Bathroom Trends

Sonia’s Fractal Collection creates harmony from asymmetry, while maintaining exceptional functionality and style. The vanity hints at a bow tie. Utilizing hard lines to create its form, an off-set sink basin rests on storage space accessible through two drawers and a hinged cabinet door. The fractal vanity is available in either floor- or wall-mounted options and comes with a medicine cabinet featuring LED technology as well as a glass door wall vitrine. The Fractal Collection is designed to pair with the S9 collection. Fractal cabinets are available in two sizes, and the vitrine can be purchased in four different finish options allowing for the perfect fit in a luxury bathroom setting (www.sonia-sa.com).

Watermark Designs has introduced its newest bathroom fixture, the Elan Vital faucet. The fixture’s 19th-centuryesque guise is created by the ball valve-like handles and steel plumbing pipe and joints. Despite the fixture’s antiquated industrialized look, the workings of the piece are quite contemporary, including a ¼ in.-turn washer less ceramic disc cartridges in the handles and a low-flow aerator. Elan Vital comes in 40 finishes and several mounting options. Unlike most other fixtures, the Elan Vital can be customized to client specifications (www.watermark-designs.com).

Kohler has released its new Touchless flush system and toilet seat night light. The Touchless system allows users to flush by waving a hand over a sensor mounted on the top of the tank lid, helping to reduce the possibility of contact with germs and pathogens. Touchless, which runs for about 12 months on four AA batteries, works with almost any toilet that uses canister and flapper-type systems. Nightlight includes a “Guiding Light” visible with the lid closed, allowing the user to find the toilet. The “Task Light,” illuminates the bowl for easier use in the dark (www.kohler.com).

 LAUFEN took ceramics into the 21st century last year when it began designing bathroom products with its new proprietary ceramic, SaphirKeramik. The mixture surpasses the strength of its more traditional counterparts, measuring a flexural strength comparable to that of steel and twice that of vitreous china. SaphirKeramik is made with the naturally occurring mineral corundum, a component of sapphire, which is topped in hardness only by diamond. Its strength and durability allows for the creation of thinner-walled sinks and structures and can achieve a thinness of 1 to 2mm radii for edges and 2 mm for corners, where classic materials would need about 7 to 8mm radii (www.us.laufen.com).

SinkPositive allows renters and owners the opportunity to curb water use without ponying up the cash for a pricey building-wide water reclamation system. The product, which is manufactured in Clinton, Tenn., features a touch-less faucet that affixes to the top of a toilet tank and is fed directly from the fresh water supply line. After the toilet is flushed, the new supply water streams from the spout for hand washing. The greywater from hand washing then drains into the toilet tank for future flushes. SinkPositive is an ideal fit for micro units, bathrooms lacking sinks or with sinks in other rooms, as well as basements and pool rooms (www.sinkpositive.com).