Views of a Shower Girl

Design: Studio Kahaani

I don’t know about you, but I often do some of my best thinking in the shower. I don’t know if it’s the solitude, or the steam opening up some otherwise stodgy neural pathways, but I really do come up with some good ideas in the shower. It’s also why I’ve always preferred showers to baths. I won’t get into all the reasons that I’m a shower girl, so much so that we didn’t put a tub in the main bathroom when we renovated. Shocked? We can debate the virtues another time, but I’m pretty confident that our steam shower can hold its own with the most luxuriant bathtubs.

This is the view from the main shower, which was often my only escape when we were in the thick of our work from home reality. I love this view, the light changes throughout the day and alters the entire mood of the room and its occupant. We have day and night showerers around here, so lots of moods and habits considered in the design process. 

I’m not one for words on walls but this poster from a 2004 exhibit at the Guggenheim truly transports me back to a different life in what feels like a different world. A time when one of my dearest friends and I were oblivious to the freedom we had wandering the galleries and boutiques of New York, planning our weekends around late brunches and dinners. And the serenity of Brancusi’s piece is a good antidote to the inevitable rush that family life - and now back to school - brings, rushing to get ready to rush someone somewhere.

The stone countertop itself took quite a bit of rushing to and from the stone fabricator’s workshop out of town, to make sure he cut the slab so that the beautiful amber line was highlighted in the backsplash. 

So my showers are a reminder to find serenity in the midst of the constant rush, but that sometimes the hard work and rushing around can be so worth it in the end. Especially when a few deep thoughts emerge through the steam.