Bathroom Trends and Designs

The Trends You Might Not Expect

Advice Seeker: Dear April,

My husband and I have some extra money and have been thinking about remodeling a room in our house, but we can't decide which one. We want to keep the project small but see some real differences. Do you have any suggestions about which room we should do, and how we should do it?

Sincerely,

Reluctant Redesigner

April Masini's advice:

Dear Reluctant Redesigner,

How about the bathroom?!

One of the main reasons a glammed out bathroom is important is not just that it ups the resale value of your home -- it infuses your relationship! Yep. You heard right. One of the best marital aids, is a terrific bathroom.

Think about it....

For couples that have been together forever, or just five years or more, the bathroom is one of the first places men and women find to complain about each other in the house. The toilet seat is up, the toothpaste isn't squeezed right, the dirty towels are on the floor, etc. When the bathroom is killer -- all of this other detail takes a back seat.

And ... for couples who are new, a great bathroom can be a chick magnet or man magnet. If men think it's their cars that lure women in -- they're wrong. It's their bathrooms.

In my dating books for women, Think & Date Like A Man, and men, Date Out of Your League, I advise readers to have ....

An impeccable bathroom -- Have plenty of toilet paper, stash all feminine hygiene products, and put the toilet seat d-o-w-n, and a medicine cabinet with nothing to make her squirm over (just assume she’ll be taking a snoop while she’s “powdering her nose”).

Trust me -- a terrific bathroom is just as important as a good suit, a fabulous haircut and even more important than a good line.

The Newest Trend in Bathroom Design

The newest trend in home bathroom design for 2008 is the urinal. Believe it or not, a urinal, separate from the toilet, is the thing to have. Forget about big, flat screen TVs -- if you're really wanting to be ahead of the curve, make your bathroom man-friendly. Equip yours with a urinal.

What this means is that the idea of seats left up on toilets can be a thing of the past. No more women complaining that their men are leaving the seats up, only to booby trap a midnight bathroom run that leaves them in the water, rather than on the seat.

In addition, men and women can use the bathroom at the same time -- and that is the real trend. The bathroom is no longer just a bathroom. It's a room to socialize in, as well as to do other things meant for bathrooms.