Enhance an open-air shower with amenities and style upgrades from the all-essential towel hook to total landscape integration
My earliest outdoor shower experiences involved a small wooden surround attached to a simple rental cottage on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In spite of the facts that the soap usually slid under the stall walls into the yard and there was always the danger of a sibling snatching my towel away as a practical joke, I could not be persuaded to use the indoor option. Rinsing off the sand and seaweed underneath the open sky was exhilarating.
While an outdoor shower setup as simple as a curtain and a showerhead can be very enjoyable, there are a lot of ways to spruce up an outdoor shower’s aesthetics and comfort. Here are 10 suggestions for both.
1. Carve a niche in the wall. A shower niche will keep your supplies close at hand.
Shower 1: Siemasko + Verbridge, original photo on Houzz
2. Help the shower stall blend with the house via architectural elements. A pergola overhead, a paint color that matches the home’s trim and a showerhead with a similar finish to that of the outdoor lantern all make this outdoor shower part of the house.
Shower 2: Beach Chic Design, original photo on Houzz
3. Embellish the shower surround. While the pergola and siding help this stall blend into the house, the large driftwood seahorse adds a whimsical punctuation.
Shower 3: Terra Rubina, original photo on Houzz
4. Blend the shower with the landscape. This stone wall marries the shower’s architecture and the landscape architecture, while woolly pockets create vertical garden walls around it.
5. Add a bench. A small bench or stool in an outdoor shower provides a spot for soap and shampoo and a place to rest if your body is worn out from surfing, swimming or sunbathing.
6. Provide an in-shower spot for a towel. This can be as simple as a Dollar Store plastic hook that hangs over the enclosure. Anyone who has ever had to streak indoors after being pranked knows this is an important detail.
Shower 4: Martin Bros. Contracting, Inc., original photo on Houzz
7. Let there be light. An outdoor rinse in the pitch dark can be creepy. This elegant barn light illuminates the stall for nighttime showers.
Pull Up a Bench for Towels and Shower Supplies
Shower 5: AdvantageLumber.com, original photo on Houzz
8. Think about what’s underfoot. No one wants to stand around in slime or muddy grass in an outdoor shower. Ipe stands up to water in the shower here, and the teak stepping stones provide an easy path back indoors.
Shower 6: Swaback Partners, pllc, original photo on Houzz
9. Embrace the natural surroundings while you’re au natural. This incredible shower is up a rocky hillside in the Arizona desert.
10. Make the outdoor shower work for your pets. A handheld outdoor faucet can be a great way to give dogs a bath, depending on how much they tolerate it before running around and shaking the water off all over you.
