Valentina Expressions

Just a week ago I had an encounter with a client who years ago inherited from a previous homeowner a bidet in her master bedroom and had it removed at once. A hole in the floor covered with a metal cap reminded her of that “thing” she referred to as “a dirty and offensive object”. Then, she proceeded to ask me what would I do with such an object if I had one in my bathroom. She was much surprised and much appalled to find out I do have one in my bathroom. With her hands covering her face 😱, she kept repeating the same phrase for a few minutes: “OMG, what a nasty thing….”.  I asked her what she used the bidet when she had it. To rinse the mop in it, was her answer. At that moment my eyes went out of the orbits 😳. She didn’t know the bidet is used to clean private parts after any intimate moments.

The conversation with her reminded me of a few episodes I lived in Italy when I saw what foreign people did to their bidets. One woman grew a plant in it but forgot to put a plug in the bidet. After a few years, the roots of the plant grew in the plumbing of the building she lived and caused huge damages to the building. The law stepped in and forced her to pay all the damages caused to five apartments below her.
One other person washed her infant and the dog in the bidet but never used it herself. Someone else I met, used it as a urinal and couldn’t understand the reason in Europe people had a toilet and a urinal, that’s what he thought was the function of the bidet. It’s baffling how people move overseas without gaining minimal knowledge of what to expect or without the willingness to learn a new culture.

I am not here to criticize anyone, it just puzzles me that I am still faced with horrid comments from people who claim to have traveled all over the world and can’t accept different ways of doing things. That’s all.

Storybook of Dreams and Beauty

(Source: Found on Facebook). Thanks to Storybook of Dreams and Beauty for posting this beautiful picture. I wished a similar decorated example would occupy space in my bathroom.

19th Century French Bidet

The first bidet appeared in France in 1600 when taking a full bath was a rare activity. Only nobles and riches bathed once or twice a month, with the introduction of the bidet at least feet and private parts were cleaned every day, especially after love encounters, body function daily needs, and horse riding. The shape of the basin evoked the straddling on the horse, faucets face the user, not the other way around. Since the last century, the shape hasn’t changed much. The material did change from the rudimentary wood box with a lid to the high decorate porcelain of the 19th century to a minimalist style of today. The use of the bidet is still the same. Let’s say one works in the garden and gets only the feet dirty, that’s when the bidet comes handy. Think of it as a water conservation device, no need to take a full shower if only the feet are dirty. However, it is not a device that substitutes a full shower or bath.

(Boilly, La Toilette Intime ou la Rose Effeuille. Image @Wikimedia Commons)

Today, we can select bidets from the most modern and pleasant technology to assure us a healthy, clean life.
https://www.brondell.com/healthy-living-blog/what-are-bidets-and-bidet-toilet-seats/ 

In fact, in Japan, I have experienced a toilet with heated seat and enhanced bidet capabilities. Here is a funny video of a Japanese woman explaining the washlet.
https://youtu.be/L8ndLz4SGmU

For a less expensive solution, here it is a removable device. https://bit.ly/2FOuD7o

Valentina
www.valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2019 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer. She blends fashion and interior well in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to create the unusual, as much as she likes to restyle people’s images. She is a storyteller and finds inspirations everywhere to write her stories. She needs your story to design your dream home or your dream look. She is also a public speaker, a mentor, and author of 4 books. Check out her books on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w