Meet: Richmond

After an embarrassing amount of over-thinking and research, I have finally made the tub decisions. It is a sense of relief and satisfaction that is probably not exclusive to just me. I feel like everyone in my life has been patiently listening to me talk about tubs, look at tubs, tell people that I'm going to plumbing stores, and then re-thinking everything.

So, don't worry the days of stress sweats over bathtubs are over. I can't say the same for faucets - but we can officially cross bathtubs and shower valves off the list.

When we last checked in, I was down to 3 tubs all made by Victoria + Albert. I was feeling pretty confident that Radford was going to be the winner.  The Victoria + Albert website has a handy dandy product finder so you can see some of these tubs in person. I have a real hard time buying anything that I haven't touched - especially something as large, expensive, and semi-permanent like a tub.
 
But here's how we got to the ultimate decision of .... Richmond.

 
Price
Aesthetic
Backrest Angle
Radford
Highest
initial winner
20
Richmond
Lowest
actual winner
21
Cheshire
Lowest + $200
3rd
21

Pricing
While I loved the Radford, getting pricing for these 3 tubs made the decision pretty quick. Radford was great... but not that great.

Aesthetic
Obviously I loved the overall look of the Radford but upon looking at them more closely, Richmond was the most classic of the 3 options. The tub legs were big differentiators for me. I did not like the very obvious, Victorian legs on several tubs. I wanted legs but not "attention getting legs". Richmond was the simplest of all the options.

Backrest Angle
One of the biggest differentiators for me was the backrest angle. The comfort level was very different across all the brands that I looked at. Since I knew I wouldn't be able to actually sit in either the Radford or the Richmond, I researched what the backrest angles were to find comparable models closer to home.

Snow & Jones in Norwell had a few models on their floor that I could try out. I first sat in the York and it felt good. I legitimately sat in the showroom tub for about ten minutes. I called my mom, I drank some tea, I caught strangers staring at me like I was crazy. But, I wanted to make sure that I felt comfortable. This is a soaking tub, not a "jumping in and then out" tub.

I did also try the Hampshire tub - and it had the BEST backrest angle. Immediately I almost began to reconsider everything. But there were some great reasons why it wasn't on the list for me (not symmetrical, faucet can only be in one spot).

 
Backrest Angle
York
21
Hampshire
26

Additionally, by combining the York and the Hampshire "tub feel" I was able to try and more closely imagine what the Richmond would feel like. Richmond had lower arms which is more in line with the Hampshire.

End result ..... Richmond. I'm not sure when this tub will show up but I'll be ready to sit in in fully clothed as soon as it does.

Also for what it's worth, I also made the decision about the hall bathroom tub - but that took me only 1 week. Primary reason for the delay was I needed to see the difference between "white" and "arctic white".

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