From Pot Fillers to Steam Showers, These Kitchen and Bathroom Upgrades Might Be Worth Splashing Out

When you’re dreaming of ways to really level up your space, you often ask questions with an obvious answer: Do I need a wine fridge? Shouldn’t my shower have half a dozen sprayers? That answer of course is usually, for logistical reasons, no. But it’s also sometimes worth considering a compromise. Maybe sticking with your dorm room French press is fine, but you really need that pot filler. Or you’re content to wash your old dishes in a new sink worth writing home about. Here are some splurges that don’t necessarily make sense, but maybe sometimes they do.

Day to Evening

Today’s kitchens are more than a place to make meals. They’re where we start our mornings and where we can return throughout the day for tiny top-ups of the stuff that makes us feel good. Need a cold glass of ice water while working from home or a sneaky late-night snack? A well-stocked kitchen prioritizes pleasure while putting the fun in function.

Who needs cabinet space when you can set aside a shelf or two for an appliance garage—a handy home base for your little luxuries, whatever they may be. Maybe you need an industrial-grade blender or a stand mixer fit for a commercial kitchen. Or maybe you really want pebble ice and espresso every morning—but are you willing to move water lines to accommodate your desires?

"Appliances have now become one of the first set of decisions we ask clients to make when they are renovating or building a new home," says designer Jean Liu. Time-honored brands like Scotsman’s Ice Systems offer a variety of products, so there’s one to fit many budgets and spaces. For Liu’s clients Mary and Scott Hager, a Scotsman model was a must-have. "The ice maker was a nonnegotiable," Liu notes. "They had the same ice maker in one of their previous homes and knew how much they would enjoy it."

"As for the coffee maker, they saw the entire showroom section of integrated coffee makers when they went to shop for their other appliances and were convinced to add the Miele into this new home," she adds. And while the Hagers can rely on their coffee maker for a quick caffeine fix, their son is their ice machine’s biggest fan, and he’s always happy to mix himself a Painkiller (rum, pineapple, OJ, and coconut cream over ice—take note).

Upgrade your kitchen:

Fancy Faucets

Your grandma’s spigot worked just fine, but there are a lot of shinier options out there now that get the job done with so much more style.

For example, California Faucet’s wall-mounted range of pot fillers, as seen in Matt Rednor’s renovation, is available in more than 20 finishes. Don’t let decision fatigue turn you off. Just remember that thanks to the faucet’s dual-jointed swing spout, splashing potfuls of water across the kitchen will be a thing of the past. If you’re new to pot fillers, you can generally mount one about 18 inches above the counter, but your mileage may vary. Designer Danielle Colding notes, "A good rule of thumb is to place the faucet head a few inches above your tallest pot."

If you’re after a tap that’s all that and a kitchen sink, try the HydroTap Arc for Home. Zip Water’s multifunctional faucet packs can do it all and are built to last. Choose from models that offer different combinations of boiling, chilled, and sparkling water because—why not? It’s your kitchen, not mine.

Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio chose to use a HydroTap Arc for Amy and Joseph Miller’s recent remodel. Their vision for the home was inspired by the clients’ travels to Puglia, Italy, where whitewashed towns tower over dramatic cliffs leading into the Adriatic Sea. For the kitchen, they chose warm woods and cabinetry to match the 16-foot-long travertine table by Jamie Hayon. Ritz and Rabin went for a sleek faucet in matte black that acts as a subtle accent against the kitchen’s sandy southern European palette.

But if you’re after a glossy gold faucet or one in silver, you’re in luck: The HydroTap Arc comes in seven finishes. Choose one that matches your jewelry or your mood. (Or your kitchen, I guess.)

It’s time for a new faucet!

Sipping in Style

If you’re anything like me, a full fridge is the key to a full heart. But on a steamy summer day, there’s nothing worse than holding the door open as you rummage past bags of spinach and loose lemons to find a can of something cold while hot air fills your fridge.

An under-the-counter beverage fridge might seem like an extravagance—but it doesn’t have to be if you know where to look. Zephyr’s single-zone coolers, which clock in at around $1,500 each, are affordable enough and can be easily gussied up to look very expensive. It’s the stuff of summer daydreams, with professional-grade temperature regulation and ventilation, decked out with built-in LED light strips and a crystal-clear glass door for taking stock of your options.

For wine freaks, Zephyr’s single-zone wine cooler won’t break the bank. Use the full-extension wood racks to lay down that bottle you brought back from Bordeaux (or Trader Joe’s, no judgment). The refrigerator also includes a vibration-dampening system to ensure that your bottles of bubbles are safe, secure, and ready to be sabred in celebration at a moment’s notice because luxury has no schedule, darling.

The matching single-zone beverage fridge comes highly recommended as well. Jessica Davis of Atelier Davis says it’s a personal favorite, and she chose both Zephyr’s wine fridge and beverage fridge for her own Atlanta home. They were easy to integrate into her existing kitchen concept: "They are panel-ready, which gives them a much higher-end, custom feel.

"I made sure I had them on-site and all the specifications early in the game so that the cabinetry person could plan accordingly," Davis says. To round out her kitchen, she used tubular hardware from Nest Studio to lend an elegance to the cabinetry. "Having two fridges allowed me to make them mirror images of each other from a right- and left-hand perspective, which really accentuates the hardware," she says.

Once you’ve found the perfect fridge and finish, the real fun begins: How will you stock it? For Davis, the answer was always clear: "I am a seltzer junkie, so San Pellegrino, Spindrift, and LaCroix," she admits, adding, "I also love a midday Diet Coke." Girl, me too.

A fridge for all your beverages:

Power Showers

Steam systems, body jets, and rainfall showerheads, oh my! Who needs the spa when your bathroom can have it all?

While I was proud of myself for swapping out the showerhead from my landlord for one with a water softener, more advanced fixtures require more advanced interventions in both plumbing and electrical components. For a steam shower, this means making room for a generator the size of a briefcase, which boils the water away from your bathroom in a dry, heated location. The steam is then released through a steam head, which can be operated through a control on the wall (or via an app, if that’s what you’re into).

To ensure that your steam shower is fully functional, you will need a standard household power system, as well as a water line to the generator, a steam line from the generator to the shower, and a drain line leading away from the shower. I know what you’re thinking: It’s easy, almost too easy. But, buyer, beware: To set it all up, you might have to think outside the cubicle.

Designer Analisse Taft-Gersten of ALT for Living knew she wanted a solid-marble bathroom with the iTempoPlus Steam Shower System from Mr. Steam for her Hamptons home. "This bathroom was extremely challenging to do because the flooring underneath was just floorboards, with no space in between," she says. "We had to get very creative to run lines and vents down to the basement."

"Baths have so many layers of complexity to meet both function and beauty," explains Elena Frampton of Frampton Co. "Floor pitch; drainage details; waterproofing; the right size, proportions, and layout; and, of course, heights for showerheads and body sprays."

Is it worth it in the end? Well, it might be. "Custom work always adds a level of personalization," Frampton notes. In a recent project, she balanced the renovations needed to add a set of body jets from THG Paris with the layout of the adjacent dining room and powder room, then thickened select walls to ensure that the plumbing fit comfortably. "A luxury shower wants an interesting shape and proportion," she says. "We created a tall curving space, an accessible but not visually prominent product storage, and gorgeous materials—here, stone floors and a handmade crackled glazed tile."

Make the shower fun again:

Bath-Side Tables

It happened to me: I ran a hot bath, tossed in a cup of eucalyptus salt, and lined up a film on my laptop. Then I poured myself a glass of wine, only to realize I had nowhere to put it.

Trendy or classic? Wood or smoked glass? When it comes to choosing a bath-side table, you’ll find yourself spoiled for choice. Practicality is key: You want to soak away your worries, not let them sink in. I love vintage farmhouse stools as much as the next bath aficionado, but they can be a pain to clean, especially when exposed to high humidity.

Instead, you’ll want to opt for bath-side tables made from materials like glass and acrylic for ease of cleaning. Any rings left on a model like the Miniforms Soda can be buffed with a wet towel once you’re done soaking. No mess, no stress, no problem.

And now... let’s play a game called "Find the Fridge"

Styling by Julia Stevens.

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