Improve Your Home, Modernize Your Bathroom

In a recent survey of home owners 75 per cent of those who 18 months ago were thinking about moving house are now going to stay put and look at modernising their current home. And with the current state of the housing market on both sides of the Atlantic who can blame people.

So of these people which parts of the home are most likely to have money spent on them to modernise them and bring them up to date?

An obvious candidate for modernisation is the bathroom, for so long a neglected room in the house, the modern bathroom is now becoming a real status symbol.

This is in the main down to the fact that it is now possible to actually make a feature out of the smallest room, on top of this fact most homes now have at least one en-suite bathroom. The beauty of modernising a bathroom is that you can really spoil yourself with how you bring it up to date.

Unlike most rooms in the house the bathroom is a very personal room so the additions and changes that you make to it are really only there for your convenience. When modernising a living room everyone gets to benefit from a new television set or couch just as with the kitchen, everyone gets to benefit from a new oven, fridge or kitchen units, but a bathroom is yours.

The bathroom really has moved into the modern age, just visit any plumbers merchant or bathroom store and look around at the gadgets and gizmo's that are now available to adorn your bathroom.

Self closing toilet seats which instead of closing with an almighty crash when you let go of them, slowly close to a stop, a bit like watching treacle running off a spoon.
Under floor heating which warms through your bathroom tiles so when you wake up and go to the bathroom you don't have to tip toe across a freezing cold tiled bathroom floor.

Sinks also now come in all shapes and sizes, in the old days you were restricted to two types of sink, both the same design but one was white and the other was a horrible avocado colour, not exactly spoilt for choice. Today you can pick from many differing designs and colours, white still being the most popular choice but available in so many more different styles.

You may even decide to stick with a plain old white sink but bring it up to date with your choice of taps, these can make a huge difference to what may be a standard white wash basin.
A set of antique look taps on a standard sink, along with a wise choice in bathroom tiles can give the bathroom the look of an old country cottage, whereas a sharp clinical pair of modern design taps on a plain white sink, coupled with the use of some bold glass tiles and a striking bathroom mirror can give a very futuristic look to your bathroom.

It is possible to add quite a bit of monetary value and chic to a bathroom without spending vast sums of money. Likewise it is possible to get the same effect as above but by spending a small fortune on the bathroom.

For instance, you can now get a shower enclosure that comes complete with a steam and sauna facility as well as built in seat and radio for your comfort and if you'd like a massage then just get to your feet and the high pressure water jets from the side of the enclosure will blast away your aches and pains.

All this is a bit different from when I was a child, all we had back then was two rubber cups that fitted over the taps to channel the water through a shower head, the height of high-tech!

If the thought of an all singing, all dancing shower doesn't appeal to you what about a remote controlled shower that up to five different people can pre-set their favourite temperature, no more messing around trying to find the ideal setting.

These showers can be turned on and off at the press of a button from up to 10 metres away and will even tell you when the shower is up to temperature.

So if you're fed up with your current house and would like to move but daren't take the risk in the current climate why not treat yourself and splash some money out on modernising your bathroom, a little bit of money spent here can go a long long way.