星期三 [ 2010-1-13 11:18:42 | watches1013 ]   BATH ACCESSORIES GO BEYOND USUAL How do you define "end-of-the-day indulgence"? For some, it's eating a pizza on the couch while watching CSI. Others might say it's taking refuge in a bath, away from the chaos of the workaday world. Bathroom-fixture manufacturers are banking on the latter view these days, offering an array of at-home indulgences designed to simulate what you find at a spa. High-style, high-end products such as the Robert Kuo-designed Wavelet hammered-copper tub from Ann Sacks ($36,000). Fake Breguet Watches "The spa experience is being brought back home," said Linda Kast, the editor in chief of Better Homes and Gardens, one of the magazines that sponsored a design idea center at this year's Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Chicago. The idea center's master bath, designed by Traditional Home magazine, had "the vibe of a high-end resort," a regular reminder of how great it was to spend time at a spa without having to leave home, said editor in chief Ann Omvig Maine. Experts suggest that a real-life master bath with all the trimmings of the Traditional Home showpiece might start at $50,000. Bathrooms mean big money. In 2004, the last year for which the National Kitchen & Bath Association has numbers, $23.7 billion was spent to build or renovate bathrooms, $7.2 billion alone on renovations. IF YOU DON'T HAVE deep-enough pockets to create your at-home spa all at once, industry experts and designers suggest buying a piece at a time. (You'll have some time to save up - many of these products won't be available until late summer.) For many years, the standard bathroom was 5 feet by 8 feet. Today, 10 by 15 or 20 feet is the rule, and that gives the homeowner a chance to create a spa that's separate from the usual facilities - generally as part of a master suite. The spa trend focuses primarily on women, who, in survey after survey, say the bathroom is the only place they can go to get away from it all. "The world we live in is stressful, and many women, whether they have careers or are at home, retreat to a spa," said Gray Uhl, the director of design for American Standard, the bath-fixture manufacturer. "That takes money and time, but time is the real killer. So they want a sanctuary," Mr. Uhl said. "They want to close the door and not be responsible for anything." A must-have in many a sanctuary is a soaking tub separate from the bathtub or shower that others use. Among the choices are a retro freestanding soaking tub, along the lines of the Ann Sacks Wavelet at the Traditional Home display. MOST BUYERS PREFER simple shapes, and that means a whirlpool tub, which remains the No. 1 choice. A close second is the air-jet, in which air is propelled through dozens of small holes for an all- over bubbling action. Unlike a whirlpool, aromatherapy oils and salts can be added and emitted from the jets into the water. Jacuzzi's new Salon spa baths combine air and whirlpool jets in one ($5,000). Yet tubs are not the only route to luxury. "Our recent experience has favored high-end, walk-in showers rather than tubs," said Jennifer Akerman, a designer with the Hillier Group in Princeton, N.J. "In both renovation and new-home construction, we are seeing steam immersion showers and shower towers, and rainbaths with elegant fixtures," she said. Frosted-glass enclosures with minimal hardware and interior lighting "make them look like glass boxes." Kohler is Other articles: http://www.esszx.com/Blog/View/?187 http://www.saxmusic.net/Blog/View/?299 浏览(322) | 回复(0) |