Seth Augenstein
New Jersey Herald

SPARTA — Statistics say we all spend about seven years of our lives there.

Yet, the bathroom — or lavatory, powder room, water closet, or whatever else you may prefer to call it — is an absolutely vital part of modern life, no matter who you are.

And no matter who you are, you will soon notice they are changing.

Bathrooms are undergoing an evolution of sorts that aims to make this most basic of places available, appealing and adaptable to anybody and everybody.

The concept is “universal design,” and experts said its underlying philosophy is to make everyday necessities easy and accommodating for all people — kids, adults, the handicapped, the elderly, everyone.

At its simplest form, it involves meshing simple functionality and ease-of-use upgrades, including hidden handrails, bigger and more-open shower stalls, taller toilets, higher sinks, with popular aesthetic designs.

The goal is to fit subtle safety and accessibility improvements into a visually-pleasing scheme that won’t look “institutionalized.” The goal is to have bathrooms have more open and better-lighted spaces, with technological upgrades making the room safer and more comfortable.

Diana Schrage, the senior interior designer at the Kohler Design Center, calls the new way of thinking about universal design in bathrooms nothing short of a “paradigm shift.”

“Universal design is really the creation of products or environments that can be used by as many people as possible, regardless of their ages or circumstances,” Schrage said.

Kohler, the gigantic designer and manufacturer, is perhaps leading the push for universal design, and Schrage is perhaps the company’s lead designer in this move. She said the philosophy is to be even more universal than Americans with Disability Act designs — so that bathroom controls don’t involve grasping, pinching or twisting, and that even an 8-year-old can shower by themselves. At the same time, the designs are feng shui-influenced and are meant to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

“One goal we have as designers is to help people,” Schrage said. “But we have it be stunning — be beautiful — at the same time.”

In Sussex County, Sparta Trades has been a bathroom and kitchen remodeling expert for more than half a century. In the last several years, it has embraced the universal design concept. Nearly every bathroom job it does involves aspects of the new way of thinking.

Chet Basher, owner of Sparta Trades, said the ideas originally were touched off when very physically-able people began requesting the installation of the handicapped-accessible toilets, which are two inches taller than traditional toilets, and are much more comfortable for anyone above average height.

Now Basher and his company, including experts such as Judy Radl and Robin Dey, incorporate universal design upgrades for younger couples who like extra space in the shower, Baby Boomers who realize they may not be as mobile in the coming decades, and of course, physically limited people who absolutely need the ability to take care of themselves now. There are even barrier-free showers that are easy for wheelchairs to simply roll into under reachable shower heads. It’s an emerging market with many different groups, especially for the some 75 million aging Boomers, most of whom want to stay in their own homes.

“They’re becoming more prone to needing this,” Basher said. “They know what their limitations are, but they don’t know what the solutions are until they see us,” Dey added. Perhaps the most common job Sparta Trades recently has seen is the replacement of the sometimes ostentatious Jacuzzi tubs with bigger shower stalls. The tubs, which were a fad in the 1990s, now are being considered a space liability in most homes, since people don’t use the oversized, cumbersome fixtures as much as they had thought they would.

The company recently did such a job for the Fetch family in Boonton. A small bathroom off the master bedroom in the high-ceilinged house was opened and made more accessible, said Linda Fetch.

The bulky Jacuzzi tub that once took up most of the cramped bathroom has given way to a big, open shower, a higher and easier-to-use vanity and sink and twice the closet space. A shower bench and a raining shower head were installed for ease of use in the shower, which also has a smaller lip to get over into the stall. Also, the lighting was increased and improved with brighter colors, better fixtures and a larger window, which is especially important since Linda’s husband, Robert, has deteriorating eyesight.

The couple, who are still very active in their mid-50s, said remodeling their bathroom is nonetheless an investment for the future.

“It just makes everything so much easier . . . All those things make a difference when you’re living here everyday,” said Linda Fetch. “And boy, what a difference it makes.”

Back at Kohler headquarters, Schrage said universal design is a way to fit all phases of the life cycle that everyone experiences.

“It’s a whole philosophy that just encourages creative solutions,” she said. “The paradigm shift is here.”