Fish-tank toilets. Flower-shaped sinks. Mirrors that morph into HDTV's. Remote-controlled water temperature sensors, installed in baths that will also give you a suntan. Custom tubs with mood lights and heated neckrests. Luxury faucets made of French crystal.
American ingenuity and conspicuous consumption strike the bathroom. Here, a look at the world's most creative, most costly choices on the market now.
A $6,000 TOILET
Kohler's bank-breaking Numi goes where no toilet has ever gone before.
Numi's built-in motion detector opens the top as soon as you enter the bathroom, plus a heated seat and built-in temperature-controlled bidet.
It also has speakers and an audio input jack with a remote docking station for an MP3 player. Vents at the base keep your feet toasty warm. Charcoal filters clean the air. It glows in the dark. Not even the Queen of England will ever sit on a throne like this.
PERFECT BATHS & SHOWERS
For couch potatoes, consider the combination vanity mirror/LCD-TV. Now you can lather up without missing Good Morning America.
Philips Electronics "MiraVision Mirror TV" conceals a high-definition television behind a bathroom mirror. It has been listed in the "Products of the Year" by Fortune magazine and the "Coolest Inventions" by Time magazine.
For beachlovers, there's ProSun's tanning "SunShower". This shower stall has built-in UV lights for bronzing in the bath. It won the 2006 K/BIS award for Best New Bath Product. It's also been featured on HGTV: http://www.prosunsunshower.com.
TIME AND TEMPERATURE
Behold Aqualisa's ilux digital shower. A quartz-controlled thermostat with preset to 94.5 degrees F. There's also a tub version that does the same job for bathwater.
But that's not even the best part. With this unit, you can turn on the water and adjust the temps from another room, drawing your bath from the comfort of your couch. Imported from England, this patented unit earned the "Queen's Award For Innovation". Contact them for U.S. distributors: www.aqualisa.co.uk.
ON THE BEACH
Be the first on your block to install a blooming porcelain sink or urinal designed by California artist Clark Sorenson.
Iinspired by seashells and tropical flowers, Sorenson has installed Tulips, Poppies, Pitcher Plants and Conch Shells for rich clients looking for something unique. You can find them overseas at England's Barton Grange Garden Center and domestically as a centerpiece for a 2008 Salt Lake Art Center auction fundraiser.
Most can be ordered at a very reasonable... $10,000 or less. See the current line at www.clarkmade.com.
BETTER BATHS
Looking to take your soak in the tub to the next level?
Consider a customized body-shaped bathtub from The Body Tub. This West Virginia company says nothing is as comfortable as lounging in their contoured, custom designs. See them at www.thebodytub.com.
Then there's Acryline's luxury comfort-tubs - deep and decadent, with warm-air body and neck massages and "chromo therapy" lights that change from rainbows to yellow, green, and aqua. Videos are posted on their website: www.acrylineusa.com.
GO FISH!
Do fish swim?
Fish-n-Flush puts the answer right there in your commode. This toilet tank features a fully functioning 2.2-gallon aquarium. Unit includes gravel, water filter and LED illumination that doubles as a night light. Creator Aqua One sells a less photogenic but nonetheless unique device to stop leaking pipes and appliances with its patented "H2Orb" add-on unit.
View them all at the Aqua One website: www.aquaone.com/main.asp.
OOH LA LA! FAUCETS FROM FRANCE
Tap into the caFrench crystal retains its cachet. Now you can tap into that with jewel-like art-glass faucets from France's art-glass icons, Daum and Lalique, which have signed on with luxury bath designer Tetard-Haudiquez-Grisoni.
Known to the world as THG, the company has started pushing its ultra-chic faucets and furnishings at trade shows.
That trickle-down strategy might just work. THG captured the money-is-no-object class with a product line many have considered the most beautiful in the world. Their faucets grace some of the world's most expensive hotels and yachts, including the Saudi Royal family's superyacht, Monaco's ritzy Monte Carlo Bay hotel, and big boats of billionaires around the world.