Showers and bathtubs have taken on added importance in modern times. As places of decompression and revitalization they represent important investments for serious bathroom lovers who will pay handsomely for the best and newest features available for fitting out luxury units.
Check out the newest trends bathroom lovers are going crazy for:
High Power and High Tech Fixtures
The central element of any shower is, of course, the shower unit itself. The past few years have seen showerheads move away from fixed traditional units to industrial chrome wands that can be mounted or detached. This trend continues and is seeing greater integration with equally popular rain shower and body spray units, as with new units from Décor Star. The combination results in more power from more angles to give the perfect shower.
Shower fixtures have also entered the smart gadget field and we no longer seem content with them providing only water. Incredible as it may sound, new units can feature integrated panels that can tell news and weather, light the shower in different hues, and even play music. The shower experience has simply never been more physically or emotionally pleasing.
Openness and Texture
Showers themselves are getting larger and more open. Thresholds are certainly on their way out in all new designs for truly walk-in showers that are friendlier toward all ages.
While glass partitions have taken over the stall market and remain popular, many new units are doing away with barriers altogether in favor of built-in architecture for shower spaces. Within the shower area drains have become more decorative and architectural, perhaps taking inspiration from infinity pools and spas. Seamless and efficient, they also look great.
Showers remain a great opportunity to splash money on luxury stone and tile. The aesthetic follows spa design in two ways: clean, smooth, and clinical or rougher, more naturalistic textures. The smoother look works best with stones like marble or granite to showcase their beautiful grain. Tiles, with so many new options, represent the more creative choice with interesting contemporary applications of reviving designs, futuristic 3D tiles, or rustic stone coursing.
Free-Standing Works of Art
Enter the age of the luxury tub. They may have been losing the war to deluxe shower over the past decades, but from not even appearing in contemporary designs of just a few years back bathtubs of all shapes and sizes are exploding across remodels and new spa bathrooms. Designers have gone crazy for the limitless sculptural possibilities of the new fashion for bathtubs.
Having once again taking pride of place in the bathroom, modern bathtubs are united by a major trend for stand-alone sculptural units that form the artistic centerpiece of modern designs. Apart from creativity, there is little else to unify the emerging aesthetic. Stand-alones can be ovular, spherical, trapezoidal, or square. They can undulate, dip downwards, and crest upwards in designs. They can be said to resemble anything from broken eggs to ships or spa versions of a sarcophagus.
In materials too, there is no limit to choice for stand-alones. Even wood can trim some models but most keep a more solid aesthetic with porcelain, ceramic, or stone. Single carves of luxury stone represent the upper reaches of the market with blocks of granite and marble in beautiful shapes seamlessly chiseled out by expert manufacturers. Plumbing fixtures for stand-alone tubs, presumably because they can spoil the aesthetic if integrated too closely, spring out from walls or up from floors in graceful lines to fill the tub for its main purpose.
