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reno trends

An embossed floral pattern adds interest to a pedestal sink by Vancouver's Blu Bathworks (www.blubathworks.com).

When it comes to bathrooms, big is definitely better this year.

According to designers and industry experts, even the most basic bathroom renovations involve enlarging these once hidden, utilitarian rooms into bigger, brag-worthier spa-like oases.

The results, though, are hardly minimalist. Walk-in showers are grander and waterworks are splashier; patterned tiles simulate the look of damask, lace and leather. In many ways, the bathroom has gone baroque.

"The bathroom has become a sanctuary for all the senses," says Nelson Costa of AyA Kitchens and Baths in Mississauga, Ont. "Customers are no longer looking at bathrooms as just bathrooms. Making them bigger, more inclusive spaces is a trend that we see growing."

William Mockler of Toronto's Drawing Room Architect Inc. says that roomier, plusher lavatories entail a need for unconventional, larger-scale furniture that meets new functions and fills up space.

"We're introducing features like upholstered chairs and ottomans and pedestal tables for resting drinks," says Mockler. "Bathrooms are no longer about just a quick ... shower. They're becoming a lot more indulgent."

To facilitate this personalization of loos, suppliers have introduced a wide range of options, from basins sporting delicate floral patterns inspired by 18th-century Chinese printwork to so-called anti-bacterial tiles.

Here are some of the season's top bathroom trends, according to designers and retailers:

BACK TO NATURE

This year, basin shapes are noticeably softer and tub designs look much more organic. One example is the new amoeba-shaped sink in Laufen's Palomba line (www.laufen.com). "Laufen's designers feel that bathroom design is moving toward softer, purer shapes," spokeswoman Jocelyn Hutt explains. "And they want their sinks to evoke feelings of being in a natural setting."

Wood, meanwhile, has already made inroads in bathrooms in the form of vanities and armoires. Less predictably, Montreal-based MAAX just unveiled a sculptural wood bathtub at the recent Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Chicago, although that was just a prototype. What is currently available from MAAX (www.maax.com) is its sculptural egg-shaped Viaggi tub on bases made of such exotic woods as wenge, bamboo or vavona.

POST-MINIMALISM

Is minimalism dead? Not quite, but ornate patterns, tactile surfaces and even the odd chandelier are giving white and pristine a run for their money.

Kohler's new Chinese-inspired Empress Bouquet pattern for sinks and toilets, for instance, brings elegant florals back to the bathroom (see www.kohler.ca). And the many embossed and hammered surfaces on the market - from the embossed floral design adorning the new blustone basin by Vancouver's Blu Bathworks (www.blubathworks.com) to the hammered-metal Touch27 faucets designed by Clodagh Signature for Watermark Designs (www.watermark-designs.com) - are adding interest and depth to normally sterile fixtures and furniture.

Last but not least, all of those massive freestanding bathtubs that are gaining in popularity practically scream for equally elaborate lighting gestures, such as sparkling chandeliers dangling above.

TROMPE L'OEIL

If Salvador Dali was alive (and a bathroom designer) today, he would no doubt love all the tiles mimicking lace, linen and leather on the market right now.

"Consumers have incredible choice beyond the usual beige, black and grey tiles," says Federico Gasperetti, vice-president of Savoia Canada, which showcases tiles boasting a number of trompe l'oeil effects.

"This latest trend focuses on bringing character and life to a room, to being daring through colour, pattern and texture."

As novel as they are, however, these trompe l'oeil tiles are remarkably flexible, suiting everything from clubby, masculine retreats (should you fancy leather) to feminine inner sanctums (damask or lace).

For a full range of options, visit www.savoia.com .

SHOWY SHOWERS

If you're not a tub person, don't worry: There are walk-in showers on the market this spring to rival even the sexiest soakers. One of the most sophisticated is MAAX's recently launched Exposé stall, which is available in three sizes (the biggest is a capacious 66 by 42 inches) and comes in alcove, corner or wall-mounted versions.

Most luxuriously, the frameless wood-trimmed glass unit also includes a folding slatted seat, a slatted wood floor tray and seamless sliding doors that enable it to turn into a fully functioning steam room. Bells and whistles aside, however, such showers hold great appeal among a new and growing consumer base: aging boomers coping with mobility issues.

WEIRD SCIENCE

Remember Grade 10 science class? Even if you don't, today's bathroom designs are poised to offer a refresher.

Among other innovations, the new Active Clean-Air & Antibacterial Ceramics by Savoia Canada purport to be self-cleaning through photocatalysis, a naturally occurring oxidization process that takes place when the titanium dioxide used in making the tiles comes in direct contact with sunlight or artificial UVA rays.

Questions of knocking out windows or shining spotlights on the tile to activate the process aside, the claim is an appealing one.

Now if only those toilets would also clean themselves.

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