May 24, 2006 | Recommend this Article »

Wellness in the bathroom

Private wellness oasis

The bathroom has blossomed out: from functional bathroom unit to private wellness oasis, whose importance for users meanwhile ranks immediately after the living room as prestigious public area.
This is already illustrated by the size of modern bathrooms. The size of an average bathroom in the 1970’s was just four square metres. In the meantime, bathrooms of ten square metres and even more are catching on. The demands on the bathroom are becoming more varied with increasing size. Baths in a wide range of shapes, wellness showers, whirlpools, double washbasins and modern lighting are now part of the furnishings of modern bathrooms and make them the most expensive room after the kitchen.

This room is also increasingly turning into a prestige object. The guest bathroom or WC counts as an advertisement for the home and expresses the owner’s attitude to life and taste. A development that goes hand in hand with the trend to »individuality«. Bathrooms are planned exactly to the needs of their users. The new bathroom architecture also takes the demographic trend into account, with bathrooms for senior citizens gaining in importance. Here a barrier-free design is the most important criterion, with practical floor-level showers. Access to the bath can be made easier with steps.

The design of the modern bathroom is distinguished by a clear style. Angular shapes for basins and fittings are becoming more popular. The preferred materials include natural stone as well as stainless steel, aluminium and glass. Ceramic products are less in demand at the moment. Natural stone suits the modern bathroom in two ways. First it is a natural material that goes perfectly with the present wellness boom and second a bathroom of natural stone is excellent to renovate. The stone can be repolished at any time even when laid. With the right finish, it is certainly also easy to care for – a criterion of growing importance.