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The bathroom design I’ll never get on board with

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The bathroom design I’ll never get on board with

Hygiene habits will make me gladly lose friends

Shamontiel L. Vaughn
Jan 11
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The bathroom design I’ll never get on board with

homegrowntales.substack.com
Photo credit: (left) Amira Aboalnaga/Unsplash, (middle) Lisa Moyneur/Unsplash, (right) Sanibell BV/Unsplash

Like fashion trends, every home decor trend is not ideal for everyone. And one home decorating trend I could never get on board with was something that my real estate agent (at the time) thought was the coolest thing ever: “a Victorian style bathroom.” While the toilet and shower were behind a closed door in my “bathroom,” my sink was inside of the bedroom hallway instead.

The Chicago agent tried to market it as a way to allow one person to wash her face, style her hair and get ready for a night on the town while another person showered. I cringed, thinking of bacteria on the doorknob every time someone used the restroom without washing their hands — unless I left the bathroom door open all the time. I despised this idea and kept my bedroom door closed at all times so I never had to close the bathroom door unless company came by.

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Recommended Read: “Pest prevention and problematic tenants ~ Hiring the one contractor you dread the most: Exterminators”

In addition to a suspicious roach infestation problem in this apartment, the sink location was yet another reason I should’ve ran (not walked) out of the door. Still, I liked this place enough to sign the lease and tolerated that sink for three straight years. (My first off-campus apartment in college was bigger than this apartment, had two porches and cost two-thirds less in rent. I miss the $225 monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Missouri.)

Recommended Read: “Is the soap debate deeper than hygiene? ~ The link between bathing and race: Is that the bigger issue?”

For some, that sink is no big deal. For me, it made my skin crawl. Even before the handwashing craze during coronavirus, I’ve always been a stickler about washing my hands. I cannot wrap my mind around only 49% of people washing their hands with soap and only 28% using hot water, according to a Puronics poll. Curiously, 63% of people wash their hands longer or more frequently only in public restrooms versus at home. Again, I’m confused.

Click here to read more on Medium’s “We Need to Talk.”


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The bathroom design I’ll never get on board with

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