After visiting the gorgeous stand of Kast Concrete Basins at Decorex 2024 earlier this week it got me thinking about the new trend in none-white sanitaryware for residential bathrooms.
After an insightful discussion at the Design Talks stage on Colour Trends and Sustainability – Can the Two Co-Exist? Hosted by the brilliant Karen Haller it did get me pondering how this current trend will be perceived in, say, 10 years’ time. Will the Gen Z’s spearheading this current appetite for colourful sinks and baths view them with the same disdain Generation Y thought of the avocado or salmon pink suites beloved of the baby boomers in the future? Is all this thoughtful, crafted design set to fill skips or is it here to stay?
I suppose the trend is part of a wider appetite for people wanting to fully personalise their spaces, coupled with a fashion for nostalgia which has been on the rise since the pandemic. Blank, neutral spaces of the 90’s and noughties have given way to maximalist design aesthetics. The current generation are used to having personal service ‘on demand’, from watching TV to restaurant meals delivered to the door so it’s not that surprising that they are wanting the same from the built environment. When ‘inspiration’ is available in myriad forms 24/7 there is an air of possibility in mass residential interior design that perhaps wasn’t there before. We are seeing more playful design choices available in functional pieces, catering to that desire for something unusual – the instagrammable moment in people’s own homes.
I am all for people’s homes reflecting them and showing off personality – it’s a home after all, if that space can’t be personal then what’s the point? For me, whilst I appreciate the innovation in product design, I am still a fan of a shiny white set though, I am Gen Y after all. Although I must admit that in a previous life as an estate agent, when I came across a relic from the 70’s still in situ in a house, my viewers used to think I was mad when I said I’d keep it rather than replacing it – even better if the original tiles were still on the walls too! So maybe I’ll be looking to buy a 20’s house in 10 years’ time, desperate to find a tangerine orange basin tucked away in the ensuite.
I really hope that these gorgeous pieces of sanitaryware are treated as the investment pieces that they are though, manufacturing bathroom suites takes an awful lot of energy, I would hate to see all that going to waste and these items becoming the ‘fast fashion’ of the bathroom world.
The gorgeous basins on offer at Decorex are much more than just bright colours, they are innovative in form as well, creating tactile, beautiful and modern pieces of design and I’m sure these pieces will (wash)stand the test of time! (sorry).