The In-Home Sanctuary

By Clayton Neuman

Consumer goods have their merits, but the hardest-to-get luxuries have no price tag. Privacy. Sanctuary. Retreat. A feeling of having been cleansed. For such pleasures as these, there are only two places to go: monasteries and bathrooms. Most people opt for the latter.

In the bathroom, our rituals are simple, primal and--most of all--solitary. So it should come as no surprise that in the room in which people spend the most Me time, they're also spending a lot more money. From high-end tiling to the deepest baths; to soaps, candles and lighting; to towels whose softness would make kittens weep with envy--people are setting up in-home oases behind the bathroom door.

But it's showers that are getting the most lavish attention at the moment, says Peter Sallick, CEO of Waterworks. "People are creating a sitting area; they're creating multiple showering areas, adding hand showers and different types of showerheads." Waterworks, Dornbracht, Kohler and even plain old American Standard are responding by offering higher-and-higher-end fixtures. All in all, spending on bathroom remodeling went up 33% (to $20 billion) from 2001 to 2003, says the National Kitchen and Bath Association. Sure, some of it is for waterproof TVs and music systems, but more than gadgets, says Sallick, the biggest luxury in bathrooms is an expression of personal style. Nothing is as restful as the knowledge that the room in which you are all alone is all your own work. --REPORTED BY CLAYTON NEUMAN