The trendy bathroom upgrades homeowners instantly regret

Daily Mail​

17-05-2025

Fancy trends have snuck their way in from hotels to homes, and while they look fashionable, homeowners have revealed the biggest mistakes they made upgrading their bathrooms.
As rainfall shower heads and sleek faucets trickled into homeowners bathrooms, they found the trendy design lacked in practicality leaving them regretting their often expensive upgrades.
One of the biggest trends that captured homeowners was the rain shower, giving their bathrooms a spa-like experience and adding a sleek statement.
But while the expensive installation can look great, it can often turn out to be far from practical.
Jeanne Achille from New Jersey recently finished sprucing up her bathroom which included a $500 rain-style shower head, but she told the Wall Street Journal that the at-home spa experience was short lived.
'We're eight showers in and it's pretty, but not practical,' she said.
The trouble with a rain shower can lie in the lack of water pressure, often leaving the user with shampoo still in their hair, but the fall of water from above also means they have no choice but to get their hair wet.
'Rain shower heads are really lovely in spa theory, but I'm convinced were designed by people who washed their hair daily,' one reader wrote to style blogger Emily Henderson.
'There is no way to avoid getting your hair wet and even a shower cap can't save that.'
But costly upgrades can also go wrong with expensive décor in the bathroom that can't withstand the environment.
While some bathroom features add a pop of color or an intricate texture to bring a theme together, some items just aren't made for the humid and wet environment in the bathroom.
Expensive mirrors, especially, often can't endure the moisture and heat, according to Tanya Smith-Shiflett, the founder of Unique Kitchens and Baths in Maryland.
Some mirrors, such as medicine-chest mirrors, can withstand the humid environment without de-silvering, WSJ reported.
Fancy additions that threaten to ruin your expensive purchases can also include how they will interact with the rest of your bathroom pieces.
The costly installation of wall-mounted faucets can not only be an issue for your freshly painted wall or fancy wallpaper but can also lead to complications during or after installation.
Christopher Peacock, owner of a luxury cabinet company in New York, told WSJ that often wall mounted faucets are 'unusable.'
Peacock explained that the placement of the faucet, if it doesn't extend far enough from the wall, can make it impractical to use while washing your face for example.
Its placement can also lead to splashing as well as soapy, wet hands touching the faucet handles and damaging the wall.
Another reader told Henderson that after having wall-mounted faucets in their bathrooms they found 'some plumbers aren't used to doing them.'
'Both times I noticed that they installed the rough-in plumbing at the wrong height,' the reader said.
Costly and faulty installations, however, are not the only worries with troubling upgrades.
The linear drain became a popular, more stylish, drain option for more modern bathrooms, in place of 'locker-room' style drains.
But the design option can cost around five times more and with a hefty $1,000 installation fee.
The stylish drain also comes with complications when cleaning.
Kevin Bilo, of Bilo Plumbing & Heating in Massachusetts, told WSJ: 'They come with a tool that looks like a little fork to remove the cover, some of which are tiled to match the floor and are heavy, so there's risk of damaging the tile.'
Peacock added that on an every day practicality level they also prove difficult to maintain and keep clean.
'The drain has a wider surface area, so it collects more hair, soap scum and crud, and you have to take the cover off to clean it, which can be disgusting,' he said.
A reader of Henderson's wrote: 'Marble topped linear drains look good but they require an annoying additional step to clean out the drain catch - should have just gone with the simply, easy to wipe clean drain.'
When it comes down to the most regrettable trends, often homeowners found the difficulty with everyday cleaning and maintenance proved to be the biggest factor in their buyer's remorse.
One popular trend proved their point, as alcoves in showers became a popular and more stylish choice for storing toiletries.
However, the trapped soap and water often leads to a constant and irritating cleaning routine.
'Clients want tiled niches to store shampoo, but mildew and soap scum build up in the crevices,' Bethany Adams, a designer based in Kentucky, told the outlet.
One popular trend proved their point, as alcoves in showers became a popular and more stylish choice for storing toiletries. However, the trapped soap and water often leads to a constant and irritating cleaning routine
Adams said she preferred a ledge atop a short wall in the shower, which often can be cheaper and simpler than cutting into the wall, or a floating shelf.
'The solid surface is wipeable, and getting it out of a niche helps the corners dry faster,' she added.