Why Aussies are giving baths the boot

Aussies are going cold on baths and looking elsewhere for their must-have at home lifestyle options.

Thomas and Teri Popple pictured with their six-month-old baby daughter, Marla, enjoying bath time. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Brand new” or just-renovated homes; electric car charging and big showers will be popular in 2024, but baths won’t be so hot.

“Baths are really making an exit,” said interior designer Kirsten Stanisich, of Richards Stanisich, who has worked on many of Australia’s most exclusive apartments sold off-the-plan.

“If you forget the bath and put in one really big shower, that’s far more luxurious.”

With electric cars becoming increasingly popular, she said: “Communal recharging areas and also recharging at individual car spaces is almost a given in a new development.”

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Interior designer Kirsten Stanisich

There are some big changes cooking in kitchens, too, with engineered stone benches now banned.

“Aged metal benchtops and splashbacks are the next big thing … they’re aspirational, durable and also really beautiful,” she said.

And forget about gas appliances, it’s now all about induction electric cooktops.

There are two other trends running in tandem, she notes, with downsizers wanting big apartments but other demographics happy to opt for smaller, affordable, units.

“You don’t have to buy a massive apartment but you can still get modern amenity; these include amazing common area facilities such as bookable entertainment areas, wine cellars and games rooms,” Ms Stanisich said.

Thomas Popple pictured with his six-month-old baby daughter Marla. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

As for baths, real estate agent Andrew Bowden of McGrath Mosman agrees that increasingly, if you don’t have young kids, baths aren’t important.

“Though buyers looking at higher-ended property or downsizers may want a spa bath,” Mr Bowden said.

However, both he and Ray White Double Bay’s Thomas Popple said that most couples with children under two will continue to want a home with a bath in 2024.

“Doing it in the kitchen sink or holding them in the shower can be a challenge,” he laughed, speaking from experience with his six-month-old daughter Marla.

Though slightly older kids aren’t that fussed, he said, with his Two-and-a-half-year-old son William often happy to join him and his wife Teri in the shower.

Developer David Avidan and his model and interior designer girlfriend Sophie Turnbull on the wharf of the apartment building in Point Piper where David has just purchased a derelict studio apartment for $720k at auction, that he will refurbish. Picture: John Appleyard

The derelict 30 sqm studio at 78 Wolseley Rd, Point Piper, is set to be transformed.

Along with the pool and jetty, communal facilities include an outdoor entertainment area with iconic harbour views.

Developer David Avidan, of Dare Property Group, thinks well-built and designed apartments in good locations within walking distance of cafes and shops will be hot in 2024, with new or just-renovated homes already highly sought after during 2023 due to rising building costs.

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He has big plans for a derelict ground floor 30 sqm studio he bought at auction in the harbour front Wolseley Gardens block in exclusive Point Piper for $720,000 in November.

“I want to renovate and it will look like a luxury hotel suite with first-class finishes,” Mr Avidan said, who is calling on his girlfriend, model and designer Sophie Turnbull to help with the refurb.

The block’s communal facilities include a waterfront pool, outdoor entertainment area and jetty, “We’ve got the best view and the best waterfront in the most exclusive street in Australia,” he added.

The penthouses at Piper, in Point Piper, will have incredible views and finishes.

They will also have stunning outdoor entertainment areas.

Mr Avidan is also excited about three penthouses his family company is launching in the Point Piper development, Piper, in 2024, along with a Vaucluse project called Fontaine.

He says downsizers pounced on Piper’s garden apartments, which “sold like hotcakes” in 2023, and he’s expecting the $20m penthouses, designed by Luigi Roselli and Mim Design with Will Dangar for the landscaping, to be popular because of the location and harbour views.

He said Fontaine, which will consist of six apartments priced between $9m and $20m, will be “something unique for Vaucluse”.

Fontaine in Vaucluse will feature nine apartments priced between $9m and $20m.

They too will have remarkable harbour views.

“It will have the view, it’s in the village, and we’ve commissioned MHNDU architects and Mim Design, with Paul Bangay for the gardens … it really will be one of a kind.”

Meanwhile in Mosman, Tim Rees of CBRE has just smashed the suburb’s apartment record with both a $19m and $19.5m sale in the Redan Lane development overlooking Balmoral to the Heads. The buyers were Mosman downsizers.

He has just three units remaining in the seven-unit block priced from $13.5m for a three-bedroom 205 sqm unit.

Two apartments in Mosman’s Redan development sold for $19m and $19.5m, apartment records for the suburb.

No wonder the views were popular.

“In 2024, people will be looking for high quality developments in premium locations like this one,” Mr Rees said.

“Mosman is generally a downsizer, owner-occupier-driven market and we’re also getting young professionals wanting to move into the area, along with an influx of buyers from the upper north shore.

“People are looking for locations close to lifestyle amenity like shops and beaches and views are obviously very popular.

“And they also want well-respected developers, architects and designers with a capacity to deliver high-quality product.”

Originally published as Why Aussies are giving baths the boot