Bathroom Design Trends to Look Out For

Long gone are the days when bathrooms were seen as nothing but places which you needed to have at home, deprived of almost anything which would improve its aesthetics. The only focus was on functionality, with little attempt at making such places pleasant to be in.

Whether we like it or not, things have changed a lot. Today’s bathroom is a potential place of luxury, which increases the value of your home like no other room except, perhaps, the kitchen. So, what are the modern trends in bathroom design?

Introduction of High-Tech

Built-in audio systems are pretty standard and there are many options for listening to music while having a shower or a bath. Some more advanced features make it possible to answer the phone from your shower booth, without interrupting your shower. Speaking of showers, the latest designs also allow us to regulate the water pressure and temperature, and select our favorite mood-enhancing color just by using an LCD screen mounted on the wall.

While having a relaxing bath, you may wish to treat yourself to a nice cool drink from a tub-side refrigerator. However, the innovative use of cooling equipment doesn’t end there. Apart from cooling beverages, some state-of-the-art medicine cabinets also keep your nail polish, organic skin products and medications cold.

Saving Water

The increasingly strict standards related to energy and water consumption have forced manufacturers to come up with ideas that would reduce the use, but provide the same or even better quality. Luckily, developments in various fields of industry have brought about many new options for your bathroom.

For example, low-flow toilets and faucets significantly reduce the amount of water used, thus lowering your utility bill significantly. Also, low-flow aerators can now be easily installed on both old and new faucets, which means you don’t need to change the whole fixture.

Another useful feature is an activation sensor, which is also supposed to contribute to reducing the water waste. Similarly, some contemporary shower heads can actually regulate water droplet size and speed, spray coverage and temperature, thus giving you the good old feeling with far less water used.

Furniture Design

The idea is to go for a minimalist look and conceal as much as possible. Sliding panels are used to hide various fixtures and provide new functions, such as those of a powder room bench or a surface to lay on and sunbathe.

Cabinets are designed to revolve 180-degrees in order to provide easy storage access, while shower seats, towel bars and walk-in tubs are no longer aiming to provide only functionality, but they are quite stylish, as well.

Finally, hand grips are designed not only to provide safety, but the materials used (chrome and brushed nickel) give them the contemporary look which suits pretty much any bath design, while more and more companies are producing foldaway seats for showers with limited space.

Tiles, Wonderful Tiles

Most modern bathroom designs are aiming to create a spa-like atmosphere, both in terms of the feeling you get and the aesthetic component. In order to achieve that, large tiles are used and the most popular look is metal. Some manufacturers combine traditional ceramic tiles with metallic granules and the result is a clean, industrial look.

So, as you can see, the trends are developing in two major directions. The first one is related to efficiency and environment-friendliness. Everything is done to minimize the unnecessary waste of energy and water, thus reducing your utility bill.

Another direction is the appearance. Clean, simple lines are used to create a minimalist look, while options to conceal fixtures that are not in use are fully exploited. The use of color and lights is there only to enhance the spa-like atmosphere, which is the ultimate goal of modern bathroom design.

Guest Contributor, Lillian Connors