Tubs with floating arm rests and colored lights. A bathroom entertainment center wired for e-mail and with remote cameras for keeping an eye on the kids. A rest room, indeed.
By JUDY STARK
Published June 28, 2003
[MTI]
The Westbrook Falls model from MTI wraps a “water canal” behind and on either side of the bather. As water fills the canal, it travels down two terraced waterfalls on either side, creating a soothing, trickling effect.
[Ann Sacks]
Designer Clodagh brings “a new level of minimalist tranquility to the bath” with a 30-piece suite based on wood, stone and stainless steel.
[MTI]
The Jentle Ped has a foot-soaking tub that offers heat, massage and whirlpool jets.
[Jammin’ Johns]
For music lovers, there’s the P-ano toilet seat and a host of others.
In the kitchen: more, bigger, faster. Large-capacity appliances, speed-cook ovens, microwaves that multitask.
But in the bathroom: Ah, that's another story.
After becoming wildly stressed out in those high-performance kitchens (Why bake two pans of cookies at a time when you can do six? Why take 45 minutes to bake a casserole when you can do it in 11?), step into the relaxation zone.
Increasingly affluent, dual-income families also are increasingly stressed families. Some 47-million households earning an annual income of $50,000 or more represent disposable income of $3.5-trillion. The primary decision-makers about purchases in those families are women, and what they want is luxury, as well as products that save time and reduce stress.
"Women are stressed out," said David Kohler, group president of Kohler's Kitchen & Bath Group, in a keynote address at the recent Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Orlando. "Eighty percent of married moms tell us they need to find a way to relieve stress."
Hence the industry's effort to provide bathing facilities that soothe and revitalize in an atmosphere that is private and luxurious.
"We wanted to integrate the Zen mind with technology," along with environmental sensitivity, said Koji Nakano, vice president for sales and marketing at Japan-based Toto, as he sipped green tea at his company's booth at the show. Toto is the world's largest plumbing manufacturer. So committed is it to the serene and the beautiful that even its urinals look like ancient stone vases.
"The bath space has become the spiritual retreat of the home, where individuals may close the door and find peace," the company says. Its Pacifica Air Tub, a soaking tub 23.6 inches deep, has floating head and arm rests, and air jets that send up streams of bubbles to hydromassage the bather. A system of colored lights inside the tub "subtly enhances the body's overall state of well-being" by "soaking away the day's stress and harmonizing the body's vital physical, psychological and emotional energies."
Toto wants to "pass down the old, traditional way of thinking" - the tubs are inspired by the deep soaking tubs that have long played a role in Japanese culture - as it introduces the concept of water-saving in Japan with efficient 1.6-gallon toilets. Even the Zen concept of longevity finds a marriage with technology as the company offers maintenance-free plumbing "that will last forever."
"Zen is a new word for Toto," Nakano said. "We have been very technically oriented, but too much of that is not good for the mind. We want to introduce the spiritual. We want to enhance the U.S. bathroom."
Over at the Jacuzzi booth, the U.S. bathroom was being enhanced into an entertainment center. Take a look at the La Scala, a 125-gallon two-person soaking tub with a 43-inch flat-screen TV, DVD player, floating remote control, built-in CD player and AM/FM stereo, and Surround Sound. But wait, there's more! You can check your e-mail or browse the Internet with a wireless floating keyboard. There's a video monitor to see who's at the front door or to watch the baby while you soak. The tub has 10 jets and underwater lighting. The La Scala starts at $29,000, plus installation; each one is certified and numbered.
At the Ann Sacks booth, celebrated designer Clodagh brought "a new level of minimalist tranquility to the bath" with a 30-piece suite based on wood, stone and stainless steel, resulting in the "handcrafted energy" created by the material. A stone top rests on a wooden vanity cabinet. The robe hook doubles as a towel holder, and the towel bar is a shelf for decorative items such as an aromatherapy candle.
Maybe you've always been a sucker for those heart-shaped bathtubs at honeymoon resorts. You can buy your very own from MTI Whirlpools, a Georgia manufacturer, "where every tub is made to order," said Russell Adams, vice president of business development. The heart-shaped tub starts at $2,700 for a whirlpool with six jets.
MTI can even arrange for the jets to point at designated parts of your anatomy, such as a bad hip or an aching lower back.
Perhaps you'd like to imagine that you're bathing in a waterfall. The Westbrook Falls model from MTI wraps a "water canal" behind and on either side of the bather. As water fills the canal, it travels down two terraced waterfalls on either side, creating a soothing, trickling effect.
"We call it audiotherapy," Adams said. "You get in the tub, the waterfall is recirculating around you, it's very relaxing." The tub starts at $2,600.
Maybe you just want to soak your aching feet. MTI offers the Jentle Ped, a padded Lucite seat for one with a foot-soaking tub that offers heat, massage and whirlpool jets. A raised bar on the floor of the tub allows the bather to exercise the arch and sole, similar to Asian systems of reflexology. It's $680.
Is all this too serious for words? Check out Jammin' Johns, where a bunch of music lovers have come up with toilet seats and accessories that strike a musical note. There's the P-ano seat cover, in black or white lacquer, that looks like a grand piano (where is Elton John when we need him?); the Guitarlet, in natural or white; the Screamer, an electric guitar model, in a sunburst color. An accessory kit includes double-roll drumstick toilet paper and paper towel holders, guitar headstock toothbrush holder, guitar hand towel holder and a plunger with a drumstick handle. The seats are $99.95, as is the accessory set.
The company's slogan is, "You may have to sit down when you see this." Well, it's got that right.
- Information from the Sun-Sentinel of South Florida was included in this report.
For more information on the companies, visit these Web sites: Toto, www.totousa.com
