Textures, colors, and decorative accents of a spa should take you away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. In the home spa, here is what designers are doing today to create the great escape.
Natural materials. Limestone and slate win hands down for most popular home spa surface materials. When used on the floor and up the walls of the shower stall, stone and slate earthy, mottled patina becomes the room's dominant feature. Pair with granite for the countertop and tub deck. For a less expensive option, investigate natural-look synthetic materials, such as slate-like concrete products or ceramic tiles that simulate limestone.
Glass. In some parts of the country, designers turn to glass instead of slate. This contemporary look is both luminescent and minimalist, reflecting the design of some commercial spas. Lorin Moch, the executive director of sales, design, and marketing for International Bath and Tile in San Diego, says her firm is doing a big business in glass tile. A home spa floor may be covered in 1-inch glass tiles while the walls sport 12-inch tiles with mosaic insets. Sink bowls and countertops are also glass. Colors are soothing, such as soft blue or green.
Matte finishes. Shiny is out; matte is in. Decade(s), old builder homes are shedding their shiny bathroom items. Highly polished marble is being replaced by honed slate or polished slate (which feels like raw silk). Faucets are now coming in brushed nickel or oil-rubbed bronze for an old-world look.
Wood cabinets. Cabinet trends are moving away from laminate, painted wood, or medium wood tones. Today, designers are more apt to use either light or dark wood cabinets. One of the hottest looks right now is deep mahogany cabinets with clean lines. The look is a cross between Asian Zen and Hollywood glamour.
Furniture-like pieces. Some home spas boast built-in cabinets with contemporary, clean lines. But those who favor traditional style are using cabinets that look like freestanding furniture. Cabinets have more curves, angles, moldings, and panels. Legs raise the cabinet off the floor.
Undermounting. Increasingly, both tubs and sinks are being undermounted to deck and countertop material. This puts the visual emphasis on the surface material instead of the tub or bowl. And the effect is a tidier look.
Special sinks. Freestanding sink bowls are all the rage. The bowl rests on top of the counter and the faucet comes out of the wall. With this style, the counter should be kept nearly clear except for the sink. Other people make sinks the focal point by using artistic bowls, such as hammered or sculpted metal, glass, or handmade stone. For an unobtrusive look, pedestal and semi-pedestal sinks take up less space and appear to float in the room.
Barely-there shower doors. Some homeowners are opting for no shower door at all -- a narrow, and possibly angled, opening does the trick. For those who have shower doors, frameless, thick glass doors are replacing metal-framed glass doors. With less metal, your eye moves past the door straight to the surface materials in the shower.
Hidden storage. Countertop appliance garages, similar to what you'd see in a kitchen, hide the hair dryer and electric toothbrush. The garage can have a regular cabinet door or a roll-down top. In some bathrooms, designers are using tip-down vanity areas. The door tips down like a secretary or writing desk. When up, it hides cosmetics and toiletries.
Planting areas. The spa experience is enhanced by the presence of live plants. Sandra Steiner, of Steiner & Houck, Inc., likes to integrate a planting area into the tub deck between the tub and shower stall. The opening contains a copper liner and is filled with plants that can tolerate the heat and steam a bathroom generates.
Post in : The Look of Relaxation
Source: LHJ.com - Ladies’ Home Journal online
