Calgon, take me away

The bathroom can be a haven, a tiny retreat, even an elegant, luxurious experience. None of the bathrooms I’ll be showing this week are exorbitantly expensive, so all the ideas can be applied to your site.


Heaven Sent Desserts in San Diego has a very clean, upscale, and more masculine style than one would expect in a dessert shop. The bathroom continues the design elements from the rest of the store. I do feel that they missed an opportunity to add “heavenly” or “dessert” images in this restroom, but give it high marks for the finishes.


The City of Austin, Texas has a vibrant public art program in their airport. This permanent art installation made clever use of the mirror. You see a lot of different types of amenities when traveling. When traveling outside the U.S., the bathroom experiences vary widely. Here are some highs and lows:


Everywhere you go in Bali there are flowers. Arranged daily, as offerings to the upper and lower gods, decorating the temples, the taxis, even the bathrooms. Even in a modest restaurant, someone took the time to decorate the bathroom with a fresh flower arrangement like this every day.


When I traveled in Sichuan, China, we had a wide variety of restroom experiences, most unpleasant. This incredible view was taken from the window in a loo consisting of a basic concrete slab with a hole in the floor that flushed. Location, location, location!


When we got to Jui Zhai Gou National Park, we were amazed by the Sanitary Toilet Buses. Not only did they smell fabulous, but sitting down (instead of squatting) was a nice treat. Not great from a global environmental perspective (all that plastic), but certainly notable.

Tip of the day: At the very least, your bathrooms should be incredibly clean and well maintained. Nothing leaking, chipped, or dripping. Adding special artistic elements or incorporating a view can upgrade a bathroom, even if you don't fully theme it to your business.

Be sure to read the other bloggers (linked at right) for additional posts on ladies rooms all week.

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