Would you miss the bath?

The bath rarely gets a fair hearing on a weekday morning. Someone is rinsing shampoo from their hair, trying not to knock an elbow against the screen, and wondering why so much of the room has been given over to something they stand in. By nine that evening, the argument can look different. The house is quieter. The door has a lock. A long soak suddenly seems an excellent use of floor space.

That is the difficulty with choosing between a bath and a bigger shower: the answer may depend on when you ask, and whom. One person's favourite room in the house is another person's awkward route to being clean. Both are paying for the plumbing.

I would give pleasure a proper place in this discussion. A renovation can become so absorbed in solving problems that it forgets to make anything lovely. Equally, a splendid tub can be a remarkably expensive way of storing the laundry airer. The aim is to work out which sort of household yours really is before the old bath leaves through the front door.

There is something appealingly definite about lowering yourself into a bath. You have stopped walking about. The next task will have to wait. You might read, look out of the window or do very little, which can feel quite extravagant in a house where there is always something to put away.

You do not need a lake, but it helps to consider what the person in the water will see. A window with privacy, a wall in a colour you love, or the changing evening light can make a bath worth looking forward to. A glaring ceiling fitting and the underside of a shelf stuffed with cleaning products are less persuasive. Plan the room from sitting height as well as from the doorway.

Comfort deserves the same attention as the photograph. A dramatic raised end may look inviting but still need trying for your own back and shoulders. A deep bowl that suits one person may be awkward for another to enter. Where possible, sit in the bath before buying it, fully clothed and without embarrassment. It is more useful than another hour comparing pictures.

Then consider the modest things around it: a dry towel within reach, somewhere secure for a book, light that can soften in the evening. These are the details that turn a beautiful object into an enjoyable bath. The luxury comes partly from the care given to the person using it.

Our more generous UK scheme gives the bath the sort of attention usually reserved for a sofa. The Kensington slipper bath, with its black exterior, white rim and brushed-brass claw feet, has enough presence to organise a room around. Its lifted end gives the eye somewhere to settle; the feet let the floor continue beneath it, keeping a substantial fitting from becoming a solid block.

The wine-coloured panelling gives the bath a warm setting, while the pale plaster above catches the afternoon light. The Hudson Reed Lille vanity in Bleached Oak takes a quieter role beside it. Its pale woodgrain finish, white marble top and straight lines balance the bath's more elaborate outline. A striped chair in the dry part of the room offers somewhere comfortable to sit, rather than another surface that exists only to be admired.

A freestanding bath also needs space around it that somebody can actually clean. The thin gap between tub and wall is easy to overlook while admiring the silhouette and surprisingly difficult to overlook once a shampoo bottle has fallen into it. Give the arrangement a sensible place for toiletries; a ledge, shelf or stable small table can matter more than another decorative fitting.

If claw feet feel too dressy, the Pescara bath offers a different outline: a white, double-ended acrylic bowl with a gently flared rim. Its simpler base creates less visual activity at floor level. Both are real UK product choices. The distinction is useful because a bathroom can feel indulgent without adopting one particular historical costume.

For somebody who never enjoys a soak, none of this is an argument for keeping a bath. The attraction of a better shower is immediate: room to wash without twisting sideways, controls you can reach comfortably, and somewhere dry to stand afterwards. Those improvements happen every day, rather than on the evening you might eventually find time for a bath.

A new bathroom can tempt us to design for a more leisurely version of ourselves. Before doing so, ask what prevented all those baths in the old one. If the room was cold and the tub uncomfortable, a redesign might make a difference. If you simply prefer a shower, prettier brassware is unlikely to change your mind.

The compact yellow room makes the exchange visible. With the fitted bath, it accommodates both routines in one place. With the enclosure, the same corner becomes a more generous shower. The green vanity and warm colour stay, so the choice is about use rather than which version has been given the nicer decoration.

In the larger UK comparison, the shower version deserves equal ambition. The enclosed water area becomes a substantial feature of the room, and the space around it has a purpose. Look beyond the glass when comparing the two. Where will you dry yourself? Can the next person reach the basin without squeezing past? A shower room can feel luxurious because ordinary movements have become easier.

Removing a bath does not automatically create a level entrance, however. Drainage, the floor and waterproofing need checking with a suitable designer or installer. If somebody has difficulty getting in or out, their particular needs should shape the solution. A label such as “walk-in” cannot answer that for them.

A larger bathroom can accommodate the quick shower and the long bath without making either an apology. It still needs restraint. Filling every available corner with another fitting can leave a supposedly generous room feeling oddly congested.

In a public comment on Cup of Jo this June, a reader posting as Annie put the distinction neatly: “Fed up? Bath. Hot and annoyed? Shower.” A household may not divide into two camps. Sometimes the same person wants both, for different reasons.

Our US edit begins with the Allsumhome RockE olive bath. The oval body, slim-looking rim and olive exterior suggest a softer approach than a procession of glossy white fittings. The interior is white, so the colour sits around the water rather than overwhelming it. This is a composite bath with a stone-like finish, not a tub carved from quarried stone.

Terracotta-toned tile wraps the shower, and the long window gives the bath daylight above privacy glass. The pale walls let both the green bowl and the darker cabinetry remain distinct. The bath supplies the curve; two brown-oak-finish floating vanities give the room a more settled horizontal line. These are separate units, each with a basin, drawers and side shelving. A pair can give two people their own patch of counter without requiring an enormous single cabinet.

The Segeo green double vanity offers a different approach: one long form with ribbed fronts and a stronger decorative presence. The wall above needs thought too. Separate mirrors give each basin its own place; one wider mirror can bring the pair together, a choice we explore in our double-vanity guide.

Two people should be able to use the room without constantly getting in each other's way. Nobody wants to lie in the bath while the rest of the household squeezes past to reach a drawer. Someone leaving the shower needs to reach a towel without crossing the whole room wet. Privacy at the window matters more than the seductive uninterrupted view in a photograph. The bath and shower can share light while each has a recognisable place.

In the second US version, the shower stays exactly as it was. The bath gives way to a comfortable bench and storage beneath the same window. It is a worthwhile comparison even if you have plenty of room: keeping both is a choice, not a requirement imposed by the size of the house. If the bath matters, let it stay. If a comfortable seat and useful storage would be enjoyed more, give them serious consideration.

For a different mood, the pink RockE bath carries colour across the whole bowl. It could be the starting point for warm brown tile or a pale, chalky room with one unexpected object. A coloured bath is a considerable commitment, so look at a finish sample where available. Its appeal should survive the novelty of discovering that baths come in pink.

There is no reason to treat a shower over the bath as a design failure. In a home with one bathroom, it may be the arrangement that gives everybody something they want. A fitted bath also gives you the opportunity to make the surround part of the room, with tile, panelling or a deliberate colour change.

The yellow scheme uses that opportunity without trying to impersonate a much larger bathroom. Its fitted bath sits comfortably against the wall; the vanity introduces colour and proper storage. The room has somewhere for the toothbrushes as well as something lovely to look at. In a smaller space, those two ambitions need to get along.

Vanities can change the character of a bathroom almost as much as the bath itself. The Nuie Deco in Satin Green gives this room two drawers and a slim white ceramic basin, with long chrome handles that keep it feeling crisp. Compare that with the warmer woodgrain look of the Lille: either can give a fitted bathroom a distinct personality. Check the storage and basin arrangement against daily use as carefully as the colour.

Ask everyone who uses the room before the keenest renovator begins presenting the plan. Someone who bathes once a fortnight may care about that half-hour more than somebody else cares about a slightly larger shower. A child may still love the bath, while an adult would be relieved to stop climbing over its edge every morning. Neither preference disappears because the other person has found a compelling image.

Houzz's 2026 surveys found that 17% of UK respondents and 26% of US respondents were removing a bath. Among the bath-removing groups, 85% in the UK and 79% in the US were making room for a larger shower. These are separate surveys of renovating Houzz users, not representative verdicts from either country. The UK study also found that 58% were adding or replacing a bath. Our bathroom renovation research explains the figures and their different response bases.

Ask the question at home before showing anyone the new tiles: would you miss the bath, or have you been waiting years for somebody to suggest getting rid of it?