Well not this one!

For those of you who are not familiar with the word loo, it's a British term for toilet. If you are cockney like me, there are many names for the W.C ( water closet), khazi, privy, lavatory, or bog. Loo always sounded a little more refined. No one is sure how the name came about, though Waterloo, was a trade name for an iron cistern in the early part of the century this might have been shortened to loo.

Living in a caravan while restoring my cottage. I would dream of the time, I would have a flushing loo and hot shower. That summer I had to make do with a chemical Porto loo and cold outdoor shower, thank goodness it was a hot summer.

This was not the only time in my life that I had lived without basic plumbing. Growing up in central London in the 1960's, our home had no bathroom. Hard to believe I know, but many old London terraced houses at that time still had an outside flushing loo. As, children we bathed in front of the fire in an old tin bath filled with hot water from a kettle!

When my aunt and uncle moved into a house with inside plumbing, our Friday nights became bath night. It's was there on November 22nd 1963, we heard the terrible news President John F.Kennedy had been assassinated. Everyone of my generation remembers where there were on hearing the sad news.

In the past I had survived without mod cons, so a few months without them was not too much of a hardship. Though, it was very nice when I finally got my septic tank fitted! All I had to do now was try and fit a fully function bathroom into a very small space of 5' x 6'. I decided to have a wet room with under floor heating.

With such a small space, having a door opening into the wet room was not an option so I decided to have a sliding barn door. Not one to throw anything away, I decided I would reuse the old front door of my cottage. It was a beautiful old oak one with a rustic aged paint finish. It must have been welcoming people for at least 100 years. It had the original four window panes, historic for the cottages and farm houses of the Morvan.

With some hard work, filling, sanding, painting and re-glazing. It was ready to be hung. Using black powder-coated track hardware, which glides effortlessly. I finished the windows with privacy film with the word bathroom cut out. This was a great space- saving way to re-use an old door,
that would have probably ended up on the bonfire. It gives great character to the cottage, and I’m glad I was able to restore a piece of the cottage’s history.

Finally after weeks working on plumbing, tiling and painting in the end, I had a small but very functional wet room and much need loo and hot shower. Sometimes your dreams do come true.

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