ALL RISE. Design Court is back for round 2, and it is now in session. I’ll be overseeing today’s proceedings as your dedicated prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, and jury. (To be clear: design court does not follow standard courtroom procedures, nor does it stand up to any real legal scrutiny. But I am a Libra, so you can trust that I’ll be both very judgmental and very fair.) Today’s defendant: doorless walk-in showers. The charge? FRAUD. You may be seated. Let us proceed.
I’m an average American who, like most folks, lives in a home with a standard shower. I grew up with a builder-grade tub/shower combo, rented basic apartments with budget-friendly showers, and now have dedicated shower stalls in my LA apartment and my Delaware home. (I’m not going to lie: both of these showers are pretty tiny, and they don’t necessarily provide the most enjoyable experience. The former is a 3’x3’ 1930s tiled number that feels akin to bathing in a coffin; the latter is a standard plug-and-play cheap shower insert with room for your body and…not much else.)
All this to say: I have not grown up in the lap of shower luxury. I am not accustomed to grand showers. AND THAT IS HOW I KNOW THAT THE DOORLESS WALK-IN SHOWER IS AN ABSOLUTE MONSTROSITY. Over the past year, I’ve had four run-ins with these bathing atrocities: one in a high-end Philadelphia hotel, one in a rural Irish bed and breakfast, one in a basic Delaware hotel, and one in – dare I say it – my employer’s home (!!!!!!), and each shower left me reeling. WHY IS WATER EVERYWHERE? WHY IS EVERYTHING WET? I’ve questioned my own sanity: am I dumb? Do fancy shower designers have a special bathing technique that I, a basic normal, am not privy to? But no: it isn’t me, or my soap application style, or the way I rinse my hair. IT IS THE DOORLESS SHOWER’S FAULT, AND IT MUST BE STOPPED. The world has been tricked by beautiful photographs. These showers promise a hotel spa environment at home; in reality, you’re left freezing in a swamp. Today, we will bring these cruel shower frauds to justice. (There will be no defense opening statements, because I am the tyrant of Design Court.)
Allow me a moment to break down my case…
Assault with Cold Draft: Oh, did you want to be warm in your shower? TOO BAD. No door or curtain means that all your steam escapes, leaving you standing in a freezing cube. There’s a reason that the giant shared gym showers of yore didn’t make their way into our homes: because it’s cold and uncomfortable to stand – soaking wet – in a big, barely-insulated space.
Indecent Exposure: To that end, there is NO PRIVACY! (This goes double at the W Hotel in Philadelphia, which boasted the nightmarish combo of a barn door bathroom entrance and a glass wall separating the shower from the bedroom. WHO DESIGNED THAT?!) With a doorless, curtain-less shower, you’re visible from the hallway. The toilet. To any guest who enters, should you forget to lock the door in your own home. There’s no privacy. Is it worth it? NO!
Cruel and Unusual Valve Placement: This is where I’ll give kudos to Em’s walk-in shower – she placed controls both on the exterior wall and the wall opposite the shower head, which did make for a far more enjoyable experience. But to everyone else, I say: SHAME! You better be bare naked and ready to get hit with a blast of icy water when you turn this puppy on, lest you find yourself standing in your clothes and totally soaked. (Learned that lesson in Ireland.) Who enjoys this?????
Reckless Endangerment: I know that the plans had a beautiful sloped floor, and the perfect linear drain, and that everything was plumbed to draw water away from the rest of the bathroom. BUT IT’S ALL A SHAM. Your bath mat is drenched. Did you accidentally leave your underwear on the floor? Too bad, they’re soaked! Did you think that your laundry bag would be safe in a far corner of the bathroom? YOU FOOL – IT’S ALL SOPPING WET NOW, just in time for you to shove it back into your suitcase before a day of travel. Oh, did someone want to sprint into the bathroom after your shower wearing only socks? Lucky them – they can enjoy wading through puddles in their now-damp socks. (Is this getting too specific?) And it’s SO MUCH WATER, you guys. In Ireland, Den and I burned through our towels trying to keep the floor dry, and our Airbnb had a special heated room that could expedite the drying process because this happened to EVERYONE. Give me a door, a curtain, a ledge, anything, PLEASE!!!!
Embezzlement of Budget: The true horror: you are paying more for the trouble! The additional waterproofing, the floor slope, the linear drains – they’re more expensive than any standard tub or shower. I don’t love my little $1,000 shower insert by any means (and believe me, I have big dreams of remodeling once I finish settling my mom’s affairs and have a moment to breathe!), but even that little ugly white fiberglass number provides a less stressful bathing experience. (Like, imagine this novel concept: the water stays where it belongs and doesn’t leave me with a cleanup project afterwards!)
OKAY, OKAY. I’m being a bully. And I will concede that there is at least one legitimate use case for these nuisances.
Aging in Place: Last year, my mom and I became regulars in the handicapped suite at a local hotel. We didn’t have a first-floor shower in our home, so I’d pack Brenda and all of her essentials up in the car, drive her across town, set up our shower stool, and then I’d give her a nice little scrub down. (Her cancer caused something called Paget’s Disease, which meant that any movement could – and often did – break a bone. Loudly, and terrifyingly, and frequently. It was really horrible!!!! I am still trying to process it!!!)
ANYWAY. This was the only way my mom could bathe, and for that reason – and that reason alone! – I will give some doorless showers a pass. That being said, she was still freezing her little tushy off any time the water wasn’t hitting her core! There was no steam to keep the room warm, and it took a lot to get her body temperature back up. It’s hard to give a really good shower to another person without getting yourself wet in the process (I found that wearing a sports bra and workout shorts to be the best outfit, FYI), and at that point, we might as well just be getting soaked in a regular shower. Easy access does not eliminate one’s need for a door! (This isn’t even defense, at this point. This post has just turned into a tirade. C’est la vie! Can you believe this is a job?!)
No Squeegee, No Problem: I mean…I suppose there’s little to no glass to spot? No tracks to scrub? No hinges or seals to fail? I guess that’s all a plus, in the same way that, like, having no windows in your house would also reduce your cleaning load. (Read: it wouldn’t, because now you have a whole new mess to handle.) But to each their own?
Character Witness: I will concede: they are beautiful. Nothing blocks light or airflow; they really do help a bathroom feel like a spa. And they can even be done well! I will even admit that I did enjoy Em’s – I cranked the temperature up to 140 degrees from a wall unit outside the shower (obsessed with that level of control, TBH), opened the window for a nice warm breeze, and the installation was precise enough as to not totally soak everything in the room. (Hey, W Hotel Philadelphia, you should have some Lake Arrowhead contractors out to help fix your showers!!!) But I am not a world-renowned designer – I am a mere mortal – and I do not trust us regular folk’s ability to successfully execute (or operate, TBH) these showers without causing a big ol’ mess in real life.
I mean…this one feels open and shut, folks. THROW THE BOOK AT THE DOORLESS WALK-IN SHOWER. Do you want a perennially wet bathroom? What are we even doing here? Is it worth being cold every day in the pursuit of a beautiful room? How far would you go for design? In this case, I argue: we’ve gone too far. PULL IT BACK. This ain’t it. You deserve better. And I do, too!!!
The doorless walk-in shower promises…well, I’m not even sure what it promises. It’s pretty, I guess? But there are lots of beautiful ways to build a shower that don’t involve being a little uncomfortable all the time. SHE’S GUILTY OF FRAUD. This is blatantly false advertising – it’s a beautiful image on Pinterest that turns into a frustrating chore in real life. We can no longer stand idly by as innocent homeowners across the world are FOOLED by this visual trickery!!! The sentence? LIFE IN PRISON. Maybe some time behind bars will teach this doorless shower that a little enclosed space can – sometimes – be just what the doctor ordered.
You know what the funniest part of this is? This thought experience has inspired in me a newfound appreciation for my dinky, dingy, tiny little showers. They’re not much to look at – I might even argue that the LA shower is, uh, a little gross after a century of use – but they do their job! They keep me warm and clean, and they’re a-okay in my book. May we all find such peace with our own bathing situations. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, KEEP IT ENCLOSED!!!
Now, what say you? Please share your hot takes. Anyone want to file an appeal?!
Opening Image Credits: Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: Mountain House Reveal: The Upstairs Guest Bath That Used To Be A Closet
FULLY ON SIDE- the fiber glass insert of my current en suite is far far far better than the walk in shower situation (inspired by prisons maybe?) of my previous home. Hot tip to save your sanity if you suffer with a walk-in, put up a curtain.
Very funny, Caitlin! I couldn’t agree more.
Well this is spectacular. Starting the day with a smile over here!
You are so right! They look cool, but are so annoying.
What are your thoughts on kitchen islands? They take up so much real estate and then you have to constantly walk around them. And the seating at them? Everyone sitting next to each other facing the same direction? That’s just weird.
And any backsplash in the kitchen that is not smooth? Such a pain to clean. I suppose if you don’t really cook and just want it to look pretty it’s nice, but otherwise it’s a pain.
Just chiming in to agree about kitchen islands! When remodeling our kitchen, we made it smaller and added a long dining table that can essentially become another work surface or provide seating for company while cooking. There’s enough space to expand the kitchen’s footprint and even to put in an island or peninsula, but why?
Agree on all points
I am planning out kitchen renovation and I am dead set against an island! I just want a table in the middle of the kitchen so everyone can sit around it and frankly it will be easier to update the kitchen in 20 years by swapping the table and light fixture for something fresh rather than having to demo a permanent island.
I feel the same way about showers with a curtain- so easy to do a mini makeover, and easy to clean, just pop it in the washing machine.
The tip on smooth backsplashes is smart… I was planning on white subway tile with a thin grey grout line…
I am all about the practical, easy to clean options for a kitchen!
Consider upgrading to epoxy grout for easier cleaning!
Done!
To any moms of toddlers: kitchen islands are a godsend around 4:00 when the kids have already had their snacks and you’re trying to get dinner made. Turn on some music and let them parade around the island. It’s glorious entertainment, and it buys you at least 30 minutes to make dinner!
Yes, but they can parade around an in-kitchen table too. Island not needed.
If I may petition the court: what do we have to do for Caitlin to start her own blog or Substack or newsletter or anything?
Perfect Friday post. Feels like I’m back on blogspot in 2008. It’s hard to find this kind of design blogging these days! Like a warm hug from the past.
Completely agree!! Caitlin’s posts are always the most original and hysterical. Would love a dedicated Caitlin blog, and would pay for it!
Caitlin actually did launch a Substack a while back but I think it coincided with her mom’s diagnosis so it totally makes sense that it was put on the backburner. But I agree, I will read anything Caitlin writes, start to finish!!
You nailed it. Doorless showers and wet rooms must have been invented by people with a dampened sensory system. (Pun intended?) For any of the rest of us who feel things. Hate it all.
“Dampened” – priceless. Haha!
Absolutely agree! I’m hate being cold when I shower! And the water…Ugh!
Can you do rain shower heads next? I DO NOT want to wash my hair every time I bathe, and I am not a gymnast who bathes in a full back bend to avoid wetting my hair. Grr. Ha!
Thanks so much for this series. It’s so fun (and vindicating). A perfect way to let off a little steam about things that probably don’t matter that much but, if you can save even one poor soul, worth it!
Could not agree more re rain showers! They are such a pain except when you want to wash your hair, and even then I’d prefer not to have one.
Hear! Hear! I hate a rain shower head almost as much as a doorless shower.
I think rain shower heads are for/by men. They are laughable for a person with long hair who either wants to avoid their hair getting wet OR wants to wash soap out of their hair!
“To be clear: design court does not follow standard courtroom procedures, nor does it stand up to any real legal scrutiny. But I am a Libra, so you can trust that I’ll be both very judgmental and very fair.” i laughed out loud. love this whole post. im convinced!!
++ on taking rain shower heads to court
And then do bowl sinks. Like the sinks where someone puts a bowl that sits on top, the situation ends up way too high, which results in water rolling down your arms when you wash your face. And! The joys of cleaning the inside and now the outside of the sink bowl.
YES! Bowl sinks are so annoying to use!
Haha! I insisted our contractor extend the tile curb wall-to-wall to separate our doorless shower from the rest of the room, he swore the slightly sloped floor would be enough to prevent flooding. Thank goodness I insisted, or we’d be mopping up the whole bathroom after every shower!
I also miss the days of not having to squeegee the glass and floor after every singly shower. What a drag! I’m team shower curtain or door from now on.
So spot on, Caitlin!! We live in a 1000 square foot condo that has – I swear to god – an 8 foot walk-in doorless shower (half the wall is glass) …. it is an ungodly abomination. In addition to all the reasons listed here (and because we live in Quebec, that winter chill is a real problem!), because I have to walk two paces to get from the shower head to the wall niche with the shampoo – and that square footage is used for approximately 1% of our daily lives. Such an insane waste of space that could have been a deeply useful linen closet!
Totally agree that a doorless shower + cold weather = painfully cold bathing. I once had the misfortune to shower in a massive open shower in my Boise Idaho hotel room during a blizzard. Being un-showered is much better than that torture.
Hear, hear!!
Oh Caitlin, you are much too good (did you go to law school in another life?)
I’m mostly convinced but walker/wheelchair access is a biggie in my book (let’s hear it for universal design folks!)
Has the (harrowing) experience with your Mom influenced your design strategies in bathrooms or other areas? If so, please share your insights so we all can learn.
I’m guessing that if walker / wheelchair access is the goal, then good design is really important – making sure the floor slope works, that the shower/head faucet / shampoo shelf placements are accessible, making the whole room a wetroom if needed, making the shower opening the right size for transfer to/from a wheelchair, grab bars, etc. It would be fun to see some bathroom design examples that did all this really well and still looked good. I’m sure there must be accessible-spaces planners out there who are making it work!
Not sure universal design would preclude using a shower curtain.
Hahaha This is terrific! They are truly terrible. And get my tall, messy husband in one and it looks like the Johnstown Flood.
I cackled my way through the entire tirade 🙂 I agree with you, Caitlin – whole-heartedly!
100% Agree! We were in a hotel with a doorless shower that I had to bend myself around to turn on the water. I wanted a quick one before meeting everyone for breakfast, with no plan of washing my hair. The angle of the shower head blasted right on my hair and took me an extra 20 minutes to get ready. Plus – the cold! It’s awful. I love the coziness and privacy of a pretty shower curtain whether it’s a walk-in shower or a plain old tub.
Here I am fully cackling out loud on a Friday morning! Absolutely love this post and as a fellow Libra, I concur. I was traveling in the Netherlands a couple of years ago and stayed in this cool old home that had been turned into a boutique hotel. I took an extremely short shower (because it was doorless and I was freezing) yet even in that time, the water flooded the entire bathroom, creeping dangerously toward the carpeted bedroom. I threw every single towel on the floor to somewhat contain the mess, then sheepishly went down to the front desk to explain the situation. The owner’s response? “Oh yes, that happens all the time, don’t worry about it.” What?! I was mortified that I had created a huge cleanup issue for the staff, and they had just accepted that it was a part of hosting guests. Ugh. Anyway, thank you Caitlin for a great start to my Friday. No objections here!
I agree. My sister had this kind of shower at her last house which I used while visiting. Cold doesn’t even cover it and top it off with no ledge for shaving legs but why bother even shaving when the goose bumps come out the minute you are done and little tiny hairs show up!
A hotel we stayed in with daughter had a walk in shower, there was absolutely no privacy at all. We rigged a sarong to kind of give a bit of privacy, it was horrible. Worst design ever for a hotel room.
I have no love for this kind of shower and a lot of feeling about it!!!
Eek! We have a doorless/glassless
shower. It wasn’t our intention, but after a lengthy and expensive whole house renovation-the glass for the shower seemed pricey. We decided to wait a year and actually enjoy it now! We have less mold to clean. The whole room becomes a steam room almost. We do have an entrance threshold so water does drain well. I can’t believe I’m the only one for it! I will say privacy is a downfall. Whole discussions with my kids while shampooing!
I agree! This post is hilarious, but our experience with our doorless and glass-free shower has been good. Somehow it’s not cold, we don’t have drainage problems, and the controls are near the entrance so we don’t have to dodge cold water when we turn it on.
Great article Caitlin. Thank you sooo much for writing it. I was feeling jealous of those beautiful doorless showers without realizing all of the downsides you have pointed out. Thank you too for your candor and personal anecdotes.
Love my doorless shower, cannot imagine being without it. Sounds like your showers are way too long and water too hot. Neither are good for the environment!
This is a hilarious post but I must disagree. We just finished building our first ensuite last Spring with a large walk in shower. My first ever. I absolutely love it! To overcome the problems you described we installed heated flooring with a smart thermostat. I used the Kohler shower pan with a teak insert for the drain cover and placed the control where it could easily be reached from the OUTSIDE of the shower. It looks beautiful, it’s easy to clean and will allow my husband and I to age in place. And we have zero problems with water on the floor.
I’m about to say something crazy. I’m actually anti glass shower enclosure in general. Unless you are a stay-at-home-husband with great housekeeping skills (my dream) or you have daily housekeeping, shower glass enclosures get water stained and gross almost immediately. They are impossible to keep clean, even if you squeegee them. I know people hate shower curtains, but they can be installed in more elevated, custom ways (to the ceiling on custom tracks) AND they can be taken out and cleaned in the washing machine. I have three bathrooms I plan to renovate at my house and I plan to use fancy curtains for all of them. Glass is bad! I know I know – throw your tomatoes I don’t care.
When I was house searching this summer, I looked at a house with an open shower and the verdict at the time was a no. Not for any of the reasons above, but because my no-personal-space pittie would likely walk in and want to share the shower with us. Love her, but no.
Well done, Caitlin! Your writing is always engaging but today’s was a rip-roaring laugh-fest! But I’m older, so when I did a whole house renovation I did put in a curbless, walk-in shower. I’d been through with my mother something similar to your experience, so was forewarned about possible future needs. Was fortunate to have enough space to make the shower long and so water escaping is not a problem. Most of the year I love it and enjoy not feeling closed-in, and it’s easy to clean just the half plate of glass. But do agree, in winter it can get cold so I sometimes cheat and use the enclosed shower in the guest bathroom. Options!
I love my curbless, doorless shower. I have mobility limitations and so it serves a functional purpose, but I would love it anyway. I was worried about heat escaping, but I have heated floors and a small bathroom so temperature isn’t a problem. I’m on the side of the defense here.
Agree! I also put in heated floors but it is an added expense.
Absolutely hate them. Sometimes I need a hot and steamy shower and it is impossible with these. I was staying at a hotel in Palm Springs – and was really cold and I took a shower to warm up, but could not. The water wasn’t very hot and I couldn’t close up the shower to keep out the colder air. I hate the way the floor gets wet. I hate glass doors – they are hard (for me) to keep clean. I love shower curtains – they bring character, but also flexibility. If I want to make my bathroom more modern, less pink, more whatever- I can do it easily. I live in Chicago – if I couldn’t close up my shower in the winter to take full advantage of the hot water and steam, I think I might literally die. One night I couldn’t sleep (and this was like late summer) and wanted to take a hot shower and couldn’t get the water very hot and started crying. So, it would also make me cry every day if I couldn’t close up my shower and be warm enough. The end.
I thoroughly enjoyed this post! Your humor is right up my alley. Thank you!
HOT TAKE: The glass is the problem not the wall-in aspect! Have considered the fully walled version? I just moved into a mid-century modern home, and the shower is a fully walled in walk-in and I loveeeee it! There’s a floor to ceiling opening and you walk around a corner into the shower area. This whole area from the opening is completely tiled! No glass doors to clean, no cold drafts, no water spraying all over the bathroom because the shower entrance doesn’t even get wet. It’s cozy, warm, beautifully lit and like a spa. I just wipe down the tile walls in the wet area! So maybe walk-in showers aren’t the problem… maybe it’s all that glass!
Yes! We have a similar set-up, with a 3/4 wall. LOVE IT! Privacy, keeps the water and warmth where they should be, and easy to clean. I am never going back…
At the risk of being pilloried, I would like to invite everyone to come shower in my bathroom. It is is not the little shop of horrors you all expect.
I researched and designed how to make a teeny tiny bathroom work, complying with aging in place, and the room works and is a delight. I wish you all could see and experience it.
With a little (a lot) of thought and planning, it can be done.
Very interested in hearing more about your design!
I’d love to see photos and learn about what you did! Do you have a page (IG, FB?) where we could see your bathroom? I, too, have a small bath, and I’d love to learn about the solutions you found. Pretty please?!
Hahaha, Caitlin! This post made my day – thank you 😊.
We stayed at a hotel in Spain this summer with one of these showers (gorgeous to look at for sure). My 10yo was enjoying his shower so much (it wasn’t cold!) that he didn’t even notice that the water overfloweth (the shower pan lip was tiny). In a few minutes, the water leaked into the hall and into the kitchen until we HEARD the water make its way.
I agree with your verdict – unless there’s a mobility related necessity for these, they are not practical and pose a dangerous risk to your wallet.
i fully agree! we had a double-entry walk in shower in florida, and even though i never had problems with it flooding, i was freezing every time i took a shower! hard to accomplish in florida. we even had two shower heads, which i used even when it was just me in the shower, and i was still cold.
I totally agree with Caitlin. I feel like there is a geographical divide here. Traveling in Europe I come across WAY more open showers. It seems like they are less concerned about bathrooms being full-on wet rooms! Anyone else noticed that?
Totally agree both with your opinion and that this was a joy to read. I’d love to see more of these posts. What other beautify design trends/choices do we see but are utterly impractical? Please save us from ourselves!
FINALLY a truth teller emerges!!!! Speak truth to shower power!
Love the doorless shower. Clean, mold-free, not pokey, looks great. In Australia I can’t imagine any new bathroom being designed these days with a weird shower door or a horrible curtain which would just become clingy and moldy
I was going to raise disabilities as a reason, but I see that the court finally got around to this exception.
We have a curtain in our doorless shower so that my disabled husband could access the shower but also so that he did not have to also deal with the indignity of being freezing in the shower or having to deal with water everywhere (which is even more of an issue for people with limited mobility than it is for able bodied people).
I could not agree more!!! I stay in hotels all the time and have NEVER understood this concept! It feels so satisfying to hear another person say what I’ve been thinking for YEARS!!! Thank you!!
No appeal here. I say court adjourned!!!
JUSTICE HAS BEEN SERVED!!! lol thank you for writing this article! I worked on hotels and expressively(!) passionately (!!) explained how water gets everywhere with those seamless showers. I left feeling that I should not explain showering with wet long hair with my male middle aged architect coworkers lolololol I also feel this strongly about shower drain placement. No one wants to stand on a gross drain where all the filth is going!!
I am in agreement with all points concerning doorless showers in home or hotel bathrooms, and instead of replacing an unused Jacuzzi with a shower, we installed a huge bank of storage drawers when we remodeled the master bathroom in 2013. BUT….the single best shower of my life was on a summer day at Prairie Dog State Park in western Kansas. The women’s shower was open to the bathroom and had transom windows above it. The breeze came through, the hot water was abundant, I could hear birds outside — it was glorious. I know people in warm climates who have showers that are completely outside and they are universally adored. Everyone I know who has a doorless shower in their bathroom has juryrigged a curtain to contain the water and block drafts. I’m not sure how to account for the difference in loving an outside shower and hating the same thing when it’s inside.
Might just be the climate.
If I had a gillionty dollars, I would install an outdoor shower and use it during the warm months every day, even if I had to trudge out to my patio to do it in my robe with a shower caddy like I was in a college dorm again. (Outdoor showers at beach houses, not just places to stand and de-sand with a hose, especially if they have figured out how to get natural light into them, are basically the best thing.)
Fully against them from 2 out of 3 unpleasant experiences with such showers. The only one that worked was in a small bathroom, probably 5×8, in the summer, with frosted glass. I’m not a fan of the cold drafts, the exposed feeling, and the puddles everywhere.
Fwiw my husband likes to lawyer-argue and says they are great when you do it “right” which apparently means having a high end HVAC system that senses when you are going into the shower and adjusts itself for your comfort. How is that normal? I was not swayed!
I shiver remembering every monstrous, COLD doorless hotel shower but could see a well-designed one potentially working, like the designs some of the other commenters enjoy in their homes. My most memorable shower was in the main suite of a corporate retreat house we rented for a few days. This shower must have measured 12×6 ft or so, with multiple showerheads, completely open to the enormous bathroom and, most impressively, facing a giant picture window with a panoramic view of San Rafael, CA. No curtain in sight. Some very awkward showers were had, trusting that the neighbors on the adjoining hills were sufficiently remote and had already seen enough. Our group of colleagues abstained from group showers, but the house certainly provided that option for, ahem, some less professional retreats, with a view no less!
But, like, what if you HATE shower curtains? Shower curtains are gross, and glass doors are inconvenient and a pain to keep clean. As another lowly mortal condemned to a tiny bathroom with a fiberglass insert bath/shower combo, a doorless shower and separate soaking tub sound like a dream! What is our perfect, happy solution? I want to be warm while bathing, not leave my bathroom a wet, slippery mess, and not have a slimy piece of vinyl sticking to me. Help!
Look into getting a bowed curtain rod that holds the curtain out away further.
Swap your vinyl liner for a cloth liner with weights sewed into the bottom to hold it down.
These may not fix it, but they might help.
I came from a home with a doorless shower. Hated it. Now I have a shower with a door, but my bathroom has NO door. I hate that too! I think it’s all a trick to save builders money.
1,000% agree!!! I hate these with the heat of a thousand suns! lol
Other than the chilly temp (which is oh so real) everything else mentioned is a design and/or construction flaw if they are encountered in the finish room.
Would the design team consider doing a blog on accessible bathroom design (particularly for small bathrooms/homes under 1500 sq feet)? I tend to agree on open showers, and yet I also have young family members with degenerative conditions and disabilities. Making a small bathroom fully accessible, functional for everyone (including kids with disabilities, who also–spoiler alert–don’t want to freeze their tushies off in the shower), and beautiful is a tall order, and there aren’t many design corners of the internet focused yet on this issue. We’re trying to figure out whether this is something we can DIY, too. Thanks for considering!
I came here thinking this would have arguments on both sides or reasons to still do it but I fully appreciate the honest assessment here and the clarity for my very tiny bathroom project!
Guilty as charged!
I’ll also advocate for small showers. It’s warmer and cozier. I love to hear the water echo off the tiles. The bathroom in our current home is fairly small – maybe 4.5′ x 3.5′ – and it is the MOST LUXURIOUS shower I’ve ever had. Like, we’re obsessed with it. We make guests experience it. It’s fully tiled – ceiling and all – plus they built the ceiling down on the front leaving only a narrow gap between the door and it’s so wonderful.
I love doorless showers. I have one in my city house. It’s about the size of a toilet closet with three full sides and an opening on one longer wall. (It’s a fully remodeled 2025 house I bought from a builder who took it down to the studs so I had no input. ) I’m someone who absolutely hates being cold in a shower so I always run a space heater when I shower, even in July so I’m cold – wall or no.
In my Oregon country house near Emily, I just started a remodel to age in place and wanted full wheelchair access so I was going to have a doorless shower. But my designer was able to arrange everything so that there’s a glass door and access. It’s going to be very pretty but yes very open. If someone wants to, they could swap the clear glass for opaque glass.