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The new bathroom designs combine interior and lifestyle trends just how they need them

The 2017 good bathroom includes many features: Green, party in pastel, a touch of wood, attractive contours and haute couture provide colour and style. Concepts for lighting, showers and furnishings spread individuality. Apps and digital technology provide fitness and health. Last but not least is the spa with Aquapressur – apart from the fittings with that 20th century look. But one thing at a time.

Frankfurt/Bonn – (vds) Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither was the colour green. But this year, the time is ripe: Experts are forecasting the final breakthrough for it. But what has always succeeded outside on its own first required a name change for indoors: Greenery or else Pistachio, Woodruff, Avocado or Sage. Even Petrol and Aquamarine sound much more interesting than simple Green. The Vereinigung Deutsche Sanitaerwirtschaft (VDS) considers other colours to be the victors of the commencing bathroom season: gentle pastel tones. They create pure happiness and can be combined attractively with countless other colours and surfaces. The source of inspiration – not, for once, spring time. At the world’s leading “ISH 2017” trade fair, it was the “perfect storm”, a rare meteorological phenomenon, during which hot and cold weather fronts fuse. The nuances created from this range from grey and blue to pink. And now the final catalyst: The party in pastel can get going and isn’t going to die down so quickly.

Painting with wood

Living in proximity to nature – a little of this desire to get away from everyday life can actually be fulfilled in a city bathroom. It’s easiest to achieve with wood, because wood provides tranquillity and energy. Light fronts with a smooth polish are happily yielding to solid fronts in a rustic, modern style. Surfaces in high-quality walnut evoke chalet comfort; Vienna oak with real traces of shipworm, which is actually a clam, conveys the flair of an Italian villa on the Upper Adriatic Sea. But too much variety is not always a good thing. This is why the individual lamella of the natural wood panels are coordinated before being made into a piece of furniture. This sorting, which requires a delicate designer touch, is known as “painting with wood”. The result makes the unprocessed natural material delicate, ensuring a harmonious image in an equally harmonious bathroom.

From contrast to the art of showing contours

If that’s too harmonious for you, then you might like the interplay of contrasts. Bathroom designers are continuing to build on the strong and timeless pairing of black and white. The combination is only properly cosy, as they said in the past, when ethnic patterns or natural materials are involved. But it’s different this year. You can keep it cool. And why not, as if you’re already working with the stars of interior design, then nothing should stand in the way of their creativity. The creation of the washbasin, to show its contours, is more than ever in its reduction to a clear, timeless basic geometry and the extremely delicate walls of its production. This seems to be no problem, with the special features of steel-enamel as a material. Year after year, this is how design icons for bathrooms are created.

Couture for bathtubs and washbasins

After all: One of the favourite topics about the favourite place of many Germans is what is made from what, especially this year. Last year, one manufacturer aroused desires with a surprising idea, which combined glazed steel and cosy fabrics. Now the collection is on the market, aiming to bring the sensual quality of textiles into the bathroom. And it does. The skirtings of bathtubs and washbasins are upholstered and covered with a woven, particularly resistant functional fabric and then attached to a robust stainless steel frame in a water-resistant manner. The new haute couture for bathrooms is available in a beige Ivory, the two grey tones of Anthracite and Elephant and Moss. And there it is again, the celebrated green.

Lighting quality as a science

For many bathroom designers, the light above or next to the washbasin is at least as important as its colour. Like almost any woman, when she is travelling, bathroom ambassador Franziska van Almsick wants “nothing more ardently than a mirror which provides even and undistorted light for my face when putting on make-up.” Which is why the former world-class swimmer doesn’t pass up any opportunity to point out the insufficient light in hotel bathrooms with grace. The private bathroom on the other hand provides quite different lighting qualities thanks to LED technology, as she has been able to see for herself on countless trade fair visits since. Recently, this lighting has even had a scientific basis and an interactive, user-defined controller, which is visible through the lighting elements on the mirror. Situations, such as functional lighting, relaxing lighting and care lighting, can also be selected without touching the mirror’s surface, together with a setting that automatically adjusts itself to the time of the day.

Elegant design concepts

The many new and elegant design concepts by the brand manufacturer provide the best conditions for temporarily retreating from everyday life. They create the desired privacy according to your personal taste and would be sure to fill a series of illustrated books if you so wanted. But if a particularly high significance is currently attached to one thing, then this would be the possible combinations of various materials and surfaces such as glass, metal, wood decor and paint. This also applies to ranges of fittings, which are neutral in form and adaptable to various uses in order to be completely integrated into the room’s architecture and harmonious for its users. Every individual bathroom desire should be fulfilled where possible. It is not for nothing that this bathroom season has made individuality into the major, overarching hot topic.

New techniques for a bathroom without limits

One of the most enriching fitting elements for limitless enjoyment is still the flush-to-floor shower and the surface, on which one stands while the water is raining down. With material and surface finish in mind, there are now so many diverse designs that even experts, like VDS managing director Jens J. Wischmann, cannot specify a number straightaway. The same applies for the sizes themselves, which can be individually cut and even printed in the tile decor surrounding them – due to ever more refined technology. A new offering in the range is a shower area, which brings the advantages of front-wall system technology assembly to the floor. Bathroom professionals will rejoice in it. As is known, the joy of bathing without limits is one percent inspiration and 99 percent installation perspiration.

From bidet-WC to toilet with automatic urine analysis

A bidet-WC that meets any space requirements is just what the doctor ordered. Clunky design is passé. Instead, the comfort toilet of today combines an elegant design with practical functions. Particular attention is given to hygiene: Rimless porcelain and dirt-repellent surfaces make cleaning quick and easy. And what else? Quite a lot! With immediate effect, the future belongs to toilets that automatically analyse urine. The readings are then displayed on an app on your smartphone or tablet. Users can check their biological parameters at any time and adapt their fitness regime and diet accordingly. The innovation is no accident. More and more people are using digital aids and apps to optimise their sports training and lifestyles.

Aquapressur at home is a wonderful reality

If you believe futurologists and specialists, then preventative health measures are relocating increasingly within our own four walls and into the bathroom. Measures extend from the allegedly simple relaxation bath to treatments such as shower deluges, contrast showers and water massages. Topical and innovative with it are nozzles, which provide targeted massage of the neck, thoracic vertebrae and lumbar vertebrae with an innovative, fanned-out jet, helping to alleviate and prevent tension. Because they can be installed at a height to suit, the new massage nozzles can be used for specific stimulation of pressure points and meridians. Aquapressur at home? A wonderful reality – thanks to the possibilities of digitalisation, which make flexible water outlet possible.

Modern nostalgia

But a counter-current is opening up. A little wave of nostalgia is sloshing through the bathroom. With fittings with palm grips and authentic inscribed porcelain inserts leading the way, invoking the look of the early 20th century and impressing today with their charm of yesterday. Thanks to state-of-the-art production methods, there is no loss of comfort incurred through this: The latest centrepieces for traditionalists are considerably more scratchproof and resistant to cleaners than their predecessors. So, everything wasn’t really better before.

Captions

A rare meteorological phenomenon, during which hot and cold weather fronts fuse, was matched in terms of colour by the new, ultra-thin washbasin range from Ideal Standard. The nuances, created from the “perfect storm”, range from grey and blue to pink. The party in pastel can also get going in the bathroom. “Ipalyss” range by Ideal Standard.

Photo: VDS / ©Ideal Standard Image 4590

A delicate touch of wood evokes rural chalet comfort in walnut, even in city bathrooms. The individual lamella of the natural wood panels are coordinated before being made into a piece of furniture to create a particularly harmonious overall impression. This sorting is known as “painting with wood”. The result makes the raw natural wood quite delicate. “Edition Lignatur” series by Keuco.

Photo: VDS / ©Keuco Image 4591

Black and white are a strong and timeless pair – and the perfect setting for a new design icon. The art of these new washbasins, to show its contours, is in its reduction to a clear, timeless basic geometry and extremely delicate walled production. Seemingly, this is no problem, with the special features of steel-enamel as a material. “Miena” range by Kaldewei.

Très chic: For more living comfort in the bathroom, the skirtings of bathtubs and washbasins are now upholstered and covered with a woven, particularly resistant functional fabric and then attached to a robust stainless steel frame in a water-resistant manner. The new haute couture for oases of well-being is available in a beige Ivory, the two grey tones of Anthracite and Elephant and Moss. “BetteLux Oval Couture” range by Bette.

Whether the sun is rising or setting: The private bathroom always offers real lighting qualities thanks to LED technology. Recently, this lighting has even had a scientific basis and an interactive, user-defined controller, which is visible through the lighting elements on the mirror. Situations, such as functional lighting, relaxing lighting and care lighting, can also be selected without touching the mirror’s surface, together with a setting that automatically adjusts itself to the time of the day. Mirrored cabinet range for “rc40” series by Burgbad, lighting concept by Bartenbach.

No compromises: This elegant furnishing concept for the bathroom with lots of storage space provides the best conditions for temporary retreat from everyday life. It aims to create the desired privacy in line with very personal taste, attaching particularly high significance to combining different materials and surfaces, such as glass, metal, wood decor and paint. “Keramag Acanto” range by Keramag.

In good shape, in high demand: Fittings, which are in rather neutral, but very adaptable designs for versatile use in bathrooms – allowing them to completely serve the room’s architecture and its users. Ultimately, as many individual desires and tastes as possible should be fulfilled and provided. “Kludi Ameo” range by Kludi.

One of the most enriching fitting elements for limitless enjoyment in the bathroom is still the flush-to-floor shower and, thus, the surface, on which one stands while the water is raining down. With material and surface finish in mind, there are now so many diverse designs that even experts cannot specify a number straightaway. The same applies for the sizes themselves, which can be individually cut and even printed in the tile decor surrounding them – due to ever more refined technology. “Subway Infinity ViPrint” range by Villeroy & Boch.

Clunky bidet-WC design is passé. Instead, the comfort toilet of today combines an elegant design with practical functions. Thanks to the new compact form, it also adapts to the widest range of space requirements. Particular importance is attached to hygiene: Rimless porcelain and dirt-repellent surfaces make cleaning quick and easy. “AquaClean Tuma” range by Geberit.

With immediate effect, the future belongs to toilets that automatically analyse urine. The readings are then displayed in an app on your smartphone or tablet. Users can check their biological parameters at any time and adapt their fitness regime and diet accordingly. The innovation is no accident. More and more people are using digital aids and apps to optimise their sports training and lifestyles. “BioTracer” by Duravit.