Your Future Bathroom: The Design Considerations to Make it Last Forever
Your Future Bathroom: The Design Considerations to Make it Last Forever
Many people dream of that forever home; one that’s been treasured over many years and you plan on enjoying it for many more.
So when it comes to the bathroom, how can you create a space that’s structured around providing you with the best support? Here are our top tips on creating a bathroom that can adapt to your growing and changing needs.
Go large
To make sure that your bathroom can adapt to potential health needs, our biggest design considerations are straightforward. We recommend widening doorways to 1200mm make it easier to get around should anyone require mobility assistance. This applies to both the bathroom door and your shower entrance.
Future thinking
Plans for your bathroom shouldn’t be limited to what’s within the four walls. Plan for any possible requirement by making sure that there are noggings – horizontal beams within the wall – at waist height, particularly in areas like by the toilet and shower.
You may never need a handrail to assist getting around the bathroom, but it’s reassuring to know that the option is there when you need it.
The optimum height for these structural updates is relative to your family’s heights, so speak to your builder about getting the location and position right.
Showering made easy
When it comes to the shower, we’ve got two more design tips to suggest. The first is pretty simple; place the mixer at waist height, at the entrance of the shower, so it can be adjusted before you step in.
A shower seat is much easier to design than retrofit. Raise it slightly higher than what feels comfortable now, so it’s still useful if you need to rely on it.
A shower seat is much easier to design than retrofit, so our key tip is to retain the room’s design theme by creating a beautiful shower seat or bench with the tiles you’re planning on using. Once again, the height of a useful seat is down to its users, so raise it slightly higher than you may consider comfy or accessible now.
Smooth operators
Strategically placing fixtures and fittings to help with accessibility, will avoid you having to sacrifice design for function. When it comes to taps, we recommend swapping traditional three-piece taps for a single mixer. Not only is this a cleaner design choice, mixers are easier on the wrists.
Another design suggestion is placing taps in easily accessible positions. For example, explore wall-mounted taps or placing the tap closer to you on the vanity.
Face-level storage is also a great way to make sure your bathroom is accessible to you, now and in the future. Consider vanity units with exposed shelves, drawers and sliding doors, to make sure you’re designing a space that fits your look, while also retaining function for the years to come.
The design considerations we’ve outlined here are a good place to start to create a space that grows with your requirements.
If you’re thinking about creating such a bathroom, bring your ideas along to one of our events where our consultants can discuss what’s important to you in more detail.