How To Have The Perfect Bath

Everyone needs to know how to relax. I've already told you how to have the perfect do nothing day, but recently the perfect bath has been on my mind. You'll have seen some of of my DIY attempts, unfortunately though, I'm not capable of installing a bathroom, so I've been designing it online and have since booked to have one installed.

What I miss in life is a decent bath, so my only stipulation was that I wanted a big bath. My dream bath has enough room for my shoulders to actually get submerged without sacrificing the warmth of my knees or feet, room to actually move about a bit without feeling pinched, and Jacuzzi bubbles. Did you know that you can now get baths that have massages jets, multi-coloured lights and Bluetooth speakers in them?!

But where was I? Oh yes, the perfect bath... Just like with our do nothing day, you'll need to do some prep... because trust me, no one likes getting out of a hot bath before they have to.

The Prep:

Everyone hates chores, but trust me these ones will benefit you immensely.

• Scrub the bath. Inside, around the edges, and the taps. Hell, clean the whole bathroom because you'll be relaxing in it later. But definitely do at least those first three things, there's nothing worse than sliding your foot along the bath and finding a ring of grit.
• Make sure you have freshly cleaned, fluffy towels and/or a dressing gown. Most importantly, remember to put them in the bathroom before you get in the bath.
• Pick up your favourite bath filler, be it oils, bubbles or bomb.
• Put wine, beer or any other chosen beverage in the fridge if needed.
• Buy snacks if required.

You'll need somewhere to put anything you want while you're in the bath. Not everyone is lucky enough to have wide open spaces in their bathrooms. The picture below has a perfect platform for your bath... and they're super easy to make.

The metal tray ones you can get are all very well, but they hang down into the bath and stay cold... moving a leg can lead to a bit of a chilly shock, you can't safely sit a wine glass on them, and you run the risk of things rolling in the water... and has anyone ever used that book rest for a book?

As I don't have any useful flat surfaces in the bathroom I usually bring a chair in with a flat seat or a crate I can put a tray on and put it next to the bath.

I think that's probably all you need to do for the prep.

The Bath

Start running your water, I like to go quite hot for the first section, and add your chosen bath condiment. Do a bit of hand whisking to mix it up, and then go about collecting together anything you want while you're in the tub.

Lights on, or lights off with candles, entirely up to you.

My next favourite thing to do is standing in the half filled bath shuffling my feet around because it feels too hot to sit in. It's like tradition, one day I'm sure I'll run the perfect bath first time, and that day is going to be epic.

Then there's that feeling of bliss as you sink into the hot water. The peace, the quiet, the sigh as you slide under the water. Just laying there, cocooned. Eyes closed feeling the stress of the day easing.

The rest is kind of by the by, that first moment is really what it's all about... I feel relaxed just thinking about it.

The After Party

Getting out of the bath is the worst thing. You'll have pruned so much that you'll look like an OAP, because you topped up with hot water at least twice... top it up twice, don't argue with me!

Personally, I set the heating onto manual while I'm in there so that the room isn't too cold when I have to step out of the water. Towel on the radiator, dressing gown and slippers standing by.

You should probably follow your bath up with something equally relaxing. Go to options are curling up on the sofa under a blanket with a good film, or putting on some clean pyjamas and getting into a fresh bed with a book.

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At this point I'm wishing I hadn't just talked about a perfect bath because now I want one. Two months and counting!