Let it rain: Why we want to splash out on outdoor showers

The Home of the Year winner loves her post-sea swim rinse so much she plans to install an outdoor shower in her garden

There’s something about showering under an open sky that is exhilarating, freeing, and calming all at once. (I do shower in my swimsuit before anyone questions the source of my exhilaration.) 

I haven't really done much to my house since I finished renovations in August 2020 (because it’s quite perfect if you ask me!) but I do have BIG plans to install an outdoor shower. I am but one in a nation gripped by sea swimming fever, and years ago — pre-pandemic — a group of us used to schlep to the Forty Foot in Dublin every Friday morning before work for a chilly dip. 

This did mean sitting in an office feeling salty for the day until I noticed the shower at the Forty Foot. It’s cold, it’s exposed — and I love it. I almost prefer my post-swim rinse to the main event.