Design Vogue

If you’re a homeowner looking to update your bathroom and you’re reconsidering which bath updates are must-haves and which you can skip, read on to learn what some professional designers would skip when it comes to their own bathrooms and why.

All experts are part of the National Kitchen + Bath Association (NKBA), so read on to find out which five bathroom upgrades aren't worth your investment.

Heated Floors

A heated bathroom floor, especially in colder winter months, seems like a luxury add-on that may seem practical. However, some homeowners looking to narrow down renovation goals may want to skip this upgrade since some professional designers and remodelers don’t think it’s worth it.

Kacie Atkinson, lead designer at Nar Design Group, explains how once they're installed, they rarely get used. She elaborates that this feature takes time to heat up, and people typically don’t plan ahead with regards to when and how they’ll use the bath space. Unless you tend to stick to a rigid shower schedule and routine or also plan to install a home automation system that keeps the heated floor on a timer, you might not make much use of the floor and may even forget you’ve installed one after a time.

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TV Screens

While some homeowners don’t want to miss a beat of their chosen morning news program while getting ready for work or while soaking after a hard long day, Shannon Ggem, principal of Shannon Ggem Design, would recommend skipping the TV addition.

“With so many hard finishes, plumbing lines, and functional aspects of a bath, I try to avoid installing actual TVs in the bath if possible,” she says.

Instead, she specifies functional accessories that can hold personal screens such as tablet computers.

“Tech is changing so quickly and can look dated. It would be a big pain for a homeowner to swap out a hard-installed TV and I want their gorgeous baths to last," Ggem says.

Jetted Tubs

There was a time when jetted tubs such as a whirlpool or jacuzzi were desirable to create that spa-like feel in the bath. And while some homeowners still want such a feature, others, including Jeanne Chung, a principal designer at Cozy Stylish Chic, find that they serve more as visual statements taking up real estate in a bathroom. Chung explains how they don’t get used often enough to warrant the price of implementing one.

Instead, Chung suggests considering a steam shower that can be used on a daily basis. Atkinson would also steer clear of a jetted tub, citing that she’d instead opt for a sleek soaking tub as it’ll provide a cleaner overall visual for the bathroom and it’ll be easier to clean and maintain.

Slabs Instead of Tile

This is a subjective and controversial one given current design trends, but some designers would skip large-format tiles and slabs in favor of conventional-size tiles. Ggem, for one, would avoid using large-format marble on floors due to slip risk.

Ggem personally prefers tiles and mosaics since they're often better and safer for preventing falling risks due to the friction of the grout lines. Modern grout products and sealers have also significantly improved, making them easier to clean and maintain, Ggem says.

However, if your heart is set on marble slabs, consider the many large-format porcelain tile products mimicking the look of marbles and stones that have purportedly high slip resistance to address bathroom floors and even poolside areas. Do your due diligence in researching larger-format tiles and slabs before applying any to a bath floor.

Chung would also prefer keeping a tiled shower enclosure over replacing it with large slab styles, in particular the marble stone–simulating varieties. A slab wall has the potential to feel cold and impersonal compared to the conventional tiled surface, Chung explains.

“Yes, it’s a more modern look, but the added value may not always be worth the financial investment and the amount of work,” Chung says.

Mirrors With Integral Lighting

Those lighted mirrors, especially the kind where the LEDs are integrated into the mirror as sleek, minimal lines, can give the bath a luxury hotel feel. However, it's vital to know that an integral LED can’t be easily replaced.

Ggem explains how when the light stops working, the whole piece becomes useless.

“That doesn’t bode well for the future of our landfills and gives me great pause in specifying them," Ggem says.

Try either a mirror completely separate from wall sconces, bath lighting bars, or mirrors that have integrated but removable and replaceable light sources that you can easily change yourself as needed.