Relaxing Retreats

Bathing Beauties

Replicating a spa experience starts, for most people, in the shower. Multiple showerheads are the norm now; most homeowners want at least two, if not more. Some opt for all-out body sprays, with nozzles positioned at varying heights on more than one wall. Jennifer Cramer-Miller, vice president of sales and marketing at L. Cramer Designer and Builders in Edina, says that some people even choose to be “rained” on by a new line of spray tiles that can be installed in the shower ceiling. “There are a lot of different ways to get your shower water out,” she says. “It’s all about creating an experience in the shower.”

When the experience is meant to be long and leisurely, steam showers are a favorite. Within 15 to 20 minutes, a remote steam generator (often located in a linen closet or adjacent space) fills a sealed shower space with steam. Many allow users to add aromatherapy vapors. “Steam showers are becoming a really big deal,” Lindgren says. “And they’ve come a long way—it used to be that you had to wait 40, 45 minutes for them to get ready. Now you can hit the start button and within 15 to 20 minutes you can go in and start using it.”

Of course, not every shower is to be savored. Enz says that packed schedules have spurred the need for larger shower spaces and multiple showerheads. “People are just very, very busy,” she says. “There often needs to be two people in the shower at the same time. So showers have gotten bigger—four by six feet is pretty typical now in the master suite.”

Bathtubs have gotten bigger as well. The once ubiquitous whirlpools have been phased out in favor of bigger, deeper soaking tubs and easier-to-maintain “bubble” systems that push warm air into the tub. “Air therapy is the new trend,” Lindgren says. “There’s no water coming out of the jets, just air. It’s more like a bubbler; you still get the pressure and the moving water, but no water is going through a pump.”

Jim McNulty, president of Minneapolis-based builder McNulty Homes, also tries to provide a visual experience for bath-loving homeowners. “We like to give it a view,” McNulty says. “We try to incorporate windows around the tub as much as possible.”

Supplying hot water to such large spaces with so many different nozzles and faucets can be problematic, however. Enz says that some body spray shower systems use 10 gallons of water per minute. “You have to make sure that your hot water heater can keep up with the amount of water that’s coming out of all those showerheads,” she says. “You really have to work closely with professionals about that.”