Not so many years ago, in almost every home you entered, the typical bathroom was made up of three traditional pieces fitted into a 5' X 7' box: sink, toilet and shower-bath. This type of bathroom was austere by today's standards, but served its purpose. The only features that set it apart from the bathroom in the next home were the shower curtain designs, vanity top, towel color and floor. Then, around thirty years ago, the bathroom started to get bigger and more luxurious. In recent years, bathroom designers and renovators have completely blown away the old bathroom and replaced it with living space complete in every respect. Now, the new-concept bathrooms compete with other popular areas of the home, such as like kitchens and patios, for a slice of your time.
Here are 6 Modern Upgrades in Bathroom Remodeling
1. A Spacious Leisure Zone
The blueprints of many home building contractors, as well as the computer screens of bathroom remodeling designers, have seen monumental transformations in this area of the home. The keyword for this new design is 'space.' Today's bathrooms are so spacious that the old 3-piece cubicle has become a distant memory. Just like bedrooms, kitchens and the other living spaces in the home, bathrooms are now a leisure zone. The modern bathroom is a multi-level living space where you can sit and relax after a shower or sauna, taking in a hockey game on flat screen television or reading a book while listening to the audio system.
2. Big Showers and Tubs
The increase in bathroom size has allowed for the installation of big and fancy rainshowers. In addition to oversized, porcelain tile squares, polished stone is quickly becoming a popular choice for both the walls and floor, overshadowing traditional bathroom tile and acrylic showers. In some designs the whole bathroom decor is patterned porcelain tile running up to the ceiling. Glass shower walls and doors offer transparency, showing off the color and texture of the decor. More attention is concentrated on the placement of fixtures and whether they should be controlled by textured hardware pieces or digital smart panels. More upscale showering facilities provide multiple jets for a total body massage, the soothing flow of a steam bath, the dry heat from a sauna element, a soak from an overhead rain shower and the music or visual programming of a state-of-the-art entertainment system. This can be all preprogrammed through the smart panel. Bathtubs are now spas, having been enlarged and fitted with more massaging jets. For the homeowners who are unable to climb in and out of a tub there are now side doors making the transformation easier for those who want to keep their large home. You can also soak in your huge tub while have your own LCD screen. And when you step out you can dry off in front of a cushion of air from wall-mounted blowers.
3. Modern Bathroom Flooring
As mentioned before the flooring in high-end bathrooms is often an extension of the wall surfaces and the shower area. For example, a travertine/marble mixture used in the shower stalls can be extended to the floors and, sometimes, the vanity tops. As always, decorative porcelain tile and stone squares are desirable whereas linoleum, the usual mainstay, has fallen out of vogue. In colder areas floor heating is a must in this new bathroom space. There are two choices: electric heating wire or hydronic tubing that runs off the hot water tank or central boiler system. In southern areas a ceiling-mounted heat lamp meets this requirement.
4. Energy Saving Bathroom Lighting
In the distant past, bathrooms were illuminated by a single bulb like a fluorescent tube. Then, in the 1950's, dressing room lights, ones that framed the mirror, came in to style. Now the energy-wasting traditional lighting is gone and the old, standard fluorescent tubes are being banished to the garage or closet. These dinosaurs are being replaced by halogen down-lights and wall-mounted sconces which provide whiter, more attractive lighting on each side of the mirror.
5. Modern Bathroom Colors
We have discussed the ultra-modern, tile-prominent bathroom but there is also old-country bathroom where neutrals, the choice of homeowners for years, are giving way to bolder colors: dark blues, bluish-greens and deep ruby-reds. In this type of bathroom metal finishes are also taking on color. Matte and polished chrome faucets and accessories can be bought in bronze and wrought iron or glistening with a gold or copper finish.
6. Fancy Mirrors
Even the mirrors have changed in size and scope. They are smaller than the huge vanity mirrors of the past but now you can get a television built in. If you don't like what you see in the mirror change the channel! So think big when you envision your bathroom remodel even if it mean taking some space out of another room.
Posted by: TrustedProsSuggested Reading For You
DIY Bathroom Renovations
Today, tax credits may not be available, so anything that is being added will need to come out of your...
Cool Toilets That Flush the Old Toilets Away
There is one thing all of us humans have in common. It doesn't matter where you live, how much money y...
