Bathroom Is A Top Remodeling Choice This Year

What’s in store for bathrooms in 2011?  Indications are that bathroom renovation will prove to be one of the most popular home improvement projects in the coming year.

Consumers continue to look for comfort, functionality, eco-friendly solutions and spa-like atmospheres as they consider a bathroom upgrade. The key, of course, is to create a relaxing and restoring environment.

What consumers are asking their design companies to accomplish in bathroom remodels this year encompasses a range of lifestyle preferences:

• Make the most of smaller space to provide the maximum comfort and functionality.
• Create an eco-friendly space by choosing “green’ materials, and recommending energy-saving lighting solutions and water-saving fixtures.
• Accommodate current or future needs for accessibility.
• Create a room the whole family can use efficiently.
• Create an oasis where the residents can banish the stress of the day.
• Design a bathroom that is modern and sleek, but still warm and inviting.
• Give us classic elegance with a more formal flair.

And, here are just a few of the ways professional designs such as Neff of Chicago are translating those consumer desires into the bathrooms of their clients’ dreams.

We are seeing a return to warmer earth tones and colors in bath furniture, accessories and wall colors. The feeling is one of cozy comfort.  Designers are frequently recommending the use of metallic accessories, such as rubbed or aged bronze fixtures. Natural stone or “green” bamboo floors will often be used to compliment modern vanities.

For those homeowners in search of a more formal, elegant style of bathroom, the design solution may well include dramatic old-world-style cabinetry, enhanced with antique-looking fixtures, mirrors and accessories.

Nature makes an appearance in the bathroom of 2011, both in the choice of woods and stone materials for vanities and flooring, and in recommended finishing touches such as fresh or dried flower arrangements that change with the seasons to continually freshen the look and mood.