There is nothing more modern in your home these days than a modern bathroom. If you were to install the most updated bathroom fixtures, accessories and infrastructure possible with today's newest products, you would have a room providing almost unbelievable sybaritic luxury both in looks and in function. Pampering your body has never been as possible as it is with a makeover of your existing bathroom or installation of a brand new heavenly haven.

If you need proof of how the appearance of a bathroom can be changed with the fixtures now on the market, just consider the range of new bathrooms sinks. The only thing more pleasing about the new selections of these fixtures is the way their prices are falling as competition and less expensive copycats erode the margins of these beauties.

Yesterday's boring and pristine white and almond porcelain sinks have given way to basins of stone, glass, stainless steel, copper or even hand-blown glass, that sit atop artful stands or gorgeous and more functional cabinets. Some of these basins are made from imported, pulverized gemstones with each basin different from its predecessor. And the faucets that adorn these new basin sinks are just as inventive and tasteful - with prices to match.

Of course, an ideal bathroom is all about feelings and the new products on the market are made for ultimate pampering of your body. Forget about lying back and soaking in an ordinary bathtub; today's tubs are touted as extensions of holistic healing or as hedonistic retreats. New soaker tubs are designed around the concept of 'chromatherapy' or the use of colour to improve health. These tubs actually wash the bather in different hues as well as warm water.

In fact, the old-fashioned bath in nothing but water and soap has a fancy new title; you're not taking a bath, you're benefiting from 'hydrotherapy', a treatment using hot water to relax the body or 'contrast hydrotherapy' employing hot and cold water to keep your blood vessels and organs in shape or natural hydrotherapy using body-temperature water to counter insomnia and bring calm to your nervous system. Hydrotherapy works best, we're told, in whirlpool baths and hot tubs. And, if you add essential oils of orange, lavender or other smells to the water in your tub or bath, you're indulging yourself in 'aromatherapy' in your new bathroom.

The new version of the whirlpool bath is the air bath that blows or bubbles air through the water to massage you. Of course, the still water bathtub is now known as the soaker tub.

The ultimate in a bathroom tub, if it still can be called a tub, is a whole spa system including seats, jets, headrests, footrests and lumbar supports. These spas contain heaters to keep the temperature of the water constant from the beginning to end of your bath massage experience.

Showers have been revolutionized in the past few years with the newest models looking more like something you would find on a spaceship than in a home bathroom. There are body spas with multiple showerheads. Some of these units have electronic touch pads that allow you to adjust the direction and the force of the water flow to give you a customized massage while you get clean.

Again, the price of these units has been been dropping and, while they are far from cheap, they have become affordable for installation during average cost bathroom makeovers or even as additions to existing showers. Multiple shower head systems run from the several hundreds of dollars to the $2,000 range but the plumbing for some units can add greatly to the real cost.

When you step out of your shower or bath, you'll want a warm towel from your new towel warmer, chosen from a wide selection ranging from models at less than $100 to some in the thousands.

You will want to step on your warm floor, heating with a thin-wire, under-tile system. And it would be nice to finish drying in front of the fireplace you have installed in your new bathroom.

If you like spending a great deal of time in your bathroom, you will want a stereo system or plasma, LCD or other flat screen TV in the room. Your vision of your own radiant face will be improved by the addition of a fog free mirror in the room. Then, there are plants, artwork and other decorations that give the perfect look and feel to a bathroom suited to this current age.

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Dale Goldhawk - journalist, author and broadcaster, Dale has protected consumers through his shows on CBC Television, CBC Radio, Global Television and the CTV Television Network and his columns in the Toronto Telegram and other newspapers. For consumer news and qualified suppliers visit our website