To Craft a Ceremony

A shower can be more than an everyday act. Not just a daily routine, but a moment of intention, solace and renewal. With fine design and careful detail, the shower becomes a ritual to honor the self.

“A bathroom should feel like a sanctuary,” says Carli Grommet, owner and principal designer of CG Studio Interiors. “It’s one of the first places someone will start their day, and usually the place they’ll end the day as well.”

“A bathroom should feel like a sanctuary.”

Claire Staszak, owner and principal designer of Centered by Design, agrees. “Calm and serenity are lovely in a shower setting,” she says.

Alongside Jamie Stuber, senior product manager for Brizo, the two designers spoke about crafting tailored and transformative rituals for the shower.

INTENTION

Both designers agree that such a space demands a personal touch, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Staszak begins her projects with a study in habits. “We start off with what is most important to the client,” she says. Whether it’s bathing in the night or showering in the morning, she builds the space around her client’s existing practices.

Grommet considers the flow and experience, too, and these inform the practical elements. From valve placements to drain types and beyond, everything comes back to comfort.

Stuber encourages designers to envision these details early in the process. “Once you design the space, it’s not very easy to change it,” he says. “Ask yourself how you will use the space for more than just basic showering, and what the setup will look like.”

TEXTURE

Material selection plays a key role in developing the atmosphere. Calming, yet resonant colors and textural palettes encourage serenity and focus. Natural elements, too, can inspire mindfulness.

“Our focus typically leans toward natural materials
and finishes that create a feeling of quiet luxury.”

“Natural materials, particularly marble, can really elevate a shower,” Staszak says. “Choose stone tile or other material that feels great on your feet. Beautiful plumbing products can also elevate the space and create a timeless look.”

Grommet aims for comfort and function in her own selections. “Our focus typically leans toward natural materials and finishes that create a feeling of quiet luxury,” she says.

IMMERSION

To create a distinct experience—away from the rest of the day— engage all the senses: plush textures, heated floors, artwork, and the like.

Stuber encourages such additions as audiotherapy and chromatherapy to deepen the ritual. “The music you choose during this ritual time will greatly impact the experience,” he says. Visual choices, too, can vary the atmosphere, whether with low, warm lighting or brighter, more cheerful hues.

“Transition slowly out of the shower experience with scent,
sound, or color still at work.”

Whatever sensory details manifest, Stuber also notes they should ease the transition into and out of the ritual. “You don’t want the experience afterwards to be jarring,” he says. “Transition slowly out of the shower experience with scent, sound, or color still at work.”

DEDICATION

Though the shower often represents a moment away from the rush of day-to-day life, digital innovations can help create an enduring and enveloping ceremony for the self.

From a sleek and functional digital interface to WiFi connectivity that allows for updates over time to customizable user presets, Stuber says the SensoriPlus^™ Digital Shower System uses technology to elevate and tailor the ritual.

Such additions can also allow for more variation within each shower. “One part that our products can do that no one else on the market can do is vary the temperature at each fixture individually,” he says. In a post-workout shower, for example, a cold shower might boost muscle recovery—but it’s also less relaxing. With one cold stream of water and another warmer one, a user can move back and forth between the two and balance the experience.

BREATH

Attention to breath is a centerpiece for many personal rituals. Consider deeper, more regulated breaths during the shower, which can reduce stress and pain by affecting your nervous system and promoting calm throughout the body.

Scent can heighten the experience as well. Different scents can greatly affect mood. Within the Brizo^® Aromatherapy suite, five unique blends promote serenity, clarity, focus, openness, or indulgence during the ritual.

MEDITATION

The shower represents a chance to turn inward, away from the chaos of daily life. That experience only builds with steam.

“Steam is a completely different ritual experience in and of itself,” Stuber says. Indeed, steam holds a wealth of physical benefits, from indulging the skin to caring for the muscles. But Stuber notes a major mental benefit as well.

“Steam is a completely different ritual experience in and of itself.”

“I challenge anyone to go sit somewhere for 15 minutes and do nothing—it’s a skill that’s completely gone from all of us,” he says. “But when they use the steam shower, people don’t take their phone in with them. They choose to disconnect for a while.”

This chance for meditation, according to Stuber, reconnects us with our own humanity. “I think we as a human race need to be a lot more comfortable with not being constantly productive or entertained. We have to be at peace with doing less.”

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From fittings and textures to scent, sound, and even state of mind, the ultimate key to crafting a ritual is to consider the desired emotional effect.

“We have to be at peace with doing less.”

“A shower could be one of the most vulnerable states a human could be in,” Grommet says, “so creating a luxurious and comforting experience is top of mind.”

Staszak agrees, noting the shower’s unique role as a space of such personal function and beauty. “It allows us to calm our mind, much like a meditation, and move through the ritual without much thought,” she says. “We just let whatever comes to the surface arise.”