The Once-Popular Controversial Fixture That's Making Its Way Back Into Homes

If you're thinking of renovating your bathroom, put aside the sleek silver and chrome fixtures for just a moment and look to something a little bolder. Undeniably ostentatious, the swan faucet is making a comeback. Exactly as it sounds, a swan faucet is a faucet shaped like the bird in question, usually complete with accurate feathered detail and a long, winding neck. If you want an example of a swan faucet, look no further than the tour of David Harbour and Lily Allen's Brooklyn townhouse by Architectural Digest, in which Harbour says that he "demanded" swan taps as part of his design input. 

One thing's for sure, and that's that the look of swan taps is extremely maximalist. To some, it may seem gaudy — after all, it's literally a swan bending its neck to bestow water to you — but to others, it speaks of something more glamorous. Usually featuring a gold hue, the unique style suggests opulent, old Hollywood glamour that isn't often found in the minimalist bathroom designs favored these days. So why is it coming back now after so many years of being shunned?

Although we've established that some people think they're tacky, swan faucets can actually be spotted at several high-end establishments. One such establishment is the Ritz in Paris, a city known for its love of all things beautiful, which incorporated the influence of the bird into its public bathroom taps. Still, as proven by the influx in interest about swan faucets recently, swan faucets aren't just for fancy hotels. Speaking to Insider, Marissa Geoffrey, creative director of luxury hardware brand Sherle Wagner, shared that the general public are indeed going crazy for swan-themed accessories.

In fact, Geoffrey revealed that, on average, the number of swan items sold annually in the past three years has doubled when compared to the sales in the ten years prior to this uptick. This popularity tracks with the ease you can find the item now.  You can find them in silver, gold, brass – you can even find them on Amazon — making the once hard-to-find item more of a mainstream one. Love them or hate them, swan faucets could bring that little bit of luxury into your bathroom you've been searching for.