Bathroom Mistakes That Owners Regret

We design and build a lot of bathrooms. Most are successful, but over the years, we have found some features that sound great in concept but don't work very well in practice. More often than not, we are called in to fix them.

We picked the ten worst – the ten bathroom mistakes owners most often regret.

1. Open-Plan Master Bath

At t the top of our list of the worst bathroom mistakes is the open-concept bathroom. If there is a worse idea for a master bathroom, we have yet to find it.

It is the notion of combining the master bath and bedroom into one room.

The bathroom has no walls or partitions separating it from the sleeping portion of the room.

It is not a new idea.

Open-concept baths have been a staple of some luxury hotels for decades. The plan works reasonably well in hotels because

1. The rooms are typically cleaned daily, and
2. The rooms are very large.

Most master bedrooms in the home are not nearly as spacious and do not get a daily deep clean, so the reality of an open-plan bathroom is often not nearly as pleasant as the idea.

The Pros

Proponents of open-plan baths suggest that the design offers several advantages.

• Seamless Flow: There are no doors between the bed and bath. To take a shower, just walk into the shower.

• More Natural Light: A typical enclosed bathroom has little natural light. Wall space is precious and better employed for additional storage. Open-plan bathrooms share the large windows required in a bedroom, making the room brighter.

• Better Ventilation: Adequate ventilation is necessary to combat mold and mildew. In enclosed baths, exhaust fans provide the needed ventilation. In an open-concept bath, steam and heat from the bath spread out over a larger area and dissipate more quickly so mechanical ventilation does not work as hard.

• Enhanced Resale Value: An open-concept bathroom can be a major selling point when it comes time to sell the house.

• Easier to Clean: An open plan does not usually have all the nooks and crannies for dirt to hide in, and the lack of walls makes it easier to maneuver broom, mop, or vacuum.

The Cons

However, while the idea of a seamless flow between bed and bath and abundant natural light may seem appealing, the design has drawbacks that eventually overwhelm its benefits for most owners.

• Lack of Privacy: Everything happening in the bathroom is visible from the sleeping area. For some owners, the lack of privacy is not a problem, but for most, it is, if not initially, then over time.

• The lack of privacy is a concern to many potential buyers when it comes time to sell the house.

• Moisture Incursion: All the fixtures and fittings in a bath have evolved over some 200 years to tolerate lots of moisture in the air. Nothing in the bedroom has this level of water resistance.

• The repeated invasion of the bedroom by clouds of steam from a lengthy shower is not only annoying but can result in mold and mildew where it is least wanted, like in nightstand drawers and clothes closets.

• One complaint we commonly hear is that bedroom carpets smell "moldy." Sometimes that is even true of mattresses.

• Noise Transmission: A shower, vent fan, electric shaver, hairdryer, and even an electric toothbrush are noisy, and there is no sound barrier between the bathroom and the bed.

• Even moderately heavy sleepers may be disturbed by the racket, and for light sleepers, it is often the daily alarm clock.

However, if the idea appeals to you for your next remodel, at least ensure that the toilet is in a separate room, well-ventilated, with a door that closes and locks.

No one needs that level of openness.

2. Wet Room (Open) Showers

Here's another idea we fervently wish would go away: the doorless or open-concept shower. Great for poolside, gym locker rooms, and the state prison, but not so great inside your home.

These offer no benefit whatsoever except that they are rad, cool, epic, awesome, and several more of the usual pre-pubescent hyperboles.

It requires a bathroom floor that is effectively a shower drain.

In use, it fogs up the entire room, putting the vanity mirror out of business for the duration and beyond.

It sends water bouncing off of the showere as much as several feet out of the shower onto adjacent fixtures.

Unless the floor has been carefully designed to keep most of the shower water inside the boundaries of the shower, a person standing at the vanity may suddenly find him- or herself ankle-deep in swirling shower water – not a pleasant experience.

Nor are the showers especially comfortable to use. The missing door usually results in chilly drafts, especially in the more northerly latitudes, by which we mean anything above New Orleans.

We think it possible that the idea for an open shower arose because bathroom designers and fixture manufacturers finally ran out of other, better ideas. (More probably, it is an adaptation of the Japanese shower that has a whole different purpose, uses a whole different technology, and still does not work much better, as anyone who has ever lived in a traditional Japanaese house will attest.)

We have built a few of these and in all but one instance have been called back to install a door.

Save time by installing a frameless or semi-frameless shower enclosure with a door in the first place.

You will get the feeling of an open shower without the drafts, steam clouds, and risks of overspray or sudden ankle emersion.

3. The Tub-less Main Bathroom

Fewer and fewer Americans are bathing.

It's not that, as a nation, we are getting grungier. It's just that nearly 70% of Americans prefer a shower, first because it is faster and we are pretty busy people, and second, most Americans believe that a bath does not get you as clean as a shower.

For many the temptation is great to replace the little-used bathtub with a spacious walk-in shower, especially if the bathroom is too small to accommodate both, as is true of many older homes.

In a second or third bathroom, that may work well, But for the main bath, resist the temptation, mighty though it may be.

The health benefits of a good soak in a hot bath are undisputed.

A hot bath can help to relieve muscle pain, improve sleep quality, lower blood pressure, and reduce stress levels. It can help fight off colds and respiratory infections.

If your household includes small children, a dog, or cats, a tub is almost mandatory. Bath­tubs can save on bath-time drama. Neither dogs, cats, nor young children do well in a shower.

But, the real payoff comes when it's time to sell your house.

The majority of Americans looking to buy a house want a bathtub.

For many home buyers, no bathtub is a deal-breaker. They may not use it much, but they still want the option of an occasional bath.

A National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) study in 2021 found that a bathtub was second from the top of the features demanded by home buyers, 74 percent of whom wanted both a shower stall and a tub. Thirty-six percent were "unlikely" to buy a home without a bathtub.

The missing tub affects not only the saleability of the house but also its selling price. Most appraisers subtract from a house's value for lack of a "full bath" – by which is meant one with a bathtub.

If you are in your "forever" house, the preferences of the housing market may not matter, and if your mobility is limited, getting in and out of a bathtub safely may be an overriding concern.

In such circumstances, a walk-in shower may be a good choice.

You may also be able to free up some space for other features. For example, a standard 60" tub replaced with a 48" shower frees up a foot of space to accommodate a small floor-to-ceiling cabinet. Lots of extra storage in there.

But, as a rule, keep the tub.

4. Tile Statement Wall

Many interior designers urge homeowners to create a focal point in a bathroom, a visual statement that attracts the eye and adds interest and character to the room.

Often, their choice is a tile statement wall.

Our designers favor a distinctive focal point to integrate the room visually. An accent wall may be just the thing. But not out of tile.

A statement or accent wall sets the tone for the rest of the bathroom, limiting style and color choices to those that don't clash with the wall.

It may be that our Mid-Western common sense is showing, but we think that the expensive parts of a bathroom should be permanent, not subject to the whims and vagaries of changing tastes.

Our favorite fixture finish is white, and our preferred finish for fittings (faucets, showers, tub spouts) is polished chrome.

Both are timeless and either the first or second choice of 83% of respondents to our survey in 2019 that asked homeowners to identify their preferred finishes.

When it comes time to sell, statement walls often inhibit the saleability of a house simply because your statement is unlikely to be the same as that of any prospective buyer.

Generally, we recommend that homeowners express style and color preferences using things that are inexpensive and easy to change: towels, rugs, wall hangings, and other accessories.

But if you want a statement wall, use paint or wallpaper, not tile.

For houses built during the Victorian or Arts & Crafts periods, stencils are pe­ri­od-ap­pro­pri­ate.

For mid-century houses and later, wallpaper suited for a high-moisture environment is the answer. (Special wallpaper is not needed. Most wallpaper dealers can now treat almost any wallpaper to make it moisture resistant.)

Wallpaper and paint are relatively inexpensive to replace when tastes change and a new aesthetic is wanted.

Tile, on the other hand, can be horribly expensive to replace, often requiring the complete demolition of the wall back to the studs.

If tile is your choice, however, try to ensure it is a color and pattern you can live with for a great many years.

5. Jetted (Whirlpool) Bathtub

Roy Jacuzzi's invention of the integrated whirlpool bathtub in 1968 — widely promoted as the future of luxury bathing — resulted in a trend that peaked in the 1980s along with disco and the leisure suit, but is still ongoing.

However, the actual benefits of water or air jets in a bathtub have not yet been shown convincingly, and for many, if not most, whirlpool owners, the expense and bother of maintaining the device overwhelm any claimed advantage over non-jetted tubs.

Proponents of whirlpool tubs – primarily those who sell them – often cite the health benefits of the whirlpool effect such as:

• Stress relief
• Weight loss
• Reduced inflammation
• Improved blood sugar control
• Boosted immune system
• Reduced pain from arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other chronic diseases
• Mood enhancement from the release of endorphins, and
• Relief from sleeplessness

However, the studies cited as evidence for these salutary effects almost uniformly conclude that it is the hot water that is healthful. Simply soaking in perfectly still water set at a temperature between 90° and 105° (32° and 40° C) is all that is needed.

Air and water jets provide no added benefit.

The lack of scientific evidence for the health effects of jetted tubs, however, has not stopped or even slowed the clamor.

One manufacturer even promotes its whirlpools as a treatment for cellulite.

Contrary to the myriad of unproven health claims, Jetted tubs may actually be a danger to health.

Water in the piping that feeds the jets, neither filtered, irradiated, nor chemically treated, is an fertile breeding ground for some very unhealthy pathogens.

A study entitled "Microbial Loads in Whirlpool Baths" by Dr. R. B. Moyes, a Texas A&M microbiologist, published in Plumbing & Mechanical Engineer found that whirlpool bathtubs are home to all sorts of microorganisms, many of them unfriendly.

Fecal-derived bacteria, the source of Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections, were present in a whopping 95% of the tubs sampled, and mold, mildew, and other fungi in 81%. Thirty-four percent were infested with Staphylococcus, the bacteria that causes deadly staph infections.

In poorly maintained whirlpools, these often show up on black specs in the bath water composed of mold, mildew, bacteria, oils, soap residue, and skin cells.

The National Council for Whirlpool Bath Health & Safety warns that

"The warm, dark, and humid environment of a whirlpool bath circulation system provides an ideal location for the growth of microorganisms that can cause many types of ailment (e.g. vaginal, kidney, bladder, skin, eye, and lung infections, just to name a few.)"

Other than recommending regular monthly cleaning and deep cleaning by a professional once a year, whirlpool manufacturers have not added any mechanism to their tubs to control microbial infestation.

Ornamental fish have it better.

The growth of algae and bacteria, such as Cyanobacteria, in fish ponds and tanks is controlled by exposing water to a UV clarifier, usually an LED device that kills microorganisms in circulating water with ultraviolet radiation.

UV is a proven germicide, effectively a death ray for microbes. According to the En­vi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion Agen­cy:

"UV disinfection is an effective process for treating … microbial pathogens in water … as stand-alone treatment or in combination with other disinfectants."

Yet no whirlpool tub manufacturer we have found has added UV or any other method of disinfection to its jetted tubs. A Ja­cuz­zi spokesman responded to our inquiry as follows:

"Unfortunately, we do not manufacture any units with a water purification system, UV or otherwise."

Other than health concerns, the major drawbacks of jetted tubs are:

1. They are Expensive: A Kohler Mariposa 60" drop-in tub, for example, lists for $1,093.00. With water jets and a heater, the price tag is $3,054.00.
2. Higher Energy Costs: If used frequently, a whirlpool tub may add $40.00 a month to your electric bill.

3. High Maintenance Requirement: U.S. Inspect, the website for home inspectors, suggests routine maintenance once a month, whether you use the jets or not.

1. Most manufacturers recommend removing and cleaning all the jets as part of the monthly ritual to remove accumulated skin cells, bath oils, soap scum, mold, and mildew.

1. Add to the monthly maintenance an annual professional deep cleanning, typically, $250-$350 per visit.

4. They Add Nothing to the Value of Your Home: Despite what the salesman says, jetted tubs do not add to the price of your home.
5. According to the NAHB study, What Home Buyers Really Want, 74% wanted a shower and bathtub but virtually none specified a whirlpool as a necessary feature.
6. Generally, homebuyers are not willing to pay extra for features they don't care about.
7. Homeserv, the website dedicated to informing homeowners about matters likely to affect them, is of the opinion that:

   "it's unlikely that [a jetted tub] will impact an appraisal of your home's resale value in any significant way."

Our experience, admittedly largely anecdotal, is that.

• Use of the jets will decrease dramatically as time passes.

• In the first year, the whirlpool is a novelty and will be used several times a week. In the second year, once or twice a week, By the third year, once or twice a month. In the fourth year every few months, and by the sixth year, hardly at all.

• Existing owners of whirlpool tubs seldom opt for the feature when they remodel, returning to the ordinary non-jetted product.

• Quite often if the whirlpool feature fails after the first few years, it is just left inoperable and the bathtub used as an ordinary tub.

We are not suggesting that no one should buy a jetted tub. For you, it may be one of the things that makes life worth living. But, for most people, it just does not work. And, unfortunately, there is no way to try it before you buy it.

6. Inadequate Ventilation

Good ventilation is required to inhibit the growth of mold and mildew. And, while almost all bathrooms have a vent fan, in most bathrooms, ventilation is seriously inadequate.

If your bath smells musky or moldy – especially after you return from that two-week Car­ib­be­an cruise. – then you probably have a mold problem. You may not see it but you can smell it. And it's probably time to fix it.

Most building and plumbing codes require a mechanical exhaust system, vented to the outside, in every bathroom.

Some codes make an exception for a bathroom with a window that opens.

This exception is a hold­over from earlier times before whole house heating and air conditioning when people actually did open windows and before the widespread use of showers that add clouds of humidity to the room.

Today, the exception is woefully out of date. Even if your bathroom has a window or two, it needs effective mechanical ventilation.

Effective ventilation in the modern bathroom, however, is rare for one or both of two reasons:

• The venting power of the exhaust fan is too weak, and/or

• the fan is not run long enough to ensure complete ventilation.

The rules for effective ventilation are clear, it's just that they are not always followed.

How Much to Ventilate

The Heating Ventilation Institute (HVI) is an industry association of heating and air conditioning (HVAC) manufacturers that, among other things, publishes consumer guides on ventilation issues.

Here are the HVI recommendations for venting bathrooms:

1. Small Bathrooms: HVI recommends that in small bathrooms, up to 100 square feet of floor space, the exhaust fan should be sized to provide a ventilation rate of 1 cubic foot per minute ( cfm) for each square foot of floor (about eight air changes per hour).
   There is, however, a second standard required by most building codes. The codes require a minimum of 50 cfm. So if the HVI calculation results in a requirement of less than 50 cfm, the 50 cfm code minimum must be used.

   Example: The bathroom is a standard 5' x 9'. Multiply 5 x 9 = 45 sq. ft. At 1 cfm per square foot, the minimum recommendation is a fan rated at 45 cfm, less than the code minimum of 50 cfm, which must be used.

2. Medium and Large Bathrooms: For bathrooms larger than 100 square feet in area, HVI recommends a ventilation rate based on the number and type of fixtures present, according to the following table:

   Toilet:	50 cfm		Shower:	50 cfm
   Bathtub:	50 cfm		Tub/Shower Combo:	50 cfm
   Whirlpool Tub:	100 cfm		Bidet:	50 cfm

   To calculate the minimum fan rating, add the cfm for each fixture in the room to arrive at a total.

   Example: The bathroom is 10'x20' or 200 square feet. There is a whirlpool tub, a separate shower enclosure, and a toilet.

   Toilet		50 cfm
   Shower		50 cfm
   Whirlpool tub		100 cfm
   Minimum Fan Rating:		200 cfm

3. Enclosed Fixtures: If a toilet is in an enclosed stall with a door, then the toilet enclosure is considered by most code authorities to be a separate room subject to the 50 cfm minimum. Likewise, if a shower is enclosed right to the ceiling, it will be considered a separate room.

1. The HVI guidelines recommend a separate mechanical exhaust system for "each enclosure," which means a fully enclosed toilet or shower must have its own exhaust fan. In most localities, this is also the building code requirement.

1. Example: The bathroom is 15'x15'. There is a tub, a separate, fully enclosed shower, and a fully enclosed toilet in a stall with a door. A fully enclosed toilet or shower should each have its separate exhaust fan rated at 50 cfm each. The bathroom fan will exhaust only the remaining area of less than 100 sq. ft.

1. A "fully enclosed" shower is one that is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling walls or panels. To avoid the need for a separate fan, simply leave at least 12" between the top of the shower enclosure and ceiling to permit moisture to escape into the room where it will be evacuated by the room fan.

How Long to Ventilate

When house air is exhausted to the outside, heat goes with it in the winter, meaning that your furnace has to work harder to make up for the lost heat.

In summer, cooled air is vented to the outside, replaced by hot and often humid air. Your air conditioner then has to cool the incoming air.

You want to exhaust moist air to reduce the risk of mold and mildew but once the moist air is gone, you want to stop ventilating to avoid wasted energy.

HVI recommends that the fan be left on for a minimum of 20 minutes after each use of the bathroom.

A timer is a good solution, allowing the fan to turn off automatically at the proper time. But the timer should also have an override switch so that if the use of the bathroom involves just brushing your teeth or putting out fresh towels, activities that do not result in excessive moisture, you can turn the fan off manually.

If you now have a single switch that controls both the light and vent fan, replace it with a computerized switch that allows you to turn off the lights while permitting the fan to continue to run for the set minimum duration.

An even better solution than a timer are systems that sense the humidity level, turn on automatically when it is too high, and turn off when it is back to normal. These systems are widely available and have become reasonably inexpensive.

Unfortunately, there is, as yet, no fan that senses offensive odors, so a manual switch is still necessary.

Heat Recovery Ventilation

You might also give thought to a heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system using a heat exchanger typically installed in the basement or attic.

During the winter months, the system captures heat leaving the house and returns most of it before it is exhausted to the outdoors.

In hot weather, it uses the cool air leaving the house as a heat sink to extract heat from the warm air entering the house.

An HRV system connected to all bathroom and kitchen ventilation can substantially reduce wasted energy saving hundreds of dollars each year on heating and cooling costs.

For more information on exhaust heat recovery, see Heat Recovery Ventilation by the Cold Climate Housing Research Center.

7. Poor Lighting

One feature missing from most bathrooms is good lighting – not simply lighting fixtures that do not fit the style of the bathroom but lighting that does not do its main job of providing adequate illumination where it is needed.

Inappropriate fixtures can be easily replaced. But lighting that is missing or poorly located often requires a more difficult and more expensive solution.

So, it is best if it is done right in the first place.

Natural Light

If you already have a window in your bathroom, leave it and consider yourself fortunate.

In Post-War housing, the small bathrooms of the period often had a window over the tub which makes it difficult to add a shower to the bath.

It takes some planning but it's doable.

The window itself has to go, replaced with a window that is waterproof and has tempered glass to comply with building codes. (See The Illustrated Rules of Good Bathroom Design, Guideline 15: Windows, Glass, and Glazing.) Our preferred waterproof window has a fiberglass frame but vinyl will also work.

Tempered glass rather than regular (annealed) glazing for a window in a shower is required by code and is a very good idea for obvious reasons. Accidentally putting your elbow through the glass while showering can turn the experience into more adventure than you really want.

Light Tubes

If you don't have a window, consider adding natural light with a skylight or light tube.

For a traditional skylight, the bathroom usually has to be directly under the roof, and installation is very involved.

Most of the time we opt for what are called light tubes or tubular skylights.

Small, very reflective tubular skylights can be installed where traditional skylights don't fit.

The tube can be up to 15' long (to reach even a 2-1/2 story roof) and can snake around obstructions.

If the bathroom is on the first floor of a two-story house, it is often possible to run the tube through one corner of an upstairs closet.

The tube brings in daylight during the day. At night an optional built-in light fixture provides artificial light operated by the switch that controls ambient room lighting.

A 12" light tube delivers about as much full-spectrum sunlight as a 36" x 36" window – more than enough to light up a small bath and greatly enhance the illumination of a large bath.

Types of Lighting

However, since bathrooms are in use almost any time of the day, from early morning until late at night, you will need adequate artificial lighting, whether or not you have a window.

The National Electrical Code requires a minimum of one permanent light fixture in a bathroom operated by a wall switch. It has been many decades, however, since this code minimum was thought to be adequate.

Today, lighting engineers classify lighting by its purpose:

• Ambient or general room lighting,

• Activity or task lighting, and

• Accent lighting

Accent lighting is used to highlight a special feature or detail of a room. Most baths don't have features or details to emphasize, so accent lighting is rarely used. However, if you want to learn more about accent lighting to highlight your (paint or wallpaper) statement wall, go to Efficient & Effective Kitchen Lighting.

Overall Room Lighting

The goal of ambient lighting is to evenly illuminate all corners of the bathroom without intrusive shadows.

It is typically the job of ceiling fixtures.

The rule of thumb used by lighting designers requires illuminating each square foot of floor a minimum of 50-75 lumens.

A small 5' x 9' bathroom typical of Post-War housing would, for example, need between 2,250 and 3,375 lumens of ambient light.

This may sound like a lot of light but it's equivalent to just two 75-watt incandescent bulbs.

One fixture will often suffice and it is commonly combined with a powered ventilator.

A larger room will need more light and, depending on its shape, may require several ceiling fixtures.

For example, a 12' x 18' room would need 10,800 to 16,200 lumens and at least two and possibly three fixtures.

For senior citizens, room illumination should be brighter.

The eyes of a 30-year-old and the eyes of a 60-year-old literally see the world very differently.

As a person ages, eyes lose the ability to see small details, discriminate between colors, and become more sensitive to glare.

According to the Light­ing Re­search Cent­er at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, ambient lighting for seniors needs to increase by at least 50% to a minimum of 75-115 lumens per square foot (lm/ft²). Lighting at task or activity zones needs to be increased proportionately.

Lighting Fixtures

Fixtures for ambient lighting come in all shapes and sizes.

The most common are recessed ceiling units certified for use around water, what electricians call "can lights" or just "cans." These are inexpensive and easy to maintain. Wipe the glass lens once in a while, and you're done.

For heritage homes, however, they may not give you the look you want. They were not invented until the late 1940s, initially for commercial use, and not routinely installed in houses until Halo introduced its model H1 recessed can meant to hold a regular incandescent lamp in 1956.

For bathrooms the lighting industry has created all sorts of other options from ceiling-hugging flush-mount fixtures to pendants in any style or shape you can imagine.

However, before you select a lamp, think it through.

How easy is it to change the bulb?

If it has to be mostly disassembled, remember, you are probably on a ladder, so even modest disassembly will be a challenge. Anything more involved than unscrewing the old bulb and screwing in the new one should be suspect.

How easy is it to clean?

Ceiling-hugging fixtures do not accumulate grunge like pendants. Each shower deposits a few hundred dust motes on the top of a pendant. After a few months or years, it has become a yucky film.

So, pendants should be easy to clean. If it involves much more than removing the globe to run it through the dishwasher, you might consider another selection.

The absolute worst choice in bathroom ceiling fixtures is a chandelier.

Whatever genius thought up this bright idea has never had to clean a chandelier and its dozens if not hundreds of small pieces.

We strongly suggest another choice.

Task Lighting

Activity areas need additional illumination.

Typical tasks performed in a bathroom require a layer of lighting added to general room illumination. Reading the print on a medicine bottle (or a good book while in the tub), for example, needs about 500 lm/ft². The light required for the application of makeup is between 1,000 and 1,400 lm/ft².

The goal of activity zone or task lighting is to supply the additional light needed, but only in the task area.

The vanity or sink, for example, is a multi-function task area. It's where teeth are brushed, faces are shaved, and makeup applied.

A lot of well-placed lighting is probably not needed for tooth-brushing but it is very helpful for for shaving and makeup application.

Lighting and Backlighting a Vanity

Unfortunately, in most bathrooms, vanities and stand-alone sinks are usually lit with fixtures that not only provide inadequate illumination but are also in the wrong place.

The worst position for vanity lighting is directly over the mirror. This placement casts deep shadows on the face, making daily grooming rituals more difficult.

It's amazing that this practice still survives. Every lighting professional we know recommends against overhead-only lighting at the vanity going back at least 50 years. Still, the most common fixture sold for vanity lighting is the multi-lamp overhead fixture. Go figure!

The lighting effect to strive for is that of a dedicated makeup mirror that surrounds the face with shadowless illumination, ideal for flawless makeup application. However, most homeowners do not like the backstage dressing-room look of a makeup mirror.

The best compromise between function and appearance is a combination of side and overhead lighting. It avoids the Hollywood boudoir look of a nakeup mirror while casting even, shadowless illumination on three sides of the face. (The fourth side, under the chin, is not usually a major nakeup concern.)

Side lighting can be sconces attached to the wall or pendants suspended from the ceiling. The trick is getting the right height.

Most designers suggest side-lighting at 66-70 inches above the floor.

For side-lighting, we go by the height of the primary user. The center of the lamp should be at or slightly below the center of the face. Usually, between 66 and 70 inches from the floor but not always.

Overhead lighting should be 80 - 84 inches above the floor or, as a practical matter, just above the mirror. If your mirror is extra tall, requiring a higher placement, just use a brighter bulb.

For a double vanity, a lamp should be placed between the mirrors as well as on each side with an overhead fixture centered above each sink. Where a single mirror serving both sinks prevents installation of a sconce between the sinks, use a pendant instead.

Backlighting at the vanity is also necessary.

At least one ceiling fixture should be positioned to illuminate the hair and shoulders of the person standing at the sink.

In most bathrooms, one or more ceiling lamps needed for ambient lighting can do double duty as a backlight.

Bathtub and Shower Lighting

A bathtub and separate shower are activity areas that need their own lighting.

A bathtub should have a ceiling light for two reasons. People read in the bathtub and it is often closed off by a shower curtain or enclosure that is less than fully transparent.

No one reads in the shower, but the enclosure may block much of the room's ambient lighting. If your enclosure is clear glass, you may not need a shower light, but they're not that expensive, so why not?

Lighting above a bathtub or shower can be dangerous. Electricty and bath water do not play well together.

You must absolutely adhere to the safety rules that govern the type, placement, and installation of fixtures used around water.

Fixtures must be sealed against water intrusion, tested by a laboratory, and permanently marked "suitable for damp/wet locations." If it is not UL- or ESL-listed, don't buy it.

Recessed fixtures are safest, and we use them even in the heritage houses we most often remodel.

Cans are inobtrustive, inexpensive, and require virtually no maintenance.

If not recessed fixtures, then fixtures mounted flush to the ceiling are the next best choice.

Safe Bathtub Lighting

Pendants are permitted over a bathtub only if the bottom edge of the fixture is 96" or more from the top of the tub (see the diagram above). This would generally require a least a ten-foot ceiling, and most bathroom ceilings are not that high.

If the ceiling is too low to meet the 96" requirement, then all hanging fixtures must be at least 36" away from the edge of a tub.

These restrictions have a purpose. If you slip in the tub, you won't be tempted to grab a nearby hanging lamp to steady yourself and end up making a bad situation much worse.

Lighting the Toilet

The can, the throne, the head, the john, the privy, the WC, the crapper, the lav, the loo, the potty, the commode, the oval office – whatever your favorite euphemism, what you mean is, plain and simply, the humble toilet.

We like plain and simple, so hereinafter it's the toilet.

Task lighting for a toilet is not strictly necessary for its primary uses. Most people can find the fixture even in the dark.

But in a great many households, the toilet is also the place where a lot of reading gets done.

We know this because our surveys have shown that the most frequently stored items near a toilet (after toilet paper) are magazines and books.

To avoid excessive eye strain, install task lighting to bring the illumination up to at least 500 lumens, 1,000 lumens is better for seniors or those who expect to achieve senior status someday.

The best location for reading is 6-12" in front of the bowl.

Energy-Saving Lightbulbs

The part of a light fixture that actually creates light from electricity is the bulb, so getting the right bulb is important.

Here are the characteristics you will want in a bulb:

• Energy Efficiency (Lumens per Watt). The only type of light bulb to buy today is an LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulb.

• The old incandescent bulbs that produced much more heat (90%) than light (10%) are now outlawed.

• Compact fluorescent fixtures (CFL) are an alternative that is usually less expensive at the checkout counter but use more energy, have shorter lifespans, and need more frequent replacement, so their life cycle cost is usually much higher than LEDs.

• LEDs are the most energy efficient and last longest. Look for bulbs rated at a Lumens per Watt (L/W) or efficacy ratio of at least 90, meaning it is 90% efficient. Some more advanced LEDs actually emit more light energy than they consume in electrical energy. The best-performing bulbs can reach over 200.

• If the lighting label does not show the bulb's efficacy ratio, you can calculate it:

  Lumens/Watts = L/W or Efficacy

  Generally the higher the efficacy, the more expensive the bulb.

• Also look for an Energy Star rating, indicating a bulb that has been independently tested and certified for efficiency and longevity.

• Correlated Color Temperature. "White" light actually ranges in color from almost orange (warm) to slightly blue (cool). This range of color is the light's color temperature, measured in Kelvins (K).

• Standard incandescent bulbs emit light on the warm yellowish side at around 2700 K. Daylight is on the cool blue side at about 6500 K. Light that is too bluish is considered by most to be a little harsh.
• The ideal color temperature for bathroom lighting (harking back to the days when we squatted around the campfire eating roasted Mastadon) is "Soft White" between 2700 and 3000 K, a yellowish (but not too yellowish) light that creates a warm (campfire-like) glow.

• Color Accuracy. How accurately a bulb displays the true color of objects being illuminated is measured by its Color-Rendering Index (CRI). The higher the CRI, the more accurate the color rendering. Bulbs with a low CRI tend to output light that makes objects look bland and grayish. Good color rendering is crisp and well-defined. Look for a CRI of 80 or higher.

8. Not Enough Storage

Think for a minute or two about all the things you need to store in or near your bathroom,

to name just the few that come immediately to mind.

You are asked to find a way to store all of these things in one of the smallest rooms in your home and we are willing to bet big bucks that you don't have enough space in your bathroom to properly store even a fraction of these items.

Why is that?

Because your builder stuck in a basic vanity and medicine cabinet and called it good, leaving you to solve the problem of where to put everything. So, you search the web and buy the baskets, pullouts, trays, and other gizmos recommended for bathroom storage and try to make do.

That's entirely backward.

Planning for Storage

Good bath storage begins with a three-step planning process:

1. Identifying all of the items used in the bathroom.
2. Dividing the items into three categories:
   • Used daily or almost daily.
   • Used occasionally.
   • Extras or spares.
3. Separating items used daily or almost daily into their points of use.
   • Bathtub
   • Shower
   • Sink or Vanity
   • Toilet

Items used frequently need to be within reach of their point of use.

Shampoo, for example, should be kept in the shower, razors and shaving cream at the vanity. Some items, like bar soap, might have more than one point of use: vanity, shower, and tub.

Occasional use items, like band-aids, can be kept in the bathroom if there is enough storage space but can also be moved outside the bathroom but still nearby, in a hallway linen closet, for example.

Keep extras of daily use items inside the bathroom but not cluttering the point of use.

If you run out of shampoo while in the shower, you don't want to drip your way to the hallway closet to get the extra bottle. You will want it to be somewhere inside the bathroom.

Once you have identified your storage needs, you are ready to design your storage.

The Iron Rules of Storage

Storage has rules and the rules are violated only at your own risk.

The most difficult of these rules to implement in a bathroom is the third: single-layer storage.

Dumping all your cosmetics into a bag and storing it under the sink, for example, violates the rule.

You will be constantly rummaging through the bag's contents to find the right shade of nail polish or an eyebrow pencil.

You will probably never reach the nirvana of perfect single-layer storage. We have been designing bathrooms for over 50 years and have yet to get there.

But the closer you get, the more useful your storage will be.

Put Bare Walls to Work

Any wall not covered by a window is a storage opportunity.

Wall and full-height cabinets are typical in kitchens but rare in bathrooms.

But shallow wall cabinets near the sink provide within-reach storage for all sorts of used-daily-at-the-sink items.

If your bathroom has space for one or two tall cabinets, you just may have entered the promised land of bathroom storage. Tall, narrow floor-to-ceiling (or almost-to-the-ceilng) "chimney" cabinets provide scads of storage. We have built them as small as 12" wide.

The space in the wall between studs is also potential storage. The four inches inside a typical cavity wall provides an opportunity for storage that does not take up space inside the bathroom.

The usual place we find space is behind the door. It works best if the swing of the bathroom door is reversed.

A door that opens out into the hallway rather than into the bathroom frees up a lot of space that can become useful storage and, if nothing else, makes the bathroom seem larger.

It's not always possible but if it is possible, it's usually worth doing.

See other ways of enlarging a small bath or, at least, making it seem larger in Finding More Bathroom Space.

Or how about a pocket door?

Replacing a hinged door with a sliding pocket door also frees up the area inside the bathroom required for the door swing. It's usually more expensive than simply reversing an existing door but, where there is no room for a swing-out door, a pocket door may work.

The new pocket doors, especially the commercial models we use, unlike many earlier versions, are sturdy and robust, and will provide trouble-free operation for the life of the room.

Tub & Shower

Storage around bathtubs and showers needs to be adequate for the essentials.

If you are building or remodeling, the usual option is one or more niches built into the wall to store soap, shampoo bottles, conditioner, etc.

It can either be a custom niche, usually finished with tile, or a pre-finished unit made of stainless steel, acrylic, or ceramic.

If you have a choice, choose ceramic. Acrylic units are fragile, and stainless steel units (unless made from 304 or 316 stainless) can rust.

Ceramic, however, is totally inert and almost indestructible. How indestructible? Glad you asked.

Archaeological digs going back to 3,000 B.C.E. usually find two man-made objects: pottery and bronze. Everything else has turned to dust.

Pattery, as you probably know, is ceramic: primative and not very good ceramic but it has lasted thousands of years in a not-very-friendly environment. So, that seems to us to be proof enough of the indestructibility of ceramic.

For a bathtub, the niche should be about 12 inches above the rim for easy access by a seated bather. For showers, at elbow height, or about 38 inches from the floor,

If the tub doubles as a shower, two niches are preferable, one at tub height and the other at shower height. Or, a multi-shelf unit starting at 12 inches with the top shelf at elbow height or higher.

The size of the niche depends on what you need to store. If four or five family members share the same tub or shower, the full width of the tub or shower may be needed to hold everyone's preference in shampoo, body wash, etc.

When in doubt, build bigger not smaller.

If you are not building or remodeling, a tub or shower niche is still possible. It will typically be a pre-made niche that can be mounted in or on the wall.

The Bath Box

The best non-structural storage solution we have found that works in every bath is a bath/shower box.

Fetch the box before a bath or shower, then stick everything back in the box and store it away when done.

If the box cannot be stowed in a cabinet, set it on a convenient shelf. If bathroom storage is severely limited, the box can be stashed in a hall cclosed or even in the bedroom.

The nice thing about bath/shower boxes is that each user of the bathroom can have his or her own box, which eliminates arguments about who used the last of the shampoo.

For kids, it's a great learning tool. If Junior forgets to tell Mom he's low on shampoo and runs out, then, unless a sibling can be bribed into sharing, the laggard gets to go to school looking like Eddie Munster.

It will probably happen just once.

Revamp the Vanity

Typical vanities are awful storage.

The large space under the sink is dark, uninviting, and full of pipes. Whatever gets pushed to the back is pretty much lost forever.

Pull-out trays and baskets are needed to make this space even marginally effective as storage.

The number and type of cabinet organizers seem almost unlimited. Any sort of pull-out, drop-down, swiveling, tilting, or rotating storage device you can think of is probably available from someone somewhere.

We suggest, however, that you avoid the low-priced cheapies, mostly made in China. Some of these are rugged and sturdy, but most are not, and there is no way to tell from the pretty pictures on the web which are which.

We buy almost exclusively from known suppliers such as Rev-aShelf or Hafele that offer a lifetime warranty on their products and actually honor the warranty.

At minimum, you should install a pull-out rack or two under the sink and a storage rack of some kind inside the cabinet doors. These provide convenient point-of-use storage for hoards of large and small items.

In fact, we suggest installing storage racks inside every cabinet door. Why waste a valuable storage opportunity?

Wrap-Around Drawer

An idea we think has merit is a wrap-around drawer under the sink to replace the false panel just below the vanity countertop. The false panel's sole purpose is to hide the unsightly plumbing.

The drawer has a cut-out that fits around the sink. It is equally effective at hiding the pipes and provides tidy compartments to hold lots of the small items you use at the sink – brushes, pins, Q-tips, hair bands, and so on.

If a wrap-around drawer seems too adventuresome, try a tilt-out tray. Not nearly as much storage but something.

Use Toe-Kick Space

Cabinets typically sit about 4" off the floor. The area under the cabinets is the toe-kick – an indented base where your toes go when standing at the cabinet.

All base cabinets that rest on the floor have them.

The toe-kick area is empty space, and all empty space is a storage opportunity.

We build a drawer box and fasten it to the floor, then install the vanity on top of the box. The front of the box is recessed 4" behind the face of the cabinets — creating the toe-kick recess.

If dealing with factory cabinets, we build inserts that slip inside the existing toe-kick space.

The toe-kick drawer can serve as a parking garage for the bathroom scale, storage for extra bathroom items, or how about a pull-out step to help small fry reach the sink?

Once Junior grows tall enough that the step is not needed, remove the top to reveal an additional tow-kick drawer.

Special latches are often used, called "touch-latches". When the drawer is pushed lightly with your toe, it springs out far enough that you can pull it out the rest of the way. To close it, push it back with your foot until the latch is re-engaged.

To see how toe-kick drawers are built to fit under factory cabinets, watch How to Build Under-Cabinet Drawers at Family Handyman.

Consider a Power Cabinet

Another idea we like a lot and build often is a "power cabinet" – a place to conveniently and safely store often awkward appliances like hair dryers and curling iron.

In a cabinet on the right side of the sink (left side for southpaws), we mount an appliance caddy to the cabinet door and have our electrician add a GFCI outlet equipped with USB ports inside the cabinet.

The caddy we use most often is designed to hold a hair dryer and curling iron, but larger caddies are available for multiple appliances.

You probably won't find them on the web under "cabinet organizers" but try "salon equipment." The caddies keep appliances neatly out of the way but instantly available and already plugged in.

The GFCI box outlet provides power to the appliances without dragging cords over the countertop and possibly through the sink water.

The outlet also serves as an off-the-countertop charging station for electric toothbrushes, water flossers, electric shavers, and even cell phones.

A small but well-in­te­grat­ed feature like this can greatly increase the convenience and utility of a bathroom at very little cost.

Rethink the Hamper

Get the hamper out of the way.

We have never seen a traditional bathroom in which there was actually room for a hamper. It gets stuck in wherever it will fit, and most of the time it doesn't fit very well.

The best option is to move the hamper entirely out of the bathroom into a hallway or bedroom.

If that's not possible, a hamper can be built into a vanity or other cabinet, even into a wall.

Organizer manufacturers have created all sorts of tilt-out and pull-out devices just for this purpose.

One of the most creative ideas we have seen was by master cabinetmaker, Bill Kaiser, for his own late-Victorian house – a tilt-out hamper built into the bathroom wall adjoining the laundry room. It tipped into the bathroom to dispose of soiled clothing and into the laundry room to unload the clothes directly into the washer.

Or, how about a laundry chute? A lot of old houses had them, and we don't understand why they fell out of favor. A small hatch in the wall of the bathroom for a chute takes up a lot less space than a hamper and is a lot more convenient for mom come laundry day.

If none of these ideas work for you, then take a cue from the U.S. Navy, an organization that has mastered living in very tight quarters. Hang a laundry bag on the back of the bathroom door.

Don't Ignore the Door

A typical bathroom door offers 11 1/2 square feet of potential storage. Load it with as many shelves, hooks, and bins as it will hold.

The 16" between the top of the door and the ceiling is also a compelling storage oportunity not to be ignored.

One or two shelves above the door can store spares and extras of all kinds: towels, toiletries (in a basket), even toilet paper rolls (you can never have enough TP).

More Towel Space

If you find yourself hanging damp towels one on top of another, you have too few towel racks.

Stacked damp towels don't dry quickly and there are few things more annoying after a nice hot shower than trying to dry off with a damp towel.

The simple, very effective, and very inexpensive solution is to replace single-bar towel racks with double or even triple-bar racks.

Another option – although much more expensive – is a heated towel rail.

Often mislabeled a "towel warmer", a towel rail's primary function is not to warm towels but to dry them quickly. The warm towel is just a nice side benefit.

Towel rails come in two types, hy­dron­ic and electric.

Hy­dron­ic towel heaters require a connection to central radiator heating. If you don't already have radiator heating, this option is not for you. Even if you do, unless you are gutting your bathroom back to the wall studs, it may be very expensive to connect to the existing heating system.

Electric towel radiators need only a connection to the home's electrical system. They are generally more expensive to buy than hy­dron­ic systems but much less expensive to install.

Constantly-on towel-heating wastes energy.

If the rail does not have a built-in timer, install the towel heater on a timer switch. Start the time when you hang up a damp towel.

Generally, drying-time should not exceed four hours.

Whichever you choose, make sure the heater is rated for use in damp environments. Many towel radiators are not UL- or ESL-listed.

9. Not Enough Heat

Unquestionably the bathing and showering experience is enhanced by adding heat to the bathroom.

The most comfortable temperature for whole-house heating is between 68° and 70°F (20 - 21°C).

For seniors, it should be a little warmer. Most studies suggest 72° to 74°F (22 - 23°C) for those over 60.

This is not, however, a comfortable temperature when bathing or stepping out of the shower.

Air at 68° or even at 74° on wet skin feels chilly.

A bathroom should be about 10° to 12°F (5.5° to 6°C) warmer than the rest of the house while bathing and showering (but only while bathing and showering to avoid wasting energy.)

To achieve the desired temperature, supplemental heat must be added to the room.

Radiant Floors

Radiant heating under a bathroom floor heats the floor but not much else. The notion that it can also be used to heat the bathroom itself, widely claimed by manufacturers of radiant floor heating, is more myth than fact.

The original under-floor heating elements were copper tubes through which hot water was circulated.

These hydronic systems are still manufactured although the very expensive copper has been replaced by more reasonably priced cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) tubes.

The more common electric radiant floor systems use nichrome resistance heating.

Manufacturers of warm floor systems claim that once heated the floor radiates enough heat to warm the room, but that claim is nonsense.

It's simple physics.

Radiant heat is a function of temperature. A hot object produces lots of radiation. A merely warm object produces very little.

Few warm floors exceed 85°F (29°C) – a comfortable happy-feet temperature. But, to be effective as a room heater, a warm floor would need to be somewhere near the temperature of a typical home heating radiator, at least 180°F (82°C). You could not walk barefoot on a floor that hot without injury.

Technically, it is true that if you let the radiant floor run long enough – four or five hours at a minimum – in a closed room, it could warm the bathroom to an acceptable 80° or so.

That's how whole-house underfloor heating works. The floor radiates very little, but given enough time it can heat the house. From a cold start to an acceptable temperature of around 68° to 74°F (20 - 23°C) usually takes 24 to 48 hours.

To be an effective room heater, a radiant floor would have to be left running constantly. As you use you bathroom for just a few hours each day, such heating is very wasteful.

Fortunately, much more efficient, much faster, and much less expensive options exist for heating a bathroom to improve bathing and showering comfort.

Forced Air Heating

One of those better options, however, is not forced air heating.

Forced air heaters raise the room's temperature by transferring heat to room air then using a fan to distribute the heated air throughout the room.

However, moving air in contact with wet skin feels cold even if the moving air is reasonably warm. It's a well-understood phenomecalled "wind chill."

For that reason, forced air supplemental heating in a bathroom is not a good choice.

Radiant Heaters

Radiant heaters warm objects in a room with infrared radiation, much like direct sunlight or the heat you feel from a campfire, and are powerful enough to warm the room quickly without air movement.

Heat lamps and wall- or ceiling-mounted radiant heaters are the options to consider.

Both are heating appliances using a high-temperature emitter to transfer heat energy through infrared radiation in what scientists call the "bright" range (750 μm to 1.4 μm). "Bright" because, along with heat, some light is emitted, which is why the heating elements in space heaters glow red or orange.

Heat Lamps

Only 10% of the energy used by an incandescent light bulb is converted to light. The other 90% is radiated as heat.

The gross inefficiency of incandescents as light sources is the reason the bulbs have been banned in the U.S. for lighting in favor of more energy-efficient LEDs and fluorescent fixtures.

As heat sources, however, incandescent bulbs are surprisingly efficient. But to produce enough heat from the tungsten filament that is the emitter, they need a more powerful current.

As a light source, incandescent bulbs typically top out at 100 to 150 watts. For heating, however, 200 watts is the minimum, and 250 watts or more is common. Because of the higher current, heat bulbs are more robust.

For a small bathroom, a single heat lamp installed in the ceiling may supply enough warmth. It may be combined with an LED light source in a multi-function fixture that includes an exhaust fan.

PTC heating elements are an engineered ceramic material doped with barium titanate, the material that makes the ceramic adaptive. It can be "tuned" to the precise properties needed for efficient heating, which saves energy.

Resistance heaters operate at a constant current. By contrast, PTC heaters are self adjusting to save energy.

They start out at the rated current, but as the desired temperature is approached, decrease their current draw, eventually reaching zero.

However, if the room temperature drops, when, for example, someone opens the bathroom door, the unit boosts its output to make up the deficiency.

Most PTC heaters are unobtrusive, just panels that can often be painted to match the decor of a room. There is nothing about the units that suggest they are heaters.

Warm Floors, Revisited

None of these options, however, warms the floor like in-floor radiant heating, so if you want a warm floor, a radiant floor system is certainly an option so long as you also install some other form of radiant heating to actually warm the room.

There are, however, other, much cheaper approaches.

Do your feet actually need to be warm or will you settle for not cold?

If not cold is acceptable, then the least expensive option are throw rugs: one by the bath, one by the shower door, another for the vanity, and one in front of the toilet.

Total cost, less than $130.00 compared to radiant heating for a 10' x 10' bath at a minimum of $3,000 not including any necessary floor demolition and repair.

Another choice is naturally warmer flooring.

Ceramic and stone tile, and concrete floors typical in bathrooms are durable but cold.

Wood is warmer and with the new engineered wood floors and super finishes, wood floors in a bathroom are safe and low maintenance. Vinyl sheet or tile flooring is also an option. A little cooler but not cold.

But the undisputed emperor of warm flooring is cork.

Cork is not a material that immediately comes to mind when thinking of bathroom flooring. Yet, it is about as close as we can come today to the perfect material.

Durable, yet resilient, water proof (not merely water resistant, and one of the most sustainable and renewable of all green materials, cork's unique properties make it an ideal flooring choice. It is also insulating, so if you have a concrete slab subfloor, the cork is a temperature barrier.

Cork contains micro-cells filled with air, and a lot of them, about 2.4 million in each cubic inch of cork. These are what gives cork its resilience. Cork has a little "give" to it when it is walked on. but immediately springs back to its original shape.

Its closed cellular structure makes cork very wqter-resistant.

Properly installed, cork provides a long-lasting floor, giving your bathroom a warm, natural look and feel that will retain its functional beauty for decades. But exactly how long, we really don't know because it has been used as flooring only since the end of the 19th century.

We do know, however, that some cork floors are well past their 100th birthday.

The cork flooring in the library reading room of the De­part­ment of the In­ter­i­or, for example, has been heavily trafficked since it was installed in the 1890s. Likewise, the foyer of the De­part­ment of Com­merce building, installed in 1930 by the De­pres­sion-era Works Pro­jects Ad­mini­s­tra­tion (WPA), is still in daily use.

Maintenance is simple. Damp Swiffer®-ing is all that is needed.

Cork does not stain easily or require waxing, scrubbing, or cleaning with harsh chemicals.

Worn or damaged cork tiles can be easily replaced (but be sure to save a few in the garage or basement just in case) and, like a wood floor, it can be refinished.

So, there you have it, the ultimate in a warm, comfortable bathroom at a price considerably below the cost of a radiant floor for the whole shebang: floor and heating.

10. Failure to Plan Ahead

When remodeling a bathroom, design it not just for your current needs but for what you will probably need many decades in the future. We encourage clients to think at least 30 years ahead, and preferably 50 years.

Even if your current home is not your forever home, plan ahead. If nothing else, sensible planning will increase the marketability of your house when sell it in the future.

Everything in bathrooms is designed and engineered to last a century or more: bathtubs, toilets, faucets, sinks, and most flooring choices will last far beyond your lifetime.

Here are some random thoughts about planning for the future, in no particular order.

Grab Bars

Grab bars at any age are a good idea.

In your spry 30s and 40s, you may not think you need them but in your doddery 70s, you will.

You can slip and fall in the bath or shower at any age, and it would be nice to have something to grab onto other than the soap dish.

So, no matter your current age, install grab bars in the shower and around the tub.

Grab bars around the toilet, while not as urgent, should also be considered and provisions made for their future installation. You may not need them now, but you will. And, in guest bathrooms, they will be a blessing for your parents and other elderly visitors.

If you don't intend to install the bars now, at least install the blocking in the walls to hang them later.

This bit of foresight eliminates tearing open the walls to install blocking at a future date.

Timeless, Flexible Decor

Chose fixtures and fittings in timeless colors and finishes.

Neutrals like white and chrome aren't bland, they're classic and look good forever.

Think of them as the essential white dress shirt of the bath – always in style and easy to coordinate with accessories like towel holders and drawer pulls.

They are not only the most popular choices, they are also the least expensive.

Every year for as long as most of us can remember, including this year, interior decor gurus have predicted the final demise of the white and chrome bathroom. And every year, they're wrong yet again.

So, think hard about that Cranberry Blush sink and Cosmic Black faucet that look so fetching in the showroom.

Trendy colors and finishes last on average about 10 years, and after twenty years, that sink and faucet are going to be as outdated as the hula-hoop, bell bottoms, and avocado refrigerator.

Certainly, you should style your bathroom to reflect your personality and decor preferences, but do it with things that can be easily discarded as your tastes change: paint, wallpaper, rugs, towels, and wall hangings.

Easy-To-Use Fixtures

Choose fixtures and fittings that will stay with you for life, not just in color and finish but in ease of use.

High-Rise Toilet

Your 30-year-old knees may find the standard, chair-height toilet easy to use, but your 75-year-old knees probably won't.

There is no substantial price difference between a standard and a "comfort height" toilet, so go for comfort.

Your 75-year-old self will bless you.

Curbless Showers

Curbless showers are also a good idea.

Although somewhat more expensive than standard showers, the difference is not great.

So, fork over the additional dinero and opt for a curbless design.

Long before your dottage, you will find the curbless model beneficial.

No one has ever tripped over a curb that wasn't there, and in the small hours of early morning – before coffee – it takes the risk out of entering and exiting the shower.

Easy-To-Use Faucets

Faucets that are compliant with the requirement of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) are a better choice at any age than those that are not.

People with limited manual ability will find the ADA models easier to use. And that's true even before you reach that point in your life when you need them.

They come in all shapes, sizes and finishes and are no more costly than non-ADA faucets, so why not?

But if ADA faucets are better than non-ADA faucets, aren't touchless faucets best of all?

Unfortunately, no. It may be true someday, but not now.

Introduced for home use in the 1980s, manufacturers are still getting the bugs out after 40+ years.

The faucets are getting smarter all the time. Early model just tuurned water on and off. Temperature had to be adjusted manually. Later models could et temperature with the wave of a hand and were much more "touchless."

Some current models can even be operated by voice commands using Alexis or Google Home and will dispense pre-set amount of water.

The drawback is that the electronics that control the faucets are not yet nearly robust enough for life-long use, as evidenced by the short-term three- to five-year manufacturer warranties on the electronics of otherwise guaranteed-for-life faucets.

Give it another 40 years, then check back. Maybe then, but certainly not now.

Rev. 7/28/25