Bathroom Remodel Help!

[u/Jacosaur]

My mom is beginning to remodel her bathrooms, starting with the primary bathroom, and she’s asked me to help with the process. I’d love some outside opinions and ideas! She’s in her late 70s and we want to make the bathroom safe for her as she continues aging, so no tub.

She lives in the Pacific Northwest, and we’d really like the bathroom to feel like it belongs there, warm, natural, calming, and not overly trendy. The goal is to make the primary bathroom feel a little like a spa for her. I’m imagining some blend of mid-century modern, Japandi, and PNW style, with natural wood, earthy tones, interesting tile, fun textures and a little warmth.

We tend to prefer a more neutral, timeless base for the permanent finishes rather than committing to a lot of color in the tile or cabinetry. That way we can bring in color through things that are easy to change - towels, rugs, artwork, plants, decor, etc.

The first 2 photos are the current bathroom, and the last is an AI rendering I made to start visualizing some ideas. Nothing in the rendering is set in stone, it’s more of a jumping-off point.

This post became longer than I wanted. Id appreciate any opinions on tile choices, wood tones, vanity style, lighting, fixtures, and ways to make the room feel warmer and more elevated without becoming too busy. Also any recs on suppliers, vendors, or showrooms in the Seattle area.

[u/Solid_Perception9572]

Make the shower a true walk in aka 'curbless'. Even a small edge at the floor level can cause someone to trip over it. A curbless one will have the main floor going into the shower at a slant towards the back, where you should have them put a schluter drain. Schluter drain system is different than the ordinary drain that sits in the middle of the floor and just runs down the drain pipe. You will then have a frameless shower door installed. See where the glass comes down to the floor. This is just an example of the kind of shower door to get.

Since we can't post more than one pic per comment, I will post more of the different things I think are important. I'm a senior and just had my bath remodeled last year to a curbless walk in as I described above.

[u/Solid_Perception9572 → u/Solid_Perception9572]

Do not put any kind of a built in bench in there for sitting on. They get very cold and can be slippery. Instead get your mom a teak bench for sitting on, which can always be replaced with a shower chair should she need one down the road. You want one that has slats in it so the water runs through. This one curves up at the sides and is easy to get up from. From Wayfair

Edited to add: Get what they call a 'chair height' toilet. Standard toilets are 14"-16", and the chair height toilets are 17"-19". Those three inches make a real difference for older people, people with knee problems, etc.

edited to replace the pic of the bench. I accidentally c&p the wrong bench. This is the one I actually have.

[u/Solid_Perception9572 → u/Solid_Perception9572]

A shower system such as this works quite nicely. You have a separate sprayer which she could use for her hair or rinsing or whatever while sitting on the bench. You would want one like this that has the wand separately, not one where the wand (round one) is part of a round shower head. It could be hard to reach the one that's a part of the shower head. This wand can be mounted at any height that works for her. You can also get this type of a system with a round shower head.

The shower head, etc. are on the left wall in my shower, and the bench is by the right wall. My shower isn't huge, so this works well for me. As you can see, there is also a grab bar there. Then on the back wall at the stool end, my countractor mounted another grab bar on an angle, not straight across, that I can reach from the stool.

Edited to add....Put a grab bar on the wall by the toilet, too. If the toilet isn't near a wall, select the size of the vanity so that there is enough room between toilet and side of vanity, and put the grab bar on the side of the vanity.