New Bathroom Idea Book

Today's bathrooms are just as much about style as the rest of the house. The last decade has seen an explosion of new products that cater to all lifestyles and budgets, allowing homeowners to customize a bathroom that suits their every whim.

With over 325 photographs from todays leading designers and architects, The New Bathroom Idea Book will help you discover your options. This book covers it all: lighting, faucets and other fixtures, showers, tubs, tiling and floors, ventilation, waterproofing, and bathroom design. This virtual clip file will help you transform one of the most necessary rooms in the house to one of the most beautiful.

"Fabulous. It works like a reference manual for homeowners and professionals alike."

-- Lynette Jennings, creator and host of Lynette Jennings Design

About the author
Andrew Wormer is a contributing editor to Fine Homebuilding magazine and the author of The Builders Book of Bathrooms and The Bathroom Idea Book. An experienced builder and bathroom remodeler, Andrew lives in Ferrisburgh, Vermont.

Introduction

1. Designing a Great Bathroom
Defining the Bath
Bathroom Planning

2. Finishing the Bath in Style
Selecting a Style
Natural Finish Materials
Synthetic Materials

3. Bathtubs and Showers
Bathing Spaces
Showers
Faucets and Sprays

4. Toilets and Sinks
Toilets and Bidets
Sinks
Faucets

5. Storage Solutions
Cabinetry
Shelving

6. Lighting, Heating, and Ventilation
A Look at Lighting
Climate Control

Resources

Credits

The other morning I returned from the hardware store with a gallon of paint, one of the finishing touches for the bathroom that Ive been renovating in our house while concurrently working on this sequel to The Bathroom Idea Book. Like this new edition of the book, my bathroom has been under construction for a while. Driving into town for more supplies or wrestling for a couple of hours with some part of the job before or after sitting down at the computer for the day has become a familiar ritual. In fact, I began breaking out tile from our old, leaky shower eight months ago at about the same time I began sorting in earnest through the piles of new photographs that photographers had been sending me.

This morning I painted a test patch on one of the bathroom walls to see how it looks. My idea is to have bright, cheerful, blue upper walls over white wainscot in order to keep this rather traditionally appointed bathroom from looking boring to the kids who will mostly use it. But Im not so sure about the blue -- its very bright.

Both the book and my bathroom have been demanding more than an equal share of my attention over the past year. This has benefited them both, I think. Ive been able to incorporate a lot of the ideas that Ive written about in this book into our compact bathroom. And the process of planning and building the bathroom has been a great help in writing the book, as its prompted me to reexamine the decision-making process that accompanies any bathroom project.

I make this note about the paint because in my experience as a builder of many bathrooms this symbolic finale to the construction process is one of the decisions most agonized over. My guess is that my family will take more notice of the final coat of paint than any other phase of this bathrooms extensive gut and rebuild. Stripping out walls down to the studs and floors down to the joists and removing toilets and sinks is cool, sure, but changing the color of the bathroom is what will really catch their attention.

Ive had to make literally dozens of decisions -- about materials, about layout, about fixtures -- in the building of this bathroom. Fortunately, the paint is one decision thats easy to correct with a couple of hours of labor and a gallon of something else. But Im confident about the overall design because Ive invested time and energy into choosing the fixtures and materials that are right for this bathroom. Im confident well get the colors right too.

Youll need to make these same kinds of decisions as you build or renovate your own bathroom. I think youll find this book an invaluable guide; use it both as a source for inspiration and as a practical reference as you make decisions about layout, materials, and fixtures. With this book in hand you wont be alone as you sweat the details and get the big picture. Im betting youll get the colors right, too.