Will your New Year’s resolutions include home improvements? One room that Americans love to spruce up is the bathroom. We all spend more time there than we might realize, and expectations for bathrooms today are much higher than in the past. Instead of a merely functional space that serves sanitary and hygienic purposes, bathrooms double as “home spas” and calming retreats where you can relax and renew. Since the bathtub and/or shower area is often the most prominent, we’ll focus on ideas for giving this space a boost.

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1. Re-tile the shower walls.

 

Updating your shower wall tile is a wonderful way to bring your bathroom more in sync with today’s home décor principles. Large format stone tiles are definitely trending, and they give your space the appearance and feel of an upscale hotel. Hand-painted tiles are also popular as designers prefer bespoke looks. To keep this from getting cost-prohibitive, intersperse hand-painted beauties with cheaper, mass produced tiles. Finally, glass tiles always make a statement, and you could also use them along with porcelain or ceramic. Just be sure you don’t place glass tiles where you’ll need to drive screws or drill holes since this can crack them.

 

2. Embrace clear glass.

 

If you do re-tile or otherwise improve your shower’s interior, you may not want this decorative wall covering hidden by a shower curtain or privacy glass. If there is a space concern, a frameless sliding shower door system built from clear glass is an attractive product. These take up no more space than a curtain or old set of bypass doors, but offer a much more in-vogue appearance. If you have plenty of clearance around the shower entrance, however, you can also consider other layouts in which a door is hinged to a bathroom wall or hinged to a fixed glass panel.

 

3. Upgrade the shower head.

 

Sometimes we don’t have the time or budget for a big renovation, but the good news is there are several relatively inexpensive ways to improve your shower experience. Many homeowners can DIY a shower head replacement with the help of a how-to video like this one by “For Dummies.” You could try a rain shower head, one with a more modern profile, one with lots of spray options, or an LED-lit shower head. Finally, aroma-therapy kits can be added to shower heads for a multi-sensory experience every time you shower.

 

4. Add a spa-inspired item.

 

Last but not least, you can level up a shower’s interior with one or more spa-inspired purchases. Great options include:

• Live plant that can thrive in a shower, such as lucky bamboo
• Teak stool
• Genuine sea sponges to replace nylon poufs
• Natural loofahs
• Upgraded hair and body care products in matching decanters
• Bamboo bath mat
  
  

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For upgrades that call for frameless glass shower hardware, vinyl seals, and more, we hope you’ll check out Glass Simple’s user-friendly site and call us with any question at (571) 707-7760.