Covet this warm and welcoming Cape Cod design by Wood-Mode Fine Custom Cabinetry. Houston-based Cabinets & Designs Incorporated can help you get the look for your own bathroom retreat. Photo courtesy of Wood-Mode.
A RELAXING IN-HOME SPA Clean Up, Chill Out and Recharge With the Newest in Bathroom Design
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By Susie Tommaney and Natalie de la Garza
he bathrooms of tomorrow will incorporate high-tech gadgets, taking advantage of smart technology and digital innovations for soaker tubs, next-gen toilets and faucets. These features are already showing up in the newer hotels and designers are adopting these concepts for the home. Bathtubs are being made with chromatherapy functions, those colored LEDs that help set a mood. Relax with turquoise and purple, find balance with green, and stimulate creativity with yellow and orange. Other soakers maintain water at a uniform temperature or come with variable pressure air jets that are controlled electronically; both are available in alcove baths and freestanding tubs. Kohler’s Numi Intelligent Toilet isn’t cheap, but with a motionactivated and heated seat, advanced bidet function, dryer, deodorizer, music and foot-warmer, it’s easy to see why. The Brondell Swash 1000 will probably take hold in Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions first, with its separate tank of warmed water for washing nether parts and featuring an oscillating massage. The TOTO Neorest 550 26 house& home | January 2021 | www.houstonhouseandhome.net
and the Duravit Starck 3 SensoWash Shower Toilet both come with nightlights while other manufacturers are counting on lifestyle changes. The colorful Neo-Metro miniLoo Toilet works in small spaces and the Sun-Mar Compact Composting Toilet converts waste to fertilizer for soil. In fact, bathrooms are becoming fully automated. Motion-activated lights, digital faucets with a sensor, a news feed in the shower and smart mirrors and windows are just a few of the ways that residential bathrooms are mirroring those found in commercial applications. Bluetooth seems to be the choice of most when it comes to connectivity, followed by Wi-Fi and 3G. But one design mainstay that will never go out of style is luxury, that five-star hotel feeling that helps you get ready in the morning and also sends you off for a good night’s sleep at the end of the day. It’s certainly easier to build luxurious features into new construction but, with the right contractor and designer, even existing bathrooms can be transformed into a relaxing spa environment.
