SIOUX CITY | Homeowners who want to make a design statement with their bathroom decor have many new options from sink jewelry to hand-painted vessel sinks and free-standing tubs.
"It's hard to keep up with everything," showroom sales manager Naomi Anderson said as she stood next to a display featuring a round black porcelain sink accented with brushed nickel studs at Central Kitchen & Bath, 844 Gordon Drive. A jeweled turtle drain cover and waterfall faucet were paired with the sink.
"It's a decorative piece that can be taken on and off for cleaning purposes," Anderson said of the turtle drain cover, a product of Linkasink. "You definitely don't want to use anything abrasive."
The drain cover made its debut at the Siouxland Home Show in February. Arizona-based Linkasink offers drain covers in a host of designs and finishes, including a mother of pearl flower, polished nickel starfish, a metal school of fish and a large leaf. Anderson said the turtle, which retails for $290, is the most popular. But she said local buyers have yet to place it in a high-traffic bathroom.
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"More people are putting it into their powder rooms where it's a conversation piece more than anything," she said.
VESSEL SINKS
A lot of customers are installing glass, porcelain, copper and stone vessel sinks in half bathrooms, according to Anderson.
Like the drain covers, these sinks are a conversation piece. Similarly, they come in a variety of styles and sizes.
Photos: Bathroom features
Bathroom Features
Bathroom sinks are seen at Central Kitchen and Bath in Sioux City, Iowa on Tuesday, March 8, 2016. Sioux City Journal Photo by Justin Wan
A 75-pound cobblestone vessel sink from Novotto, Anderson said, is a bestseller.
"We always sell the one right off the showroom floor because they come in different shapes and different styles every single time," she said.
SMART MIRROR TV
At first glance a large piece of reflective glass framed in espresso-stained wood looks like any ordinary mirror, but there's more to it.
Hidden inside this mirror is a 55-inch smart TV concealed by a special coating.
"We've sold a lot more of them than we anticipated in the first year just because it is one of those luxury items," Anderson said of the high-tech mirror with a $10,000 price tag. "Not everybody has to have a television in their bathroom."
Adding a frame around the mirror is optional. Some customers, Anderson said, go without, adding lights on the sides of the mirror instead.
TUBS and TOILETS
Jacuzzi tubs are still popular, but Anderson said more customers are buying free-standing tubs.
"People are just looking for that deep well to engulf their whole body in," she said of the compact tubs.
Safety tubs, jetted walk-in bath tubs, aren't just for older customers. Anderson said younger customers are buying them as well. The shell of the model Central Kitchen & Bath sells is made overseas, but she said all of the tub's plumbing is constructed in the United States. The tub's door, which has a lifetime warranty on its seal, swings open to provide a large area to get in and out.
"It does have a Hoyer Lift in case somebody is in a wheelchair. It allows them a little bit more ease," Anderson said of the tub which costs $11,000. "It's got more of the bells and whistles than some of the other ones."
When it comes to toilets, she said customers want something that's stylish and easy to clean. Toilets with a concealed trapway, which hides the outside plumbing, can fit into a small space.
"It's just very sleek and clean," she said of the toilet made by Icera.
A smart toilet can add high-tech edge to a bathroom.
Central Kitchen & Bath sells a Toto Washlit, a green, hands-free toilet. The lid opens when you walk up to it, the seat is heated and it flushes itself.
Anderson said any day now, Central Kitchen & Bath will be getting a smart toilet from Icera, which she said will retail for half the price of the store's current sole washlit, which is $2,000.
"You can still get the features that a lot of people are liking in just a little bit more of a sleeker, cleaner look," she said.
