Baby Boomers are Building Luxury Bathrooms [VIDEO]
July 25th, 2008
[VIDEO] With the housing market cooling, Baby Boomer Generation homeowners are looking to renovations to boost resale value and distinguish our homes from others on the market.
With the housing market cooling, Baby Boomer Generation homeowners are looking to renovations to boost resale value and distinguish our homes from others on the market, said Michael Wandschneider, Kohler's senior product manager for performance showering products. For many of us, renovations start in the bathroom.
"It's something the homeowner immediately recognizes as a value to them as they are shopping from a variety of similarly priced homes," he said.
The Baby Boomer Generation are now more apt to stay in their homes during retirement and are helping drive this movement, said Mark Delaney, director of home improvement for The NPD Group Inc., a market research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y. Boomers recognize the value that renovating their homes adds, both to their lifestyle and when they decide to sell.
Luxury Bathroom Renovation
Kohler is going after the Baby Boomer market, designing products that can help them as they age, said Cindy Howley, manager of the Kohler Design Center. One designer suite at the center shows grab bars that blend into bathrooms and countertops that can be raised or lowered. Cabinets on wheels can be moved throughout the tiled room, and the bathtub has an extended entry at wheelchair height, for people with limited mobility.
At the center, dozens of designers have installed their own visions of relaxation in the bathroom. A series of suites ranges from tranquil, bamboo-infused rooms with clean lines and simple flowers to brightly colored ones with large bathtubs separate from showers.
Overflow bathtubs with recirculating water are gaining in popularity, Howley said. And bathtubs are getting deeper, often plunging to 2 feet deep, well past the standard 14-inch-deep tub. But many homeowners are looking exclusively at their showers, enlarging them and adding products like a recirculating, vertical whirlpool for $3,600 or placing tile-like showerheads at a cost of $120 each, she said.
Baby Boomers are being more discriminating when it comes to spending on luxury items in the home, opting to put money into one room but not all, said Lenora Campos, spokeswoman for luxury bath products maker Toto USA Inc., based in Morrow, Ga.
"They're trading up for products in which they find value, in which they want to invest," Campos said. "For other products, they're choosing to go to commodities stores."
Baby Boomers are upgrading their bathrooms in the hopes of improving their lives, said Tim Maicher, director of luxury brands for American Standard, based in Piscataway, N.J. The company has lines of tubs, drains and sinks that allow for easy installation and care.
"I really believe that the new cachet of luxury is wellness," he said. "Luxury is no longer about how much I have but how healthy I live."
We Baby Boomers are definitely taking care of ourselves and enjoying the comforts of a luxury bathroom.
BABYBOOOMER-MAGAZINE.COM WILL BE GIVING AWAY 10 TICKETS 5 Winners - 2 Tickets Each Winner to theFlashback Tour -- the Classic Rock Experience for each of this years 49 city performances. Tour Schedule for 2008 - Tour Schedule for 2009 You will be automatically entered in a drawing in your State when you sign-up for our Baby Boomer Newsletter Emailing List below. Boomers Rock!
