Freelance
ROSIE ON THE HOUSE
A box of chocolates or a long-stemmed rose are lovely Valentine’s Day gifts, but they last only a few days. Give your sweetheart the gift of a bathroom makeover instead, and both of you will enjoy it for years to come.
This Valentine’s Day, offer your better half the gift of ultimate luxury: a stand-up whirlpool experience – in the shower.
Here’s how: Install an extra showerhead, and make it a large-faced “rain-can” model. Add a few wall- or ceiling-mounted sprays to pump steamy water onto your loved one’s aching back after a hard day. The whole family will be lining up for showers.
A hand-held spray, which can double as a handy cleanup tool after a shower, is a popular and welcome add-on.
Look for multifunction, overhead showerheads and wall-mounted sprays that will gently massage, forcefully pulsate or softly spill rainlike droplets onto your hardworking partner.
You can add one or many, depending on your budget. Even one spray or extra showerhead will make anyone feel pampered.
Choose models with a warm, oil-rubbed bronze or brushed nickel finish instead of shiny polished chrome, which has a colder feel.
The spalike experience doesn’t have to end in the shower. The toilet is emerging as an unlikely luxury.
Put in some tony touches: a bidet – a lidless seat with water jets for cleaning one’s unmentionables – or a tricked-out toilet with a heated seat and built-in washlet that functions much like a bidet. Your new toilet might also include an air freshener, a lid with a motion sensor that opens and closes on its own, a warm-air dryer and an automatic flush – or at least a choice of barely-a-flush for liquids and something sturdier for the rest.
Select a toilet that’s about the height of a chair – a bit higher than a standard toilet but much more comfortable, especially for anyone who’s getting a little older.
These washroom wonders have been standard in European and Japanese bathrooms for years.
Bathroom upgrades don’t always come cheap, but they do come with a bonus: Newer fixtures use way less water than older models, so your Valentine’s Day gift will help the environment as much as it will your honey’s stress level.
The newest toilets are ultralow flow and come in flow-enhancing shapes with powerful flushes that use less water yet leave the bowl cleaner. Look for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new WaterSense label, which appears on toilets that use at least 20 percent less water than standard 1.6-gallon ones.
And when you buy those new showerheads and sprays, choose water-saving models that pulsate with power, so a little water feels like a lot of luxury.
You and your valentine can feel good about a gift that takes away your troubles without adding to the environment’s.
Rosie Romero has been with the homebuilding and remodeling industry in Arizona for 35 years. His radio program airs from 10 a.m.-noon Saturdays on KNST-AM (790). For more do-it-yourself tips or to contact Romero, go to rosieonthehouse.com or call 888-ROSIE-4-U during the show. His Rosie on the House column appears Fridays.
Romero
ROSIE ROMERO
rosie.r@rosieonthehouse.com
Tony bath upgrade will make a splash with your valentine