Canadians are investing more time and lots of money in their bathrooms.
Confirmed modernist Friedmann Weinhardt showed off a stark free-standing tub in a plush Ottawa home. "Freestanding tubs increase the perception of space," says the owner of Design First Interiors. "You see more floor, so it looks like a bigger room."
The built-in platform-style tub is still useful, says the designer, who prefers the free-standing style for its contemporary good looks.
Architectural tubs were also high on the radar at last month's Home and Design Show in Ottawa, where state-of-the-art bathroom exhibits looked like slick boutique hotels.
During the past several years, there's been a big emphasis on oversized corner tubs with whirlpool jets, but designers are now putting the jets into oversized, walk-in glass showers, says Des Rosier.
And if it's in the budget, there's the option to add fancy shower heads, a steam system and teak accessories.
Gerhard Linse knows all about luxurious bathrooms. The owner of Gerhard Linse Design & Building Consultants created a sunny custom bathroom in a rural home in Rideau Ferry, Ont. Sun cascades through a bank of windows, lighting up the tub and a separate, walk-in shower. The eight-foot glass shower is airy with its own window, a rain shower head, and a heated Indonesian pebble floor that feels like you are walking on a sunny beach.
Good thing there is lot of privacy and more trees than neighbours.
There is no doubt walk-in showers are popular, says Linse, adding his clients are requesting them because of their ease of use.
"Most of us are in a hurry. Showers are fast and convenient," he says, adding they can also be romantic and sexy by adding jets and space.
He estimates the Rideau Ferry shower would cost between $8,000 and $10,000 to build. But, costs can be cut in half by eliminating the radiant floor heating, installing tiling that's $3 a square foot instead of $25 a foot, and keeping body sprays to a minimum.
Brian Mallett, president of Westend Bath and Kitchen installs between six and nine custom showers per week -- no doubt partly sparked by the government's tax incentive -- with the average job costing around $20,000 and the biggest hitting $100,000.
Going beyond showers and exotic tubs, storage is a must in smart bathrooms. The trend in bathroom vanities is toward customized, furniture styling with under-mount sinks and lots of drawers and open niches for towels.
Most vanities are natural woods, like maple, oak and cherry; and natural surfaces like marble, granite and long-lasting quartz.
Radiant floor heating is also a big hit, says Mallett, eliminating the chill factor on a winter day. Installation usually costs around 10 per cent of the total cost of a bathroom reno, he estimates. Radiant heating can be installed under all surfaces, including laminate floor and hardwood. And the luxury? You can program the floor to be at a certain temperature when you wake up.
"Going back years and years, a bathroom was a bathroom," says Mallett. "But now it's a place to relax. It's like a personal oasis in the home."
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