A new-bathroom feel without the remodel
For a new-bathroom feel without the hassle of a full remodel, Jasmine Morvay, an interior designer in Ottawa, Ontario, has a few ideas: Install a glass door or change the shower curtain, paint wall tiles, paint cabinets, replace mirrors, replace light fixtures and add plants.
One of her favorite ideas by far, though, is replacing the showerhead. Switch out that one fixture, and taking a shower goes from a need to a want.
As to what clients want out of a showerhead, Ty Pennington, author of “Life to the Extreme: How a Chaotic Kid Became America’s Favorite Carpenter,” is blunt.
“They definitely want the rain experience or anything that is a big faucet overhead that feels like a luxury experience,” he says. It should feel like “jets hitting every part of your body.”
To bring the spa home, here are a few finds from bath experts.
When her clients want to upgrade to “something new, today,” Jessy Johnson of Michigan’s Mary Lynn Creations recommends Kohler’s HydroRail Shower Column in Polished Chrome.
“It’s easy to swap out with existing plumbing,” she says, and adds style. For a modern rain head and hand shower that coordinate, Johnson likes
Kohler’s Moxie show
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erhead, which comes with a wireless speaker, and the company’s Flipside hand shower.
Moen’s Magnetix has “the appeal of a fixed showerhead, but it rests there on a magnet,” says Melissa Haas, project designer at Case Design Remodeling in Charlotte, N.C. “You can pull off the showerhead and use it as a hand shower, whether you’re cleaning the tile, rinsing your feet off or cleaning the dog.”
A homeowner can install the Retro-Fit Diverter Shower System with SpeedClean Technology without removing any tiles or touching the existing plumbing inside the wall, Morvay says. “It just involves replacing the existing shower arm.” The system includes not one, but two handheld showerheads and the ability to switch between the two.
Arguably, Pennington is the expert in making over homes fast, as HGTV’s longtime host of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” He likes the Dornbracht brand for high-end replacement showerheads and Kohler for a more accessible price point: “Their Purist line comes in a great chrome and satin nickel,” he says. The K-966-CP Purist 2.5 GPM Multifunction Wall-Mount showerhead has a wide spray, massage spray and gentle spray, and also comes in brushed bronze and brushed nickel.