Lisa's Blog

Grab rails: stylish enough for every bathroom. Especially my kids' one
24 March 2010

We wouldn't put in a staircase without a banister so why should we want a bathroom without grabrails?

Why aren’t grab rails standard kit for all bathrooms?  Is there a parent out there that hasn’t worried about their children’s teeth as they bounce around the bath; or pondered their own safety in the shower as they reach out for the soap with eyes full of shampoo suds! 

Each year, the NHS reports hundreds of thousands of incidents relating to household falls. I haven’t met a person yet who doesn’t agree that their bathroom would be a safer place with a couple of strategically placed grab rails.

Now I can understand why no-one wants to put in the ugly white or royal blue plastic variants that generally come to mind when we think of grab rails. But there are some really beautiful grab rails on the market now: ones that are totally in keeping with the rest of the bathroom’s accessories and don’t stand out from the overall design aesthetic or scream “invalid” or “disabled”.  We offer some real beauties from very contemporary designs to more traditional styles (even some with a touch of gold plating!).

My kids’ bathroom will be the first to get the new grab rails – it’s also the one our visitors use including my mum and the in-laws.  But I’d seriously encourage everyone to do the same. Nothing is going to make a room totally accident-proof but adding in the obvious features that could prevent a serious fall is surely a good idea – especially when the design of these features now genuinely meets our ‘beautifully functional’ criteria. And in doing so, perhaps we can help avoid contributing to the nation’s falls statistics.

Let me know what you think. Send in your comments to lisa@rubyss.co.uk.