Blog In A Box

Bathrooms can be surprisingly versatile. Besides the obvious functions – bathing, using the toilet, and maintaining our hygiene – there are hundreds of uses for the average public of private bathroom. Unfortunately, most people never get to see any of them, largely due to a lack of creative and unusual bathroom thinking.

Of course, there are examples out there of strange and creative uses for a bathroom. From McDonalds bathroom attendants to ultra-luxury public bathrooms, these seven examples highlight the incredibly cool stunts, services, and fun ideas that can happen with a simple bathroom. Take a look through, enjoy, and remember that the next time something needs fixing, the answer might not rest in the supply cupboard, but in your home’s bathroom.

1. Use it as an extra bedroom.

If you were a university student once, you’re no doubt familiar with the old sleep-in-the-bath trick. We’ve all had parties that ended up attracting way too many people, and we’ve all experienced the same common problem from them – what to do with the leftover drunkards and partygoers. Most find a couch, mattress, or spare bed to sleep on, but there always seem to be a couple left over without a place to sleep.

That’s where the bathroom can come in handy. Hand them a towel as a makeshift blanket, and walk them towards the bathtub. Sure, it’s not luxury, but it’s certainly a little better than sleeping on the apartment floor.

2. Invade a McDonalds bathroom and become an attendant.

Source: http://improveverywhere.com/images/bath14.jpg

Have you ever been to a luxury restaurant where they had full-suited bathroom attendants? Once you’re in the bathroom, they’ll hand you towels, massage your shoulders, and flick you a breath mint once you’re finished, all for a nominal tip. Most common at five-star restaurants and flashy nightclubs, a bathroom attendant certainly isn’t the type of job you’d expect to see on offer at McDonalds.

These two comedians thought otherwise, and chose a Sunday to invade one of the busiest McDonalds stores in the world – their Times Square, New York City branch. In just over an hour of helping people to the ultimate in McDonalds luxury, they managed to chat with the CFO of Hitachi, collect over $6 in tips, and convince the McDonalds manager that they were supposed to be there.

3. Set up a political media office.

Source: http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/03/03/gall.clintond.cnn.jpg

The 2008 American Presidential Election was a tough race, especially between the final two democratic candidates – Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. While we all know how things turned out now, for a while it was quite uncertain just which democratic candidate would go on to represent their party.

The desperation and high stakes of the race are best summed up in this photo. In an all-out struggle to put together a functional media office, Hillary Clinton’s campaign decided to use an office bathroom to house their desks, chairs, and phone system. Interns worked hard from the inside of the public bathroom, complete with confused patrons who just wanted to use the facilities. Strange indeed.

4. Hide from gunshots and grenades.

Source: http://www.techeblog.com/files/bulletprooftoilet.jpg

This incredible bulletproof toilet is beyond impressive. Housed in $100,000 worth of bulletproof, bombproof, and stab-proof materials, these toilets are designed to provide the ultimate in protection for political figures, corporate CEOs, and high-ranking military generals. Able to withstand a 15-ton bomb blast, it’s unlikely these bathrooms are particularly airy and comfortable.

While none are available in the USA or UK just yet, 8 units have been installed to protect political leaders in Beijing, China. Maybe once the rap world runs out of rhymes about bulletproof cars, we’ll start hearing about their all-star protective bathrooms?

5. Create a disposal room.

Source: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/35/102455497_35c650316e.jpg

We all know that some people throw things down the toilet. Sometimes it’s paper waste, sometimes it’s the occasional maxi pad – one of the most annoying toilet cloggers around – and sometimes it’s the New York Times. Whatever your newspaper affiliation may be, disposing of paper-based waste down the toilet isn’t that unusual. Ever since Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho showed the first on-screen toilet being used as a paper disposal tool, the public has had no problem throwing the occasional document or marketing flyer down the loo.

6. Use it as a storage room.

American gaming firm Gamestop ended up in hot water two years ago after a video of them storing video gaming consoles inside the store bathroom ended up online. While the gaming systems were boxed and stored far away from any unhygienic locations, some health conscious gamers were still a little annoyed about their expensive gaming machines being stored in the store bathroom.

Apparently, this type of storage is quite common amongst gaming retail stores, which are often expected to stock several hundred boxed gaming consoles in some very small retail spaces. While it’s unlikely that anything nasty has every touched the consoles, you’ve got to wonder whether the employees followed the “wash before you leave” rule for the consoles themselves.

7. Create an artistic canvas.

Source: http://media.divinecaroline.com/ext/article_images2/marcjohns/marcjohns1.jpg

Public bathrooms are well-known for their “artworks”, if you want to call them that. Bathroom stall art has been going on for decades, possibly even centuries, and there don’t seem to be any signs that it will stop soon. From downright sleazy sayings to cool three-line poems, the intriguing content written on the back of a bathroom door is often enough to make the daily visit slightly more interesting.

Minimalist artist Marc Johns decided to take bathroom art one step further by creating a series of creepy, interesting, and really cool bathroom drawings. If you’re sick and tired of uncreative trash being drawn on public bathroom walls, take a look at his artwork here and gain some inspiration for your next sink-side masterpiece.