Bathroom Amenities
When we’re children, the family bathroom is the one room in the home that is conveniently inconvenient. It was the place that our parents often forced us to go to, to take that dreaded bath or shower; and it also provided that thirty-second service that every kid seems to procrastinate upon, up until the last possible second. It was a room that connoted ‘function’; and, certainly, not one that a kid wanted to spend a whole lot of life in. As an adult, however, the perception of the bathroom has taken on a remarkable new role in our lives. It’s a place for peace and quiet as well as harboring the vessels of consummate relaxation. With this novel revelation come the amenities of a bathroom that are far beyond simply accommodating but, instead, features that an adult can honestly look forward to at the end of the day—or the start of the day.
Sitting Tub
Probably the standard in bathroom luxury is the sitting tub. Here, the fixture actually encourages and enables the user to spend some quality time alone. It’s really not a matter of hygiene—although that argument could be pressed if needed—but, instead, it’s a feature that facilitates the quiet and relaxing necessity of the adult day. You also may opt for a sitting tub with ‘jets’, commonly referred to as a ‘Jacuzzi’ (actually a trade-name) for further enhancement of the relaxation experience; but, bear in mind that kids tend to think this is a cool thing, too, so you might have to fight for your time in this one!
Custom Shower
Replete with a ‘sunflower’ shower head or multiple shower heads, a custom shower can do wonders for a tired body. Whether you need it to wake up in the morning or wind-down in the evening, there are few things more satisfying than a long, hot shower. While a hot shower could certainly be achieved with a molded fiberglass, modular unit—a custom shower’s appeal truly adds to the overall experience, not to mention the value realized in the home! Besides, a custom shower will possess all the neat little features that you actually want in this shower space rather than doing without or having all sorts of things retro-fitted to a molded unit.
Heated Tile Floors
While ceramic, porcelain or stone tile floors are the finish of choice in the best of bathrooms, folks tend to go out to the department and ‘dollar’ stores to purchase a number of bathroom scatter-rugs to place in strategic locations in the bathroom because the ‘floors are cold’. While this might remain as an appropriate surface as a bath mat—when you first get out of the shower or tub—it’s really not the best way to address the ‘cold floor’ issue. Instead, have your contractor install electric floor heating ‘mats’ beneath the finish tile. These electrical heating elements warm the tile nearly instantly and the tile floor will be quite comfortable under foot.
Electric Towel Warmers
Instead of the typical ‘towel bar’, consider integrating an electric towel warmer into your bathroom scheme. While this amenity appears to be a rather eccentric detail, saved for the ‘rich and famous’, it’s actually quite a practical feature for a couple reasons: One, of course, is that your bathroom towels are very warm to the touch when you get out of the shower or bath—that’s a given—but they are also dried on the warmer more quickly than air drying so they don’t ever attract a musty, damp odor; also, these warmers are an excellent means to slowly dry fine washables or synthetics which adversely respond to the high heat of the dryer.
