You know elegance when you see it – perhaps in the pages of a glossy home décor magazine, on a home tour, in real estate advertisements or when you stay in a luxury hotel or upscale resort. The bathrooms are sleek and sophisticated with stylish faucets that may be motion activated or handsfree; there are multiple showerheads, the fixtures gleam, the towels are plush and the overall look is one of understated elegance. The wicker or teak hampers are cleverly designed to look like seating and you feel as if you are in a spa instead of a bathroom.
Price Pfister® Bernini 4-Inch Single Control Faucet, $189.99, www.bedbathandbeyond.com
A few notes about handheld showerheads
It would be nice to experience such an environment on a daily basis and the fact is that with some savvy shopping you can actually enjoy many of the same hotel-quality amenities in your own home every day of the week. A handheld showerhead is a great example; these originated in Europe due to the lack of indoor plumbing and were considered state of the art yet now they are found in almost every fine hotel.
A handheld showerhead makes it easy to shampoo hair, bathe children, wash pets, water plants and clean the tub or shower enclosure. Most are designed so they can be installed without the assistance of a plumber. Add a shower seat and you can enjoy a relaxing shower massage while seated or shampoo your hair effortlessly. If you are dealing with an injury a handheld showerhead can be very helpful as it allows you to target the water spray precisely where you want it.
Heated towel racks are another hotel-like amenity that are quite practical – use them to dry swimwear and fine washables, warm baby clothes, blankets and more.