The times they are a-changing and they’re changing back to the way they once used to be. After years of experimenting with various contemporary designs we’re now getting back to what we know and love. Rather than looking forward, we’re glancing back at what made this great – all of which explains the increased demand for classic traditional bathrooms.

The trend in the bathroom mirrors similar moves elsewhere in the house. In fact everywhere you look it’s a case of out with the new and in with the old as home owners seek a return to traditional values. The biggest question, though, has to be why? What makes traditional bathrooms so right for 2010?

One answer may lie in the current economic climate. Typically when times are tough people become more conservative in their tastes. They yearn for something that makes them feel safe and secure and a traditional design taps into that need perfectly. Everything about traditional bathrooms feels solid, reliable and dependable. Sub consciously that’s something we are all seeking in life and that shines through when we choose our designs.

Throughout the room, people are using firm and solid materials. Ceramic and porcelain are hugely popular while granite makes for the ideal finish when it comes to the tops. Colourwise we’re seeing lots of soft hues: beiges, bones and white. In other words traditional colours we might normally associate with the bathroom.

It’s all a far cry from emerging trends of a few years ago when literally nothing was off the cards. Designers let their creativty run loose. We saw bright reds, bullet blacks, with a plethora of avante guarde designs for fixtures such as taps, baths and showers. You could also apply all sorts of technology in here from remote control shower units to flat screen TVs in the bath.

It was a time of bold optimism when anything seemed possible. Design wise we threw out the rule book and allowed out imagination to take us wherever it chose.

Perhaps, then, this is a reaction against the new. We’ve seen what the contemporary and modern styles have to offer and we’ve grown tired of it. Their time might come again, but right here and now the desire is for permanance. No longer do we see our houses as bland canvasses to be wiped clean so a new owner can take it on. That was the old way – a time when a house was an investment and nothing more. It was a time when no sooner had you got your foot on the property ladder than you began planning several steps up .

What we have now is a reversion to the notion that a house is a home and an Englishman’s home is his castle. Classic traditional bathrooms reaffirm that ethos even in the smallest room in the house.

Article originally published at Source by Dominic Donaldson