With the coming of summer, most of our life goes outdoors. The patio pops to life, so does the deck, the garden and the swimming pool.
Most of us forget a very important thing though – the bathroom. Yet, nothing is more glorious than showering or bathing right under the sun, surrounded by plants and the music of the birds. With the nature of our gardens changing constantly, we are always looking for an opportunity to carve a good living space out of them.
You may not just create a bathroom in the garden, but you can as well make it as complete as possible. By this, we mean include a tub, a shower and even a toilet. Don’t believe it? You are not alone. However, with some creativity and a good design, you can have a garden bathroom that looks as if it just popped out of a home improvement or a lifestyle magazine.
Design your outdoor bathroom on paper first
Any kind of construction should be guided by a design, even a simple fence. Thus, whatever idea you have for an outdoor bathroom, replicate it on paper first. Is it something that you saw in a magazine, at a friend’s home or on TV? Everything starts with an idea.
When you draw it, you will even be able to make modifications. This design is going to be your blueprint. You also have to consider where the water is so that you do not have to do a lot of extra piping.
Use the available plants to your advantage
That is right, use the plants. For example, instead of erecting a post for the showerhead, just tie it to a tree, or a high shrub. You can also use the trees and other plants for your lighting fixtures.
If you select the place where you will build your outdoor bathroom correctly, it can come out looking so perfect you will actually think it is part of the garden.
Try to use the closest plants to advantage. You can even use two shrubs to create a tie table for placing your soaps, lotions and detergents when bathing, or even your drink. Alternatively, an old log can serve as a small bath-side table.
Choose a place with dense plants for some privacy
The reason this is a garden bathroom is because you do not want to start building concrete walls if you can avoid it. You just want to use the plants as much as you can. If you have place with some dense shrubs close to the house, that is where you should erect your bathroom.
It is quite possible to have an outdoor bathroom without having to build walls for privacy. If you do not have dense plants in your garden, you can build a simple timber wall to cover the most open side.
You can also place a well-sized statue in close proximity to the tub for privacy. With some shielding, it will be easier to sit in your bathtub, soaking the summer sun away.
You can also use your house walls
In fact, this is the simplest way to build an outdoor bathroom. All that you need to do is find a corner that has two walls and in such a case, you would just need to build the floor. However, without a corner that can create two walls, you can just use the one available wall, then create two simple walls with timber, if you must.
If you do not like the open roof, you can create some semblance of privacy on the top with climbing plants. Just tie wires to the climbers and pass them over the area where you need your bathroom to be.
Make it as natural as possible
If you have set the outdoor bathroom against the walls of your house, the sensible thing is to use materials that are close to what you have used for the walls.
The idea here is to create a continuity of whatever design is already available. You want the bathroom to look like a continuity of your exterior design rather than look like a foreign object added to the garden.
These are just a few tips to help you get the best value out of your garden bathroom creation. If you put your heart into it, you will have an outdoor bathroom that will be the envy of your guests.
