of our outdoor space to the same degree.

Ensuring you are able to relax in the privacy and comfort of your own garden or yard simply means taking appropriate material measures. Stained glass partitions, partial walls, fences and creative use of plant life will all help to give you that sense of security in your private outdoor bathroom.

In short, if you have even a bit of outdoor space and you like to make the most of your space out in it, a luxury outdoor bathroom can add value to your home and give you a real sense of both opulence and oneness with nature. Have a great summer!

Main picture seen here