Luxury Bathroom Remodels That Can Elevate Your Space
A luxury remodel is all about transforming a functional bathroom into one that offers more. Greater comfort, better accessibility, and gorgeous materials you’ll be proud to see and touch each day.
Maybe you’ve had a bathroom you’d describe as fine for many years, but have always envisioned something tailored specifically to you. Or perhaps you’d like your bathroom to shift with you in terms of mobility.
In this article we’re highlighting some of the options you can consider. We’ll compare features and what each of them adds so you can begin the process with a clear plan.
Shower and Tub Upgrades
One of the biggest considerations in any bathroom remodel is what to do with your tub and shower. For instance, many bathrooms begin with a bulky tile garden tub, and during a remodel end up in one of two directions:
The homeowner removes the tub entirely to make space for a larger walk-in shower. This also provides ample space for accessibility features, such as shower benches and grab bars.
The homeowner upgrades the tub to something more luxurious, such as a jacuzzi tub or a large soaker tub.
Consider the materials you’d like to use.
Tile showers allow for custom dimensions and options like custom shelves for soap (niches), benches, and other items.
Custom glass enclosures/doors make your shower feel spacious and luxurious, but also require higher maintenance.
Small floor tiles provide greater slip resistance, but have more grout lines to keep clean. Larger floor tiles provide a more luxurious look and require less maintenance.
Stone countertops that match the rest of the home instead of a laminated top of outdated granite.
There are also style considerations, such as curbless shower designs. These require additional framing modifications needed to waterproof the floor, but curbless designs offer far greater accessibility and a more luxurious look.
Steam showers are another great option to consider. These function like a small, separate room that is fully walled off with tile all the way to the ceiling. This design traps steam from the shower, creating a somewhat sauna-like experience. (Though it doesn’t get as hot as a sauna.) Another advantage of a steam shower is that it’s easier to keep clean than a shower with a glass door.
Options like these are great for those looking for a one-of-a-kind experience.
High End Countertops For The Sink and Vanity
For this type of remodel, you’re primarily choosing between 3 countertop materials:
Granite countertops — Natural stone with unique patterns. Very durable, resisting heat and scratches well. Periodically it’s ideal to seal granite to protect against moisture or stains.
Quartz countertops — Made from crushed quartz crystal and resin. This gives the natural stone look, but in a more consistent pattern than granite. Quartz countertops are also lower maintenance because quartz is non-porous. It doesn’t require sealing and resists bacteria and stains.
Marble countertops — Timeless elegance. Marble is softer than granite so it isn’t as durable, and periodic sealing is necessary. Still, many families consider the aesthetic worth the maintenance.
The choice in countertop material can help inform the sink style, including shape and faucet type. (Twist faucets vs. lever style, bowl/basin designs, double sinks, etc.)
Knobs are out, levers are in! Levers generally look nicer, and are easier to operate for accessibility concerns. For instance, it doesn’t require as much from the wrist to push a lever to the side, but it does require grip strength and a twist of the wrist to turn a knob.
Rectangular sinks are in right now, offering both a modern look and more usable sink volume than round designs.
Vessel sinks (above the counter) have become less common because they’re less accessible and tend to splash water more easily. Undermount sinks, on the other hand, are very popular and have been for a while. Undermount designs allow the countertops to come right up to the edge of the sink, rather than having a sink surround act as a border.
Specialized Mirrors and Lighting
We can help you decide on the right size and style mirror(s) for your vanity. But beyond the look of the mirror, you can also add features like smart mirrors that can prevent fog from building up, and even sync with your phone to play your favorite music.
Lighting options we’d recommend include:
Backlit/Frontlit mirror lighting — Built into the mirror itself to offer a soft, even glow with minimal shadows. These often include dimming options, as well as color temperature control (warm vs. cool light).
Pendant lights and Sconces — Sconces are traditional, eye level fixtures used to create shadow-free illumination. Pendant lights provide a slightly more dramatic touch to the bathroom.
Recessed accent lighting — You can place accent lighting in a variety of configurations. Placing them under a vanity accentuates the vanity’s design with a subtle glow. Adding recessed lights to the ceiling can provide a more even illumination of the floor and shower.
Heated Floors & Bathroom Ventilation
These two items take care of “two birds with one stone” — comfort and humidity.
Heated floors take the chill out of tile flooring, and also increase the temperature in the room. A side benefit of this is decreased steam buildup in the rest of the bathroom while showering. This is a silent tool that can be working for you in the background without having to think about it.
Ceiling-mounted exhaust fans are always a good idea because they help regulate temperature and humidity. That cuts down on maintenance, inhibiting mold and mildew growth, and also further preventing foggy mirrors.
Also, a ceiling mounted heater or heater/fan combo preserves comfort in colder months and decreases steam in the bathroom, which keeps the humidity under control even better. Ceiling heaters pair nicely with heated floors for when you enter the bathroom barefoot on cold mornings, or after your hot shower.
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If you’d like to explore a luxury remodel for your bathroom, schedule a ballpark estimate meeting today!
We’ll talk through your vision and timeline to figure out if we are the right contractor for you and give an accurate ballpark estimate based on projects similar to yours.