Powder Rooms with Hidden Showers

For many, the Porsche 911 is the dream; but once they accept the reality of their four-door life, they may choose the four-door Macan Porsche coupe.

Some may long for a house in the south of France, but the reality of French home ownership may drive them to a vacation rental.

For many New Yorkers, the compromise centres around a proper powder room.

A proper powder room is for guests. It should be a special jewel box of design that provides a heightened and condensed version of the decoration of the apartment. But the reality in many Manhattan apartments is that often this “powder room” will also serve as a “full bathroom” including shower for a guest bedroom. Having a shower in a powder room instantly makes the powder feel much too intimate. One doesn’t wish to experience the family’s lotions and potions during a trip to the powder room.  A powder room should be a private space for the guest; a refuge.

Over the years, Rusk has developed and refined our ability to hide the shower behind a panelled wall and here we see three beautiful examples.

In the first, designer Kerry Joyce and architect Ann Macklin hid the shower in a wallpaper panelled room which completely hid the seams at the shower door. This hand-painted wallpaper grows across the room, making the passage into the shower even more hidden.

Photography: Michel Arnaud

In the second example, Architect/designers Torsten Schlauserbach and Annie Lo hid their shower behind a simple panel in a minimalist home. Seeming to simply be another set of reveals, around the panel, the shower is not revealed until the knowing guest pulls at the reveal.

Photography: Annie Schlechter

In the third example, Kerry Joyce hides the shower behind faux bois. This hand-painted marquetry bathroom is the very definition of a jewel box. The intricate veneer pattern delights the powder room visitor while only surrendering its secret about the shower to a knowing guest.

Photography: Michel Arnaud