A nationwide competition sponsored by Victoria Plumbing has found Britain’s worst bathroom. Hundreds of Brits submitted photos of their bathrooms in a bid to win the title of ‘the worst’, as judged by television personality Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, and the chance to win a free bathroom upgrade.
Laurence plumbed the depths of interior design to whittle them down to a final four. The public then voted a brown bathroom in Norwich as Britain’s worst – turning their noses up at its suite, taps, badly tiled bath, and overall feel of the 1970s.
The winner of Britain’s worst place to wash was found in a Norwich home
The proud owner of the monstrosity consisting of a brown suite and flowery floor-to-ceiling tiles is Sarah Smith, a 42-year-old mum-of-two from Hellesdon, Norwich, who moved into the house with the winning bathroom a year ago. As winner, Sarah will receive the gift of a bathroom upgrade from Victoria Plumbing.
“Many people have asked me if I feel embarrassed,” she said. “No was my answer. My brown bathroom was clearly someone’s pride and joy at some point, as it’s as good as the day it was put in many years ago.
“It is very dark in my bathroom and it is not a relaxing place to take a bath. I look forward to brightening it up and it looking fresh and clean all the time.”
The competition follows research by Victoria Plumbing which found 34% of Britons would like to update their bathroom, while one in five admit they’re embarrassed with their current one.
The survey also revealed 61% of people changed or renovated their bathroom when they moved home.
Joe Pascoe, Senior Marketing Manager at Victoria Plumbing, says: “Our search for the nation’s worst bathroom came from wanting to communicate a simple message: that people shouldn’t keep putting up with bad design. From exposing dated, coloured suites to wallpaper that isn’t fit for purpose, we wanted to encourage people to get their bathroom shame out there and begin the healing process.”
Green and brown were common themes among the finalists of the Victoria Plumbing competition, with thumbs down going to avocado suites, carpeted floors and bathrooms with no flooring at all.
The top four contenders for worst bathroom were:
Finalist A: the sickening shade of avocado green and ‘coordinating’ tiles
Finalist B: terrible turquoise with red carpet
Finalist C: black plus brown do not add up to an airy feeling
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen comments: “Badly designed bathrooms are a sign of low self-esteem.
“When you’re faced with a bathroom that looks absolutely repellent first thing in the morning, how are you going to face the world with a smile on your face? It’s practically impossible.
“The big thing with bathroom design is to keep it practical, keep it cleanable. Anything too fussy, too frilly or too porous will end up becoming a boutique hotel for mould and germs.
“Finally, floral is fine in a bathroom, but try and pick flowers that actually look like flowers rather than leftover cabbages.”
