maven&meddler

We’re all spending more time - and more money - on making our home our castle. And, it seems, bathrooms get a lot of the attention on the home improvement shows but short shrift in the real world scheme of things. But, the master bathroom - at Rancho Maven anyway - has been remodeled with love. It’s a sanctuary of sorts, with black granite and a natural smooth river stone floor.

A while back, you might of noticed if you’re a regular reader, we did the final remodeling to the two main bathrooms in the house. Money being what it is these days, the final touches had to wait.

Finally, I got the extra moola to spring for the stainless over brass fixtures that I wanted to hang on the walls to hold the ‘stuff’ that hangs out in the shower/steam/soaking tub room. I don’t care for clutter, and keeping shampoos and such contained makes for a calmer atmosphere.

It took some noodling around the internet, but I finally found affordable yet stylish - as in Swedish - and high quality bath/shower fixtures. I started with the wall mounted baskets, and am waiting for the towel bar/glass shelf to go over the Japanese soaking tub adjacent to the shower.

You should take a look at Fixture Universe for a lot of the goodies to trick out your own bath haven. They carry the Smedbo Swedish line of fine chrome bath accessories. The two tier corner basket we got was really hefty, durable polished chrome over solid brass and high quality. Apart from having to go to Lowe’s to get a decent diamond masonry bit for the drill - drilling through really high quality porcelain tile takes patience and a bit of sweat - the installation was pretty straight forward.

The shower area, features a deep, two person, Japanese soaking tub to the left of the standing shower area. It’s surrounded by a tiled shelf suitable for reclining on during a steam bath, which is where I’m going with this.

You too, can have a home steam bath. It’s not that difficult, especially if you’re remodeling.

When we initially re-did the master bath some years ago, I crossed out the architect’s lame tub/shower idea and went in search of something different. To that end, I got the fiberglass soaking tub and the steam bath.

Soaking tubs crafted in the Japanese style use less space and less water - important in parched Nevada. They are also easier to enter and exit than standard tubs - especially as we get older. My 92-year-old Mother can get herself in and out of this soaking tub without assistance - since she just has to stand up, sit on the side deck, bring her feet over and stand up again in the shower.

As you can see, the shower/tub area is tightly glassed in. You do need some specialized glazing with tight seals for steam. We installed the steam generator under the counter just to the left. It takes up very little space.

There is a small steam output head a foot or so off the floor in the shower and a temperature sensor higher up that is tied in electrically to the wall timer/switch - which is across the bathroom, according to code. It all runs through that pony wall that separates the shower area.

Now, all it needs is a teak wood seat. Hmmm.