Showering Space Considerations
Designing a showering space is an opportunity to really think through how you want your shower to make you feel and how it will be used. Innovations in technology and materials have changed what’s possible; you can have a beautiful shower with basic functionality or you can create a truly personalized spa environment. Even better, you aren’t limited to one or the other; there are countless options in between. The following shower guides will help you find the best solutions for your experiential and functional needs–from water to walls.
What Makes Up the Showering Space?
There are several elements that go into creating a shower, and each has plenty of options to consider in terms of style and function.
Water Elements
When most people think of showering, it’s the water experience they focus on. How and where the water touches you is what makes a shower satisfying and memorable.
SHOWER SPRAY FUNCTIONS
This is “how” the water touches you–with great rinsing power, massaging force, soothing softness, or something else altogether. It makes sense to start here when you’re designing your shower.
SHOWER COMPONENTS
These make up the “where”–through a showerhead, rain showerhead, handshower, body spray or some combination of these elements.
SHOWER VALVES & CONTROLS
These are the engine that makes the spray functions and the number of components possible. Valves can be manually or digitally operated.
Structural Elements
You need a space to contain the water, right? This is where structure comes into play–everything from where you stand or sit to the walls and doors that surround you.
SHOWER WALLS & BASES
Depending on how much or little tile plays a role in your showering space, you may need just a base, just the walls, or a base and wall solution.
SHOWER DOORS
A door is a fairly typical component in a shower unless you prefer a curtain. There are also some larger bathrooms designed with a wet area that can be more open and don't require a door.
SHOWER ACCESSORIES
Storage and additional comfort features are often forgotten about in the design process and only remembered as the shower becomes cluttered with beauty products. Thinking about it now can help you create a chaos-free shower.
Refresh, Replace or Remodel?
If you have a sense of the scope of your project, the guides can help direct you to the key considerations. No need to spend time understanding structural options when you’re just replacing a showerhead.
REPLACE
Showerheads & Handshowers
If you’re thinking about a new showerhead or handshower, get to know what options are available: spray functions, single-function or multifunction, adding music. Finding the right spray function or combination of sprays to meet your needs makes all the difference.
REFRESH
MEMPERBAHARUI
Shower Columns
Instead of just replacing your showerhead, you can double the functionality of your shower with a shower column. It’s simple to install and adds a handshower to your showerhead or rain showerhead.
Explore the Shower Fittings Guide.
Shower Doors
Give your shower a new look and feel by going from a shower curtain to a shower door. A number of styles of shower or bath/shower doors are available. Replacing the curtain with glass can give the illusion of a more space and will provide more contemporary style.
REMODEL
Digital Showers
If you are planning a complete teardown and remodel, now is the time to consider upgrades like switching to a digital shower system that allows you to customize and control your individual shower settings.
Explore the Digital Controls Guide.
Shower Walls
Remodeling your shower also provides an opportunity to rethink your shower walls, including storage and style. Wall systems can coordinate with showers or bath/showers and feature stone or tile designs in a range of colors.
No Matter What, Measure & Measure Again
Measure twice. Install once. These are words to live by. As with any home design project, accurate measurements are the key to success. The individual guides will walk you through detailed steps.
Size & Type of Bathroom
The size and type of bathroom you’re working with will influence everything in your shower, from spray functions to storage considerations.
MASTER
This is typically the shower where you may want to include personalized and spa like features. More than a place to get clean, the master bath shower is often a place to destress and recharge. These specific guides will help.
GUEST
Often guest bathrooms are three-quarter baths with a stand-alone shower. Because your guests will be of varying heights, a handshower with slidebar is often a better bet than a showerhead.
KIDS & PETS
A shower space that’s great for washing up children and pets typically includes multiple spray functions that are soft enough for a child’s skin and effective enough to rinse pets clean.
HEALTH & SAFETY
For people who may have limited mobility now or want to plan for the future, it’s possible to create an exceptionally stylish shower that still accommodates a range of abilities.
Bringing It All Together
Discovering and combining all the right elements to create a shower that you love to step into every day can be an exciting project. It can also be a tad daunting. If you’d like a few ready-made solutions to simplify your options, here are a few things to keep in mind.
FINISHES & COLORS
Showering components are available in a wide range of finishes, while walls and bases come in an array of colors. You can choose your faucet finish and fixture color and know that they can be matched across all of your bathroom elements.
COLLECTIONS
Bathroom design can be simple and beautiful with coordinating fixture and faucet collections. A collection takes the guesswork out of creating a look you love. Each collection can be a complete design solution or a starting point for mixing and matching.
SHOWER KITS
Prepackaged shower components kits or wall kits come with everything you need to create a custom experience and design. Matched in style and finish, shower kits can help make choosing feel more manageable.