Your bathroom could occupy pride of place, but?well, there could be functional problems. Personal too. But then you won?t settle for just any old bathtub or washbasin, would you? Just use your imagination? there are a host of manufacturers out there who will ensure your wish is their command. Custom-build your bathroom, and, rise above the humdrum task of just cleaning up. You do run the risk of letting the world pass you by though, because you just might not want to step out of here.
Now let?s look at what?s on offer. There are several minuses and plusses you can add to the range, to make it a my-kind-of bathroom. Just hop across to the nearest Kohler showroom and take a sneak peak at its Sok ? a tub with chromotherapy, fitted with a heater to maintain the tub temperature and a pump to rush the water through 11 special air jets. Positioned within the inner walls of the bath are LED light ports. Eight colours, by turn, wash the bather in a faded hues that turn dense before fading away to the next shade. All this while the melodic sound of falling water relaxes and comforts the mind. Clearly, the purpose here is not just to clean but also to de-stress. But that?s only after you part with Rs 5,95,000 to get it installed. Two other things can make the picture complete ? a glass of wine and a wall-mounted LCD playing Chelsea vs Manchester United. Well, who says Bond is only reel?
?The Indian luxury market is expected to touch $30 billion in the next decade and the luxury bathroom will be a significant part of this spend,? says Nagina Waters. Waters recently opened a store in India to market West One Bathrooms. The brand claims to enjoy the patronage of the likes of Sunil Bharti Mittal. ?Indians are travelling a lot ? taking spa vacations? They are experiencing luxury and understand that it can be affordable too. They want to have rain showers, steam and wet rooms, or saunas. The bathroom is no longer just a functional room. It is a luxury haven,? feels Waters.
Most brands are moving beyond the basic accessories. Bathline Sensations? spas, jacuzzis, whirlpools, sunken baths, rain showers and cascades start at Rs 6 lakh and can go up to a whopping Rs 17 lakh. Hydrotherapy, hydrothermal therapy, ozone therapy ?you couldn?t have been more spoilt for choice. There are side, back and foot jets to massage your body and also a disinfectant system.
The sky definitely seems the limit feels Varun Gupta, director, Bathline India who counts Welcomgroup, Radisson, Marriot, Oberoi, Taj as his clients. ?Ours was the only brand Sheraton trusted when they hosted President Bill Clinton, President Vladimir Putin and PM Tony Blair,? he proudly shares. ?Pricing was a big issue and people were not very sure about the quality of imported products. Around 2005, things started looking up and the industry recorded close to 50-60% growth. Things got even better in 2007-08 when the growth rate touched 110%; thanks to the booming real estate industry,? he adds. Kasch, Knief are some of the brands available in this boutique store that specialises in Bespoke concepts. Sharad Mathur, vice president, Kohler, on the other hand puts the ?fairly bullish market at 300%.? The brand is already planning a manufacturing unit in Gujarat with an investment of Rs 900 crore. And that?s when you are not even looking at the unorganised sector. The size of the organised sector alone can be easily pegged ?at Rs 3,000 crore,? according to Abhinav Khandelwal, director, FCML Bathrooms.
FCML too opened its first flagship bathroom store in 2002 with brands like Master, Tosco Quattro, Zazzerri, Art ceram. ?The nouveau riche form a major part of our clientele. They are big spenders,? says Khandelwal.
Little wonder the industry is attracting a host of new players like Manish Mehta. Mehta entered the market six months back with a range of easy-to-fit vanity cabinets and is all set to ?expand his portfolio?. ?These are complete made-to-measure bath solutions from UK. What would have earlier taken not less than a week to install can be now put up in a day,? says Mehta, owner of The Empire Line. The gradual shift to design can probably be traced back to the time when people began opting for coloured bathroom fixtures over staid white. Later came the concept of ?open bathrooms.?
In case you are planning a bathroom makeover, you can take a page out of Waters advisory ? ?the clean minimalist look is petering out a little, giving way to glitzy and baroque fixtures.? Mathur and Gupta would like to disagree with her. In fact they believe in just the opposite ? that minimalism is the design rule of the day. ?People prefer wall-mounted toilets, concealed flushes?anything that can help free floor space. Custom showers are also getting popular,? says Mathur. Get the Digital Thermostatic Valve. The digital interface panel enables you to activate a program of your choice. You?ll have to flush out close to Rs 2 lakh first! If only aspirations came without the money tag.
?People are moving away from Victorian designs, towards nature. They want bathrooms as big as living rooms, and flooded with natural light,? says Khandelwal who recently added eco-friendly tiles to his array of fixtures.
Here?s to bathrooms that make you forget your living room.