A luxurious retreat

The bathroom is your personal space — to relax the body and mind. Extra attention can turn it into a special haven. Bindu Gopal Rao brings the latest luxury items that make your time spent beneath every droplet worthwhile.

Bathrooms are an important part of a home and are today becoming quite the centre of new products and services. In fact, they are becoming gizmo-centric almost spa-like with Jacuzzi and multiple-head, high pressure showers as well as bespoke accessories that add to their style quotient.

Trend alert

The bathroom is a personal place where you can relax your body and mind, thus extra effort and attention is being given today. It is about creating a comfortable and luxurious retreat in your home. Make your bathroom look ‘put together’ by matching all of the metal pieces in the room—from the shower head to the shower door to the toothbrush holder to the mirror frame.

“Choose your faucet first, and then stick with a matching finish colour and sheen for each accessory. If you don't want colour everywhere in your bath, try adding small doses in cheerful colours such as sunny yellow or fire-engine red that are inspired by children's bathrooms. Plastic or enamel faucets or fanciful geometrically shaped light fixtures are two bold solutions that can give your bathroom a unique look,” says Mukul Goyal, a product designer. Bathrooms of the future are getting hi-tech and the most functional room in the house is getting a luxurious makeover.

“With products such as massage tubs providing hydro therapy, chromo showers fitted with LED lights for chromo therapy to shower panels with digital controls, touch panels, modern day innovations can create a special world in the bathroom for an invigorating experience. Sensor-operated faucets are gradually making their way into homes as well since they reduce the spread of germs and minimise water usage. So are faucet aerators, which add air to the stream of water by breaking the water into fine droplets, giving a foamy feel on your hands,” says Santosh Nema, a sanitaryware industry expert.

The latest concepts or styles preferred for bathrooms today are open bathrooms, extremely spacious as consumers take special care of their personal space and do like to spend ‘quality’ time there. Designer Parushni Aggarwal opines, “Another upcoming trend is the placement of bathtubs in the centre of the bathrooms. Glass walls between the bedroom and bathrooms make spaces look more open and big. An extended outdoor shower accentuates the entire look as well.”

Water is amongst the most popular source of de-stressing and more and more companies are now focusing on giving this experience to consumers in the luxury of their bathrooms.
Bathtubs and showers are where warm water performs its magic relaxing muscles, cleansing the body and reviving spirits.

“To make the most of this daily ritual of rejuvenation, bathroom solution brands are offering a wide choice of beautifully designed fixtures that include wellness showers, hand showers and accessories and also Overhead & Oxyrain showers and accessories. Homeowners can discover advanced yet simple-to-use features and functions in the product offerings and can decide to customise the space by installing new bathtub and showers,” says Harsh Bhutani, a bathroom product expert.

Explains Rajnish Ohri, a bathroom technologies expert: “There are bathtubs and whirlpools available in the market which form micro bubbles (they are less than 50 microns in size). These micro bubbles penetrate gently into the skin pores for a deeper cleansing, while moisturising the skin. When the micro bubbles collapse in the water, they release their heat energy which helps maintain a consistently warm bathing experience without the need to add more hot water.”

In fact, today you have self-cleaning and disinfected bathtubs that remove any organic material by rinsing themselves.

Choosing right

While we only look at choosing fixtures that are appealing, selecting water efficient fixtures is of prime importance. “Today, we have dual flushing cisterns that use just 1.5 litres and three litres of water. The regular cisterns dispose of around 10-14 litres of water every time you flush. Similarly, you can select low flow taps, showers, etc that contain flow restrictors or aerators. In case you have large spaces for washrooms, have a small landscape patch within the toilet and invite the sun and stars into the room using skylights that are openable,” says B S Harikrishna, an environmental expert. High quality, high-definition, digital wall tiles and floor tiles in an array of colours, styles, designs and sizes offer innumerable options to customise the bathroom.

“These tiles have the highest level of glossiness, printed with a six-colour prism technology, and are extremely durable and stain-resistant. These tiles are visually appealing, giving your home a sleek and classy look,” says Vivek Talwar, a flooring expert.

Joint Free Tiles technology and the ability to print on tiles is making the space even more exciting.

Renu Misra, bathroom accessories expert adds, “Pedestal sinks and vessel sinks that float on solid wood cabinetry, basins made of hand-painted porcelain, carved marble, glass, copper and stone in natural forms like bulbous round and oval are popular. Large soaking tubs, claw feet and vintage-look faucets besides LED-lit shower heads and oversized spa-like shower enclosures are all visible in today’s luxury bathrooms.”

Do it yourself

Again doing up your bathroom need not really be very heavy on your pocket. With simple and thoughtful ideas there are several inexpensive ways to add to the décor without burning a hole in your pocket. “Put plants in bathrooms to bring in a bit of outdoors but remember to rotate them. Use interesting accessories to hold towels, toothbrushes and other paraphernalia. Use glass paints to paint interesting murals on existing tiles,” advices Mukul Goyal. Mirrors are a great way to decorate because they give the illusion of more space.

“Depending on the look of the bathroom, you can go for a vintage look mirror with a broad laser cut frame or a modern looking mirror in an exciting shape. Wall to wall mirrors at eye level look great in bathrooms as they give an illusion of space and enhance the look of the bathroom,” says Punam Kalra, an interior designer. Add new rugs and shower-curtains and also change your towel holder, toilet paper holder and shower-curtain rod for a new look. Candles and aromatherapy products can also lend to a great ambiance when you are soaking away the stresses of the day. Replace your counter-top accessories for an all new look. “Look through your cabinets for a pretty bowl for soap, a cup, ceramic mug, vase or mason jar for toothbrushes and a small tray or plate to keep your cosmetics. A small vase of artificial flowers is an inexpensive way too of beautifying one’s bathroom,” says Sadhana Srinivasan, another interiors expert. It’s time to de-stress!