The 21st century has brought remarkable innovations to bathroom design. These technological advances have opened the door for homeowners to create personal spa experiences at home. Focusing on the health benefits as well as the convenience, let’s review the wide array of products that take an ordinary bath to an extraordinary spa level.
LCD monitors hidden in high-tech mirrors, electronically activated faucets, steam showers, body sprays, audio and lighting, sensor-controlled fans, and tankless commodes are just a few of the innovative possibilities for a spa bath retreat.
Steam showers, saunas, and specialty tubs provide excellent ways to relax and rejuvenate. Steam showers help create a perfect sense of relaxation and luxury in your bathroom. By cleansing and moisturizing your skin, the steam relaxes tired muscles, energizes the body, and invigorates the mind. Multi-jet shower systems have become very popular, and some include hydro-massage with sound and vibration therapy. Many saunas include music systems and reading lights so you relax while the heat helps to release toxins from your body. A branch of holistic healing known as chromatherapy uses color technology in a spa bathroom. A warm, ultra-deep bath is transformed with the touch of a button to include a full spectrum of dramatic color, from soothing to stimulating.
Some of this technology even simulates nature. A rainfall shower head frees up space in the shower while offering setting adjustments that range from a gentle rain to a downpour. Each setting provides different therapy for aching backs and muscles. Then, once you’ve finished with your shower therapy, you can step out onto a soothing, warm tile floor. Heated bathroom floors are another essential spa element that not only warm cold bathroom tile floors, but also fill bathrooms with floor-to-ceiling warmth.
The addition of state of the art design elements like vessel sinks, LED lighting for ceiling, walls, and even floors, take your personal spa to a higher level. With so many choices and options, homeowners often have difficulty in deciding what products to choose. That’s where a professional designer comes in. They have access to a wider variety of designs that can simplify your research and guide you through the process. Refer to the “Find a Professional” tool at NKBA.org to search for an experienced NKBA member designer in your area.
If you can’t afford all the new technology, there are economical ways to create your own spa bathroom by adding simple but luxurious touches like new hardware, light fixtures, towel warmers, or a mirror defogger. With each upgrade or new addition, you’ll build your spa bathroom one step at a time.
Victoria Hale is the Loyalty Marketing Manager for WarmlyYours, a radiant electric floor heating manufacturer based in Long Grove, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago. WarmlyYours has been featured on both HGTV and in the New York Times. For more information, call (800) 875-5285 or visit www.WarmlyYours.com. For more information on the technologies mentioned in this article, visit www.abathroomguide.com.
