How to choose furniture for a bath: types, material, style, purpose, selection by type of room

Peculiarities

The main feature of bath furniture is moisture resistance. This is a mandatory condition, since interior items are used in rooms with high humidity. Only the presence of this property allows products to withstand constant exposure to liquids without changing characteristics or appearance.

Wood is most often used to make furniture. At the same time, glue, coloring compounds, and varnishes are not used for the production of products. This is also due to the characteristics of the room in which the products are used. The fact is that due to constant exposure to moisture, such coatings quickly swell and become unusable, which negatively affects the external attractiveness of the furniture. The exception is dressing room furniture. Such products are not constantly exposed to steam, so they have a paint coating.

Bath sofa: relax, friends

We like to say: “What is a wedding without a button accordion, what is a bathhouse without a sofa.” That’s right, a sofa for a bathhouse is a completely necessary piece of furniture, on which it is so nice to relax after grueling steam treatments and think about something sublime.

It is quite obvious that an ordinary object will not fit in a bathhouse - the conditions are too specific. So what should you pay attention to so as not to make a mistake? Let's read.

Primary requirements

Furniture for a bath must meet the following requirements:

Moisture resistance. This is one of the main conditions for the use of interior items in the bathhouse.
Resistance to aggressive biological environments. If this requirement is not met, mold and mildew will quickly appear on the surface.
Environmental friendliness. Furniture should not contain harmful components and large amounts of resins. Only this guarantees the safety of its use.
Low thermal conductivity. If the interior items do not meet this requirement, they will quickly heat up, which will make it impossible to use them in the bathhouse.
Resistance to high temperatures and temperature changes. Since sauna rooms are constantly heated and cooled, the furniture must withstand such changes.

Ease of processing. Products should be easy to sand, which guarantees their visual appeal without the use of paint and varnish coatings.
Use only metal fasteners. The fact is that glue, liquid nails or other similar materials emit toxic fumes when heated. For this reason, it is not recommended to use interior items in the bathhouse, in the manufacture of which these compositions were used.
Good ventilation. This guarantees a long service life of the products. If the furniture is poorly ventilated, rotting processes will soon begin inside the material and the products will become unusable.

It is best to make bath furniture to order from craftsmen who specialize in these interior items. Only in this case can you be sure of the quality of the products and their compliance with the specified requirements.

Varieties

There are several types of bath furniture, depending on the placement.

For the steam room

The main piece of furniture used in the steam room is shelves. It is a multi-tiered structure consisting of benches or shelves. You can sit or lie down on them to enjoy the treatments. The higher the tier is, the higher the temperature.

The steam room shelf must meet the following requirements:

well-treated surface, which eliminates the risk of getting splinters when visiting the steam room;
sustainability;

ability to withstand increased loads;
shelf width – from 50 cm, length – from 100 cm.

Only a shelf that meets these requirements guarantees the convenience and safety of its operation.

The following interior items are also used in the steam room:

Shelves for storing bath accessories

Essential oils, etc. are placed on them.

Headrests, footrests
These accessories provide comfort while in the steam room.

Stalls

They are used to place a basin, place a broom or place other equipment. You can also sit on the bench if all tiers of the main structure are occupied. When choosing benches, take into account that their legs should be located far from the seat, which reduces the risk of injury during these procedures.

For the waiting room

Dressing room - a room for changing clothes and storing clothes. The following interior items are used here:

Chairs, benches, etc.

They allow you to sit comfortably and change clothes properly.

Shelves for shoes
As a rule, the dressing room has small dimensions. For this reason, for this room it is best to use multi-tiered narrow shelves for shoes that do not take up much space.

Hangers

Such products allow you to hang clothes and hats.

Furniture for storing bath accessories, clean things, etc.

Usually a small closet, shelf or chest of drawers is placed in the dressing room.

For the rest room

The relaxation room is a place where you can relax after bath procedures, drink tea, have a snack, etc. Therefore, this room should be equipped with comfortable furniture. Unlike a steam room, there is no constant high humidity and high temperatures. Thanks to this, you can even place upholstered furniture and interior items with a paint coating here.

Typically, the following products are placed in the rest room:

Sofa, armchairs

They will help you sit comfortably in the room and relax.

Sunbeds, sun loungers

Such items replace the sofa. You can lie on them to recover after the steam room. For a comfortable rest, you can lay a blanket and a pillow on a sun lounger or chaise longue.

Table

Since a person loses a lot of fluid in the steam room, its deficiency must be quickly replenished. This can be done with the help of drinks, and they are consumed just at the table in the rest room. Depending on the size of the room, you can use a dining table or a small table.

Buffet, sideboard

These are interior items for storing dishes. If it is not possible to place them in the rest room, you can use a shelving unit or a small bedside table.

Additional products

In addition to the indicated interior items, the bathhouse uses:

Fonts made of wood

Their diameter is approximately 1.5 meters. Such products are used to cool down after a steam room. They are usually used if it is not possible to install a swimming pool in a bathhouse.

Basins, tubs

Devices for carrying out water procedures.

Features and differences between a classic and a bath sofa

It is quite obvious and absolutely natural that the furniture in the house and in the bathhouse are somewhat different both in detail and in the principles of use. First, let's look at the concept of a sofa as such.

Dissecting the sofa

As you know, it is a soft piece of furniture designed for prolonged sitting, relaxation and rest of several people at the same time, which is why, in industrial practice, a sofa is often supplied complete with other interior items for a similar purpose: armchairs, coffee or tea tables, footrests and so on. Let's project the situation onto the realities of a bath-sauna.

Bath chairs will certainly allow you to place them in a company rest room or dressing room, but will such placement be comfortable? It’s one thing to have a quick snack at the table, something God sent, and another thing to sit comfortably for a long conversation. As many years of observations show, intimate conversations on chairs are only possible with the investigator and the tax inspector, but do we need that?

Frame bases are a set of power sets made of wooden boards and bars and panel elements made of plywood, chipboard or fiberboard, which absorb and distribute all the loads associated with the operation of the product;
Soft elements and flooring materials - which increase the comfort of using the product and are made in most cases from foam rubber and polyurethane foam, with a sufficient degree of wear resistance. Naturally, elements that do not carry large loads and perform mainly a supporting function can be made of white polyurethane foam, which is significantly inferior in durability to structural types. This also includes elastic belts or, in the professional slang of furniture makers, “harness” or “harness.” Due to varying degrees of stretching, they help to more rationally distribute the resulting loads on the load-bearing units of the product. Non-woven synthetic fabrics, layers, spheres, etc. can be used in pillows and side elements;
Facing is a fabric, leather or other covering that forms and defines the appearance of the product, protects internal elements from damage, and is in direct contact with the user’s body. Can be made from various types of fabrics, leather, leather substitutes, innovative non-woven synthetic materials, increased comfort;
Additional elements - as a rule, their role is played by sofa cushions, the main function of which is to ensure a comfortable position of the human body, to provide the necessary degree of additional support and emphasis for its individual parts.

Important! Sofa pillows are not intended for sleeping. This is not facilitated by their form or their execution.

Features of a bath sofa

Having familiarized ourselves with the structure of this piece of furniture, we can put forward the requirements that sofas for a bathhouse must meet:

As a rule, such sofas are intended for subsequent transformation into a sleeping place, this is especially true for small one-story bathhouses in which the sleeping space is not allocated to a full-fledged functional area.
The frame of such a product is made of pine, spruce, and alder. The panel elements are a plywood base, and a responsible manufacturer protects its ends from water absorption with a special hydrophobic compound, and home-made craftsmen treat it with silicone or wax.
Soft elements should also be classified as raw materials inert to high humidity.
Design features must correspond to the general spirit and interior solutions that were used during the finishing work for arranging the interior space.
At the same time, the design should not be oversaturated with details. In a bathhouse, practicality and ease of use dominate over fashion trends or ultra-high functionality, which undoubtedly leads to unjustified complication of the design of the item as a whole.
Dimensions, total weight, and the ability to disassemble must ensure that the item can pass through the openings of bath doors, which are often smaller in size than standard ones.
Now, about the most important thing - what concerns the cladding. Woven materials are not entirely appropriate due to the high degree of water absorption. And the point here is not only in the characteristics of the microclimate. After taking the procedures, the human body continues to actively secrete sweat for some time, which will be absorbed into the fabric and make it not only sloppy, but also unhygienic. Natural leather has the highest functional qualities, especially those that have undergone a special tanning procedure. But don’t be under the illusion that a leather sofa for a bathhouse can be an inexpensive pleasure. Quite the contrary, the price of such products is high and is calculated in freely convertible foreign currency. A leatherette sofa for a bathhouse, in turn, is a very controversial and ambiguous decision. Practice, especially operational practice, shows that in the vast majority of cases the service life of such a product is extremely low, and a sofa in a bathhouse, the leatherette of which belongs to the class of budget material, may completely fail due to a violation of the integrity of the cladding, after some 3 - 4 months .

Attention! Ordinary leather sofas have one rather unpleasant property - they “grab” the naked body. The problem is solved by using specially made upholstery or lining a towel or sheet.

Summarizing what has been said, regarding the choice of cladding for an item of this kind, I would like to say that sofas for baths and saunas can also have fabric upholstery, but with a number of reservations:

The rest room is located at a sufficient distance from sources of high humidity or there is a buffer zone of sufficient volume between them;
The room in which the furniture is located is equipped with an effective supply and exhaust ventilation system;
The sofa covering can be quickly removed for washing, cleaning and similar operations;
Visitors to the bathhouse are highly cultured people who necessarily use sheets and towels as a moisture-absorbing layer between the body and the surface of the sofa;
In the production of cladding, fabrics with high mechanical strength, low moisture absorption coefficient and a comfortable contact surface are used.

By the way! Synthetic fibers are increasingly ahead of natural fibers in terms of practicality. The only condition is that to be used in a bathhouse, they must have good sanitary and hygienic characteristics and high environmental friendliness.

Stylistic design

Bath furniture is designed in the following styles:

Classical

This furniture has a strict design and clear lines. The items are not luxurious, but provide comfort to the premises. However, they cannot be called cheap. They look elegant and sophisticated. To make furniture, smooth boards of the same dimensions are used.

Antique

They are massive interior items with rounded backs, edges, and unusual cutouts. Products are artificially aged to give the desired look.

Materials

Not all furniture is suitable for use in a bathhouse. Thus, some materials are categorically not suitable for use in rooms with high humidity, which should be taken into account when choosing products.

Allowed

Wood is the optimal material for interior items for a bathhouse. It is characterized by low thermal conductivity, environmental friendliness and safety of use.

The following types of materials are used for bath furniture:

Linden. Moisture-resistant material that is easy to process. When heated, it emits a pleasant odor that has a positive effect on the respiratory and nervous system.
Pine. Material with increased moisture resistance. Pine contains a large amount of resin, which begins to release when heated, which provides a pleasant aroma for interior items. In addition, this substance leaves beautiful stains on the surface of furniture, merging into intricate patterns, and forms a protective film, increasing the service life of the products. However, due to the large amount of resin, pine cannot be used in a steam room. The fact is that this substance can cause burns on the epidermis.
Larch. A tree that can withstand high temperatures and temperature changes. It is distinguished by high density and visual attractiveness. The main disadvantage of the material is the difficulty of processing. For this reason, as a rule, only small products are made from it, which include basins and tubs.

Spruce. Wood that is easy to work with. It is used to make affordable and visually attractive furniture. However, a large number of knots, as well as a tendency to rot, allows the items to be used only in rooms with low or moderate humidity.
Oak. High-strength material that is resistant to external negative influences. It is distinguished by its visual appeal, but has a high cost. In addition, oak is too massive, so furniture made from it is used mainly only for the rest room in the bathhouse.
Aspen. Moisture resistant material. Its main drawback is that it cannot withstand increased loads. For this reason, aspen is used to make small interior items.

Prohibited

It is not recommended to use furniture made from the following types of wood for a bath:

Ash. Such wood does not have moisture resistance, resistance to high temperatures and temperature changes.

Poplar. It is not resistant to aggressive biological environments. In addition, poplar is susceptible to rotting.

In addition, the following materials are not used for bath furniture:

Plastic. When heated, this material releases harmful substances, which can cause poisoning and other health problems. In addition, plastic melts under high temperatures.
Metal. The material heats up quickly, which can cause burns when using furniture. In addition, it is susceptible to corrosion, therefore, it will quickly become unusable when used in a bathhouse.

The following interior items should also not be used in the bathhouse:

With paint coating. As already mentioned, it will quickly become unusable under the influence of moisture and high temperatures. Furniture with this coating can only be placed in the dressing room and rest room.
Wicker interior items made of natural rattan. Such products will also quickly become unusable due to external negative influences.

Massive, poorly ventilated furniture. Such products are susceptible to rotting.
Interior items upholstered in artificial or genuine leather. These products are not comfortable to use after a steam room, as they cause discomfort upon contact with the wet epidermis.

DIY sofa

If the conditions in your bathhouse allow you to use fabric upholstery, and your hands remember how to work with wood and fabric, then you can take a risk and build a sofa for a bathhouse with your own hands. Shall we try?

As an example, let's take one of the simplest, but at the same time practical designs - a sofa book. You can sit on it comfortably, and if necessary, you can unfold it and turn it into a sleeping place. Versatility in a small sauna is an extremely useful thing. Let's go through the main stages of work:

We begin work with the frame, or rather, with its lower supporting part, which in the finished product will serve as a storage compartment where it is convenient to fold bed linen. It is quite obvious that to store a bed, it must be periodically hung in the open air, no matter how good ventilation your bathhouse is equipped with. In the glove box it is convenient to store a set of household utensils and containers with rowan tincture, which is so good, especially in the cold. By the way, you don’t even need to reach for the next portion. To make a box, you need four boards, two 1900 mm each, two 800 mm each, all 200 mm wide and 25 mm thick. The amplifier requires four bars with a cross section of 50×50 mm and a length of 200 mm.
The assembled box is reinforced along the short side with four crossbars made from four boards, 800 mm long, 50 mm wide and 20 - 25 mm thick.
We cover the bottom of the structure with a sheet of fiberboard measuring 1900x800 mm and about 3 mm thick.
The frame of the seat and backrest is made of timber with a cross-section of 40×60 mm, from which a rectangular structure with dimensions of 1890×650 mm is assembled. The mattress is supported by a set of lamellas - thin, narrow bars, which are assembled in the transverse direction in increments of 50 - 70 mm.
For the armrests, we form a base with the given dimensions from furniture panels. Then, along the contour of the panel base, we attach a frame from a set of bars with a cross-section of 20x40 mm.
To assemble the structure, you will need special accessories for book sofas, which can be purchased in specialized stores. With its help, the seat and backrest are connected, leaving a gap of 8 - 12 mm, when unfolded. When folded, the cut of the seat should not extend beyond the contour of the armrests.
We lay interlining on top of the lamellas, secure it and proceed to laying the foam rubber mass. The thickness of the main layer is 40 mm; here we do not forget to make cutouts for the folding mechanism. To form a supporting cushion, another strip of foam rubber, 20 mm thick, is glued along the edge of the seat. And on top, along the entire plane, there is another one - a finishing sheet, 40 mm thick, the edge of which is tucked under the edge of the seat. A multi-layer set of foam rubber will create more comfortable conditions for furniture users. Similar work is carried out with the back. At the end of which, covers are pulled over them.
We form the armrests. We glue a shaped foam strip, 40 mm thick, on top. There is a second one on top, but 20 mm thick. The inner side of the armrest is glued with a layer of foam rubber, 40 mm thick, not reaching the bottom of the shield 320 mm. The front part of the foam rubber at the end of the armrest is folded inward and secured. The planes are upholstered with fabric, on top of which the necessary fittings are fixed.

Let's be honest, making a sofa right away will not be easy. The right solution, so to speak, a “breakdown of the pen”, can be considered to be carrying out repair work on upholstered and other furniture.

This will allow you to objectively assess your capabilities to manufacture a product “from scratch.”

Selection rules

When choosing furniture for a bath, consider the following points:

Material. Interior items for a bath should be made of wood. The best option is linden.
Fastener material. As already mentioned, you cannot use furniture made with glue, liquid nails and other similar means.

Dimensions. In this case, it all depends on the size of the premises.
Hue. It must match the overall color scheme of the premises.

Expert opinion

Ivanov Konstantin Vladimirovich

Bath attendant, work experience – 10 years

I recommend using bath furniture made from linden. The fact is that this material is resistant to moisture and high temperatures. In addition, it is easy to process, so the surface after sanding is smooth, which minimizes the risk of splinters. Another property of linden is that when heated, it emits a pleasant smell. Wood vapors have a positive effect on the human body and improve skin condition. It is for these reasons that I recommend using linden furniture for a bathhouse.

Furniture for a bath is interior items that provide comfort in the steam room, dressing room and relaxation room. The main thing is to choose the right products.

Features of bath furniture, popular models and recommendations

A sauna or steam bath has a beneficial effect on the body. This is a place where you can relax and unwind for the benefit of your body.

Furniture for a bathhouse has characteristic features, including the correct choice of material for a longer service life. To select items for the bathhouse, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the nuances of their manufacture and design features.

FAQ

Is it possible to put ordinary upholstered furniture in the relaxation room in the bathhouse?

Despite the fact that there is no such high humidity as in a steam room, the room cannot be called dry. For this reason, it is best to use wooden furniture here, and equip it with pillows for comfortable seating.

What material is best to choose headrests and footrests for a bath?

Like other furniture, these products must be made of wood. To make the headrest comfortable, you just need to put a towel on it.

Is it possible to use only shelves in a steam room and not install additional benches?

Yes, if the space of the room does not allow. In this case, you can simply bring a wooden stool for the basin.

What material is best to choose basins and buckets for a bath?

The best option is wood. The metal heats up quickly, so it is easy to get burned on it.

How to find out whether bath furniture meets the specified requirements or not?

To do this, you need to check quality certificates. Only they guarantee the safety of using products.