Thursday, December 29, 2011

Tips for Designing Your Dream Bathroom

Keep these smart tips and ideas in mind as you plan and design your dream bathroom.
Aqua Tile in Bathroom  
Plan an Efficient Layout
    Even the dreamiest bathroom has to deal with plumbing drains, water lines, and vent stacks. Bathroom floor plans generally fall into one-, two- or three-wet-wall layouts. A one-wall layout lines up the sink, toilet, and shower along one wall as in this bathroom. It's the most cost-effective design, but it's also the most limiting.
After: Past in the Present  
More Bath Layout Tips
    A two-wall layout gives you more flexibility. The sink and toilet can be plumbed on one wall and the tub and shower on the other. The three-wall layout is the most versatile and also the most complicated and expensive. Working with a certified bathroom designer or architect can help you avoid costly mistakes and make the best use of space.
Bathroom Vanity  
Choose the Right Sink
    In the world of bathroom sinks, vessel units win the beauty contests--and with good reason. It's hard to make a more dramatic style statement than with sculptural sinks mounted on a furniture-style vanity. But before you invest in bathroom sinks, think about how often the sinks will be used and by whom. Remember that every time you wash your hands, water will drip as you turn off the faucet and reach for the towel.
Colorful Baths  
More Bathroom Sink Tips
    Integral bathroom sinks (one piece with the vanity counter) and undermount bathroom sinks make it easy to wipe messes from the counter into the sink. Self-rimming bathroom sinks, on the other hand, are the most economical and the easiest to install, but the perimeter lip can collect grime.
Bathroom Lighting  
Design a Bathroom Lighting Plan
    The most critical area for bathroom lighting is the mirror. Ideally you should have wall-mount lights at each side of the mirror at about eye level, with a third light above the mirror. This arrangement illuminates your face from both sides and above, eliminating shadows.
Bathroom  
More Bathroom Lighting Tips
    For general bathroom lighting, use ceiling-mounted fixtures or add style and mood with chandeliers or pendant lights. Enclosed showers and tubs usually require enclosed vapor-proof down lights. Accent lights can spotlight a collection or an architectural feature and contribute sparkle and mood.
SIP922258
Make a Statement with the Tub
    Bathtubs are the natural focal point of a bathroom and have a powerful impact on the decorating style. Freestanding bathtubs may rest on claw-and-ball feet or a pedestal base (like this one) or they may be streamlined and straight-sided like a piece of sculpture.
bathtub by windows
More Bathtub Tips
    A platform bathtub has an unfinished exterior and drops into a supporting boxlike structure. The top or decking is usually a waterproof material such as tile, marble, or limestone, and the sides may be paneled in wood or covered in tile or stone to match the decking. Whichever type you choose, you can opt for a soaking tub or a whirlpool tub to maximize your relaxation the bath.
white bathroom shower  
Design a Spa Shower
    Luxury showers replicate the spa-resort experience in a dream bathroom. Plan on a variety of spray heads. Ceiling-mounted rain shower shower heads soak you from above, while body sprays (vertical rows of shower heads) create a crisscross pattern for a water massage. Handheld showerheads allow you to direct the spray for washing your hair, rinsing off, or even cleaning out the shower stall. For a custom-made stall, choose your favorite waterproof material to cover walls, floors, and ceiling. Frameless glass doors showcase stunning tilework, like in the shower shown here.
100164218  
Express Your Style with Cabinetry
    The modest single-sink vanity cabinet has given way to a host of options, from double-sink vanities to custom storage hutches and wall-mounted cabinets. Bathroom cabinetry merges form and function and carries the style statement you want to make, whether it's contemporary, traditional, vintage, or Old World.
Bathroom Vanity
More Bathroom Cabinetry Tips
    As with kitchen cabinets, you can purchase bathroom cabinets in stock units or with semicustom options, or you can have them custom-designed and built. Stock cabinets are typically least expensive and custom the most expensive, with price ranges for each depending on the material, construction, finish, and accessories.
Tile and Pebble Flooring  
Select Floorings
    Bathroom floors need to be hardworking, impervious to water, and slip-resistant--but they also need to be attractive. The most luxurious choices are stone tiles and ceramic tiles, but highly polished stone is slippery when wet. Choose a honed flooring finish for better traction.
Limestone Tiles  
More Bathroom Flooring Tips
    Ceramic tiles rated "impervious" are the most waterproof and are ideal for bathroom use. Tiles designed for floors are extremely durable; they resist water, stains, and wear, and are easy to care for. Select tiles with a slip-resistant finish and seal all grout, because otherwise it's difficult to clean.
white fireplace with cabinets above  
Pamper Yourself with Amenities
    To make your dream bathroom an in-home retreat, include features that take it from utilitarian to pampering.
    • A gas-insert fireplace communicates that this is a place to linger.
    • In-floor radiant heating takes the chill off of stone or tile floors.
    • Television, sound systems, and a beverage center will make your master bathroom so comfortable, you may never want to leave.
Colorful Baths  
Create Mood with Color
    Color has the power to energize and to soothe, to wake you up and calm you down. Consider the mood you want to evoke before selecting your palette of materials. As you develop your bathroom color scheme, remember that color comes from more than wall paint and fabric. The hues in the cabinetry wood and in the stone or tile you choose for floors and walls play a major role in creating an overall color personality. Even the sink and tub contribute to the bathroom color scheme, whether they're made of white porcelain, dyed concrete, or stone.
100031421  
Add Softness with Window Treatments
    Bathrooms are mostly hard surfaces, so dressing the windows with fabric allows an opportunity to add softness and absorb sound. The treatments also let you introduce color and pattern. Bathroom window treatments should resist moisture and humidity, and they usually need to provide privacy and light control. That's why simple shades, blinds, and shutters are the most popular bathroom window treatments.
Shower and window treatment  
More Bathroom Window Treatment Tips
    Valances, balloon shades, and modified Roman shades also work. Depending on the layout of your bathroom, even draperies can provide a frame for your windows. Consider using the new all-weather acrylic fabrics to make bathroom window treatments. Designed for outdoor use, they're moisture and mildew-resistant and come in an expanding range of interior-quality patterns and colors.

9 comments:

General Contractor said...

Hi,Thanks for leading me to your Blog from a comment left on my Blog, some great stuff here, will bookmark it, Thanks again!

pipeline boring said...

Planning to remodel your bathroom is an extensive task that requires considerable thought. By remodeling your bathroom, you could add new designs and fixtures to improve your bathroom's appearance and appeal.

Taps and Showers Experts said...

With all these tips that you have generously given, pretty sure a lot of homeowners are more ready to give their bathrooms a new look. Thanks!

Unknown said...

Good Morning!

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Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

An expertly remodeled master bathroom will provide years of pleasure and comfort. But do an amateur job and you’ll be reminded of the fact every day. It’s a tricky space, unfortunately, with lots of moving parts crammed into a tight footprint, not to mention the volumes of water ready to exploit any and all leaks.Hire a Remodeling Contractor, Set a budget and planning ahead are two ways to keep your Bathroom Remodeling project on track.

Unknown said...

Last year I decided, after much thought, that I definitely wanted to remodel my bathroom. A colleague of mine suggested I contact the team at Classic Kitchen and Bath in Illinois. I was very pleased after the first call. What I admire the most about their team is that they truly enjoy what they do and they took the time to customize designs to my desire. To date, I stand in my bathroom and look at it with awe. Visit their website today www.myclassickitchenandbath.com or call 630-515-9151. I highly recommend them to everyone considering kitchen and bathroom remodeling.

Unknown said...

Well this was a great read. Some of the images of bathrooms are beautiful, I am planning to rebuild my bathroom at the moment and this has really inspired me. If I were to submit my own 'planning tip' it would be to get your floor done by deca design flooring - I was amazed at the fast and efficient job I got from them.

Thank you for sharing this

Regards,
Jeremy

Remodeling A Kitchen said...

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