I love to sit and soak in my tub when it’s cold in the winter and on weekends when I have a little more time. And like most women, I love to put bubbles in the bath, light some candles and relax with a glass of wine and good music when no one is home. But on hot days I prefer a cool shower, and when I awaken all groggy and sluggish but have to leave quickly for work, a shower wakes me up but gets me moving.

I also love to shower with my husband because he scrubs my back. The problem with showering with a partner is that few home showers are big enough. Someone ends up shivering in the corner while the other hogs the water, or if it’s a shower over a bathtub, I usually end up being the one who slips.

Walk In Shower For Two

So, when my husband and I began planning our house renovation here in Spain we unanimously agreed on two things. 1. We must have a bathtub AND a shower. 2. The shower must be one of the walk in showers designed for two.

Because we were creating two areas, one for bathing and one for showering, we needed to keep the costs down. We wanted cheap walk in showers without them looking cheap. We wanted natural materials and a little glass, but most importantly good drainage because the shower was to be in the basement and we didn’t want water to collect and create mold.

Here are some things we discovered.

Plan the area well by going to the space you have selected for the walk in shower. You and partner should move around in the area to be sure you have selected a big enough space. Remember that a corner can be ideal and still save space.

Once you know the space is adequate in size, consult a plumber to be sure the drainage is near enough and will flow out well. The most annoying thing about showers is that the water doesn’t go down fast enough and you end up standing in ankle deep water that spills beyond the tray or shower area and takes a long time to dry. There are several ways to avoid this.

1. A walk in shower wet room. For those of you not familiar with a wet room, it is a an entire room that doesn’t matter if it’s wet all over because there are several drains in the floor, not just immediately under the shower, but in strategic places like corners or low areas where water may otherwise accumulate. The entire room is tiled or has stone or wood from top to bottom that is appropriately treated and water-resistant so it doesn’t matter if water splashes everywhere. It’s great for two or more because there are many nozzles or showerheads or hoses with sprayers so no one need stand shivering in a corner. Wet rooms are great for families with children or fun for couples.

2. A tray is a molded plastic (or similar material) unit that is installed on the floor under the shower. Since they are quite deep and beveled toward the centre, they catch the water and it flows down the drain, usually without overflowing. The small inexpensive trays are often not adequate for the amount of water and may overflow. They also may crack or break which may cause other flooring and plumbing problems later. Use a large enough tray, select a strong material and don’t jump in the shower.

3. A walk in shower enclosure is a type of shower that is spacious yet doesn’t permit water outside the enclosed area. The newest models that are prefabricated come sealed and are watertight. They are modular units that have a floor, back and usually transparent doors of glass or plexi and also have the showerheads and taps and all controls preinstalled. There are small models for one or styles that are spacious enough for two or more.

4. A tray and a built up second level is a third option that helps with drainage problems that sometimes occur with just a tray alone. This technique involves building up a walk in shower onto a platform so that below the platform there is room for a tray and the normal drainage system. Where you stand can be made of anything, usually it is treated wood, stone or tile. Its advantages are that you needn’t create a entire wet room out of stone or tile, just the area that is elevated, but the water ends up lower and so it doesn’t overfill and spill out as easily.

My husband I decided on a walk in shower wet room with stone tile from top to bottom and two shower heads. We also included a wooden bench and an area with small pebbles to massage our feet. Our walk in shower was left without an enclosure except for a large sheet of glass known as bespoke shower doors that actually was hung at the entrance to the entire wet room. I keep towels in baskets just outside the door beside a small sofa that’s great for relaxing on after showers.

It doesn’t matter if you choose a walk in shower cubical or a walk in shower enclosure or a stall; just remember to design your walk in shower big enough for TWO.

…I step from the bamboo flooring inside the bamboo enclosure and let the cool water spray over my skin. No bath or shower ever felt so good. I can smell the wood as the water sprinkles the walls, and an earthy freshness rises from the stone floor in a little cloud of vapor. I let myself drip dry for a moment, tie a sarong around my waist and plop into my hammock. Aaaahhhh, yes! This is what I think of whenever anyone mentions a “walk in shower”.

Walk in Showers Around the World

As a journalist I’ve had a few walk in showers over the years: in Indonesia with teak walls and marble floors, in Spain with mosaic tile and Moorish arches, in China with silken partitions and a foot massaging pebbled floor, and in Japan within a glass enclosure and digital shower controls. However my strangest shower experience was in a Taipei apartment where the landlord proudly presented me to the Taiwanese version of a walk in shower. Yes indeed, the tiny bathroom was a wet room. By positioning myself just right on the toilet, and balancing my elbow on the edge of the bathroom sink, I could in fact hold the hose that came out of the wall above the toilet tank and take a pleasant hot shower.

Why all the fuss about showers?

It’s simple. A shower isn’t merely a place to wash dirt off our bodies; it purifies and refreshes us within. It’s a private moment of renewal, a way to let things go, to watch the dirt of the day flow away with the water and disappear down the drain.

Practical and Inexpensive Walkin Shower Splish-Spalsh

You needn’t go to Bali for a marble-teak splish or to Tokyo to take a high-tech splash, and you needn’t live in the jungle to smell bamboo and stone as you scrub. You can have a walk in shower as Caribbean-tropical or as Asian-chic as you desire right in your own home. Don’t settle for squatting over a toilet or standing inside a tub when you can dance to your own beat in a walk in shower that’s both practical and inexpensive.

You can buy a walk in shower cubical or a modern walk in shower enclosure made of glass or you can build walk in shower stalls from wood, stone, mosaic tile or marble. The secret to a walkin shower is how well the area is sealed and how well the drainage in the floor has been designed. To show you how simple and inexpensive it can be here’s an example: One innovative gentleman who ran a small 2 room B&B on an island in the South China Sea, simply left the cement shower area open, painted the back walls with a water-resistant bright color and filled the floor (up to the outer cement lip) with about 4 inches of medium sized loose gravel (not sand)and seashells. The water ran between the gravel and shells, draining as normal.

The Chinese owner said he had been inspired to create this shower by one he had seen when he lived on Australia’s Gold Coast. He said it cost him the price of the cement to make the area, the price of the taps and shower head, and the cost of the water-resistant paint; the pebbles and shells he gathered from the beach.

Handicap Showers

Walk in baths and showers are not just for the artistic or modern shower-goers who want something exotic. They are also practical solutions to facilitate access to disabled showers and handicapped showers in walk in bathrooms. A walk in bathroom, deigned extra wide and with no steps, can be combined with manual or electric showers. Elderly people or anyone needing level access showers, without a cubical enclosure, should consider a wet room made entirely of stone, tile or wood. A walk in bathroom/ wet room is not just for spas or hotels; they are practical for residential use and may resolve issues for designers who must create a bathroom for a handicapped individual.

Here at Home Walk In showers I will help you with tips and ideas for YOUR walk in showers so you can spend your time splish-splashing!

Easy Walk in Shower Solutions

If you’ve been thinking about a bathroom rehab by adding a walk in shower, there has never been a better to do it than now. The prices are good, the technology is peaking and the selection is almost limitless. Modernizing your shower into a walk in shower needn’t be a big undertaking. Here’s why.

Matki Walk In Shower

There are walk in shower cubicles that have all you need, like wall panels, doors, modular floor trays and most of them are packaged into one low price. All you need to do is call a plumber and install. In a couple hours you can be taking a shower in your sleek new space.

There is also a walk in shower enclosure that is all inclusive, in many cases with a modular console and digital control. All you need to do is pick a space, make sure there’s a drain and plug it in. Well, not exactly “plug in”, but close.

No more Slippery Showers over the Tub

Alternatives to the slippery “shower over a tub” are walk in shower stalls personalized to whatever what you want with tile, arches, stone, wood or parts of prefabricated showers instead of the whole unit.

• use a floor tray for drainage but keep the walls natural stone
• install a teak floor but use white wall back and side panels
• install only the large sheets of glass for doors and leave the shower space otherwise open

Quick Design Tips for Modernizing Walk in Showers

• Try black slate tile as a backdrop for walk in showers wet room. It’s elegant, especially if you’re going to add glass panel doors and sleek chrome taps.
• Add multiple shower heads or a combination of nozzles hoses and waterfalls just like in the fancy hotels. There are many residential options available and for a lot less then you might think.
• For a crisp modern look you can tile in neutral stone and add a dash of accent color in a minimalist way – such as a little Spanish olive green or a touch of China red with a single porcelain pot outside the shower door.

• A teak seat inside the shower can give that five star feeling without the price.

• New shower heads or an electric shower could be all you need to modernize walk in showers.
• Buy a stylish bathroom counter top, floor tiles and new fixtures and fittings to finish off the look.