This post was created in collaboration with C.P. Hart.
The latest addition to our house is a new roll top bath from C.P. Hart. We finally have a bath, it’s only taken us 7 years!
At the beginning of the year I wrote a post about my New Year Intentions, one of which was to slow down. Learning when to slow down (especially when you live in a city like London) is an important skill to hone, and one that often takes time to acquire. I’ve lived in London for around 12 years and it’s only now that I truly appreciate the need. Life can pass you by in a flash, so it’s important to take your time to appreciate the simple things. Whether that’s reading a book/magazine/newspaper whilst sitting in a favourite café and sipping on a freshly made coffee. Or taking a walk in a local park/favourite part of town/the countryside and enjoying taking everything in without an alternative agenda. Or (for me) slipping into a deep bath scented with my favourite bath oil (currently Olverum) whilst listening to calming music.
Pregnancy really forced me to slow down, I would get tired after the least taxing of activities and, as the months wore on, I got more and more achey as my ligaments softened. Getting our new bath from C.P. Hart was an absolute game-changer. Barely a day went by when I was pregnant that I didn’t take a dip in it, whether that was to soothe my aches and pains or to chill out from the insane heatwave. There’s nowhere I felt more relaxed and would happily wallow away an hour.
There’s not a lot of time for me to wallow these days but I still grab a bath whenever I can, the pregnancy aches have been replaced by back and shoulder aches from carrying my gorgeous little girl around (she’s now 6.5kg). Little Isabelle, on the other hand, uses it daily as part of her bedtime routine.
You might be wondering why it took us 7 years to get a bath. When we bought our house we completely gutted the kitchen and bathroom, removing the floor in-between and the ceiling above. This hadn’t been our plan but that’s what you get when you buy an old Victorian cottage with character. This, sadly, used up our budget and we just couldn’t afford the dreamy cast iron roll top bath I had planned for. Fast-forward 7 years and it’s been worth the wait, I couldn’t be happier with our beautiful bath, it’s just the right size and fits in perfectly, bringing together the old character of our Victorian house with my minimal style.
Just before the bump got too big I was on my hands and knees priming and painting the bath, a week later and the bump was too big and I wouldn’t have been able to. I used Johnstone’s Anti-Rust Metal Primer in Red Oxide and Farrow & Ball Estate Eggshell in Off-Black No.57. I used two coats of the primer and then two coats of the top coat. The 750ml pots of each were more than enough.
C.P. Hart were the obvious choice for me, they’ve been around for over 75 years, are well known for producing high quality products and work with some incredible designers (including Alessi and Philippe Starck). I can’t fault them on quality, our bath has been very well made and will be here for many years, long after we’ve moved on. It’s given our bathroom a stunning focal-point and finally it feels complete.
