In recent years, much of the news in home design has involved the bathroom, as luxury baths have expanded and become ever more deluxe. But no longer is that kind of high style just the domain of high-end interior designers and architects. Whether it`s master bath suites, powder rooms, secondary baths or even children`s baths, the design has gone far beyond simply coordinating the towels, tissues and wastebaskets.
More and more consumers will be planning bathroom makeovers, as manufacturers of bathroom fixtures (Kohler, American Standard and Eljer in particular) are paying much closer attention to form and color as well as function. They are creating sculpted faucets that gleam like jewels, hand-decorated basins and pedestal sinks with architectural silhouettes.
”The bath has evolved from being just utilitarian,” said Mary Jane Pappas, a Minneapolis-based designer and space planner. ”There may be a steam shower, a whirlpool tub, a makeup center, an exercise area.
”The bath is becoming a place to make a personal statement,” Pappas added, and she is not referring only to the spacious ones. With the new availability of stylish bathroom fixtures and accouterments, the lowly powder room may well become the new power room.
The powder room has become far more than just a utility bath. ”Powder rooms are a place of status,” Pappas said. ”That`s what you expose to your guests. It`s a room that makes an important impression.”
Because of the great diversity of looks-Southwest, 18th Century, French, English, Italian, Prairie, High Tech, Art Deco-it is easier to look at each element of bath design rather than styles.
– Surfaces-Vinyl papers, when they are used at all, come in sophisticated, often textured patterns. More often, surfaces are painted, or papered in hand-painted faux finishes such as marble.
Walls also may be treated with fabric or covered in stones such as slate, granite or marble in slab or tiles. Many tile stores are offering stone tiles for do-it-yourselfers.
When ceramic tile is chosen, it often is laid in decorative patterns to personalize the space. In a powder room designed by New York interior designer David Salomon, an assortment of solid-colored mosaic tiles was combined almost kaleidoscopically to create a playful pattern. Tile borders and the tile surface were used as wainscoting, with the area above painted to match.
A New York firm, McGregor Lanier Associates, created an Art Deco bathroom inspired by Manhattan architecture, using Bardelli Italian floor and wall tiles in varying sizes and shapes to mimic the skyline.
Checkerboards, diamonds and zigzags-any number of decorative motifs are highlighting walls, tub and shower surrounds, backsplashes and countertops.
Hand-painted tiles also are showing up as accents in borders and murals depicting a wide variety of motifs such as landscapes, flowers and birds. And vinyl floor tile is back.
– Fixtures-How many ways are there to design a sink, a tub, a toilet?
Judging by the products from the new kids on the block, there are far more options now, offering a considerable range in design.
The classically styled, such as Kohler`s Uccello console (about $6,400, including marble top and polished brass faucet), demonstrate elegance with a vintage note. The ash Vintage vanity that Baker Furniture created for Kohler looks to handsome, traditional cabinetry for inspiration. The Rondo pedestal lavatory, designed by Deiter Sieger for the West German manufacturer Alape, is reminiscent of a sleek but elegant black-and-white barber`s pole fabricated of durable, vitreous enamel-on-iron.
A funnel-shaped pedestal of glossy polished chrome with a built-in single-lever faucet (Euclide), available through Hastings Tile & Il Bagno Collection, illustrates a fresh contemporary style.
Sleek, rectangular toilets with matching bidets and sculptural sinks have been added to product lines. One Kohler basin, the Stiria model, simply is a series of white, concentric ellipses built into a striking form. In another line, red tulips decorate a basin. The Fables & Flowers pattern also can be matched to decorative tile, a set of three covered ceramic jars and a soap dish. This kind of hand decoration once was limited to companies such as Sherle Wagner. No longer. But it still doesn`t come cheap; Kohler`s tulip-inspired basin retails for $975.
– Hardware-Naturally, beautifully styled fixtures need to be adorned with equally stylish hardware, and some of the new designs are so unusual that a few buyers may hesitate to use them. Kohler`s Alterna Flume faucet is an intriguing design that is open on its flat top, delivering water across the flat surface like a small waterfall.
Kohler and others also are using a variety of stones-malachite and onyx, for example-in handle design. Finishes include polished or satin stainless steel, chrome, brass, gold-plated and 24-karat gold.
– Lighting-Dimmer switches are used in the bath, as they are in other places in the home. They allow task lighting for chores such as applying makeup or shaving, as well as mood lighting. And as much natural light as possible is let in through skylights, glass block and windows.
Recessed lighting and halogens are brightening the bath, and around-the-mirror lighting has evolved beyond tiny makeup bulbs to more decorative sconces.
– Medicine cabinets-Long considered an eyesore by interior designers, who have searched for more creative alternatives, the conventional box has been updated by manufacturers. Some of the newest ones are well-shaped, often with beveled glass edges.
Another option is a box, set into the wall, that disappears, with a door that is flush and matches a wall, behind a wall treatment of choice.
– Showers-With some of the more contemporary designs, curtains are unnecessary.
Some use high-styled doors: Manufacturers such as Alumax have come up with models in anodized black finishes, a perfect accompaniment to the popular black-and-white bath. Alumax and others also are putting out prefabricated shower stall sections, enabling the buyer to put together his own design.
– Options-As with gadgets on a car, bath options such as steam showers are garnering a great deal of attention.
They still carry a deluxe price tag, starting at $1,500, and steam showers do require professional installation of a generator as well as adequate waterproofing. Hand-held showers also are requested not only for their touch of luxury but for cleaning those oversize tubs. And rain bars, vertical sprays along the sides of showers, are becoming popular.
– The coordinated bath-This may seem a little too repetitious for some tastes, but those consumers who wish to create a total look have a choice of manufacturers today, not just Ralph Lauren. One of Croscill`s ”complete bathroom” collections features an English garden motif and includes two floral patterns with complementary wall covering, border, shower curtain, sachets, picture frames, padded hangers, wastebaskets and terry towels whose edges are pleated in the floral-printed cotton and trimmed with ribbon. India Ink, known in the industry for its hand-painted bed linens, recently introduced a bright line of hand-painted ceramic accessories.
Inevitably, more of these striking features of advanced custom design will filter down to the buying public, in less expensive materials and some in prefab forms and standard lines.
Some bathrooms are making as much of an architectural impact as the more public spaces in a home, using building elements such as columns, arches and glass block. In one design by California architects Barry and Carey Berkus, a marble-faced fireplace with a copper stack became a focal point. In another design by Linda Snyder, glass block was integrated into the tub as well as into a wall.
Jerry Van Deelen`s design Home magazine`s kitchen and bath spring issue shows a high-end example of do-it-yourself styling. He took an antique Japanese rain basin and set it on a fiberglass column, fitting it with faucets of oxidized bronze in the shapes of a fish and dragonflies.
Strong lines and texture are coupled with storage considerations in a custom-designed granite sink with a stainless steel bowl by interior designers Agustin Fernandez and Robert George. Centered beneath the bowl is a simple cross design of brass and stainless steel. On either side are niches for essentials such as toothbrushes, shaver and towels. In lieu of a medicine cabinet, a stylish mirror is suspended from the ceiling. All the toiletries are hidden in built-in storage behind the sink.
Even with all these innovations, designer Pappas says bath design will not become terminally trendy. The best styling is simple and made to last.
