Outdoor Showers
by Laura Angelini

Outdoor showers help connect with the beauty of the natural world. Nothing washes away stress like a hot shower under the trees, with only a passing deer or a few frolicking fireflies in sight.

Among their many benefits, outdoor showers improve the quality of your life, increase the value of your house and help keep your indoor shower clean all summer. Growing up on the New Jersey shore in a family with five children who were usually covered in sand, I could never understand why my parents didn't have one. Designing an outdoor shower was my top priority when I moved to Woodstock a year ago. As an interior designer, I design a lot of bathrooms, but this was by far the most exciting. When a cedar tree fell in our yard, causing a power outage for nearly half a weekend, we pulled out a chain saw and cut the posts of the shower wall.

Our backyard is completely private, so we needed only a single wall to mount the shower body onto. We dug a 5- x 3- x 4-foot deep hole so water could drain properly, put down layers of rock and sand, and finally slate on top, for the finished floor. A plumber installed the shower body, and the project was finished in two weekends. It was quite a bit of work but really worth it. I came home later that night dying to try it, but it was pouring rain. I was hesitant to try it out, but my husband escorted me out under an umbrella. I still remember that first magical shower during the sunset, surrounded by steam and the stormy sky.

Installing a shower can be a very simple project, especially if you run hot and cold water hoses over to a tree or a wooden board that the shower body is mounted on. The best source of water is your home's plumbing system, which can simply be extended to the exterior and out to the shower. The runoff of shower wastewater, known as gray water, is the biggest issue. It needs to be channeled to a safe place where it returns to the water table. To accomplish this, you need to take the steps to ensure that the floor is well drained and that the gray water is channeled away from the foundation of the home. Also, natural soaps and shampoos are a must if you want to respect the environment. Kate, of Green Courage in New Paltz, has an array of all natural products. (Her country herbal shampoo is amazing.)

If the soil does not have much sand, you have to dig a dry well and fill it with a layer of gravel and sand so the water percolates down into the earth. As far as the structure around the shower, just about anything goes. Gunnar Bratloff of Bratloff Construction, who designs outdoor showers, urges his clients to use unusual material options. He has made showers of corrugated galvanized metal, and likes to combine old and new elements for visual interest.

You can choose to have no enclosure at all, as in the bamboo shower I designed. I attached a bamboo fence to the posts and used river rock from the nearby stream. My motto as a designer is keep it simple and use what you have. The industry standard for shower height is 6 ½ feet, but it is best simply to specify mounting height as 5 to 6 inches above the tallest person.

As far as materials and design, you may have a strong motif in an existing building that you want to extend to the shower. Or, in the case of Bratloff's metal shower design, create a contrast, with another aesthetic entirely. Think about what shapes you are drawn to. It could be curvy or very linear. You could always incorporate objects you find in nature, an old mangled piece of wood that would make for an incredible design element. Or pull out that Mexican tile you've been saving since your trip to Mexico ten years ago.

Use your imagination and feel what it would be like to have a shower in your favorite spot in the yard. Beware of sight lines from the second story of the house; or install an overhead arbor with flowering vines. You can use a double showerhead for two people to shower at once. I used the Speakman double shower head, which is great and under $100. Also think about what lighting you need for showering at night, and what sort of non-slippery path to keep feet clean on the way back inside. Draw what comes to mind without inhibition. No matter how ridiculous your image of your perfect outdoor shower may be, let it come out and lead you to the next idea.

Laura Angelini can be contacted at Angelini Designs, www.angelinidesigns.com, 917-751-1389.