Let’s face it, life can be challenging. Busy schedules, demanding jobs, endless commitments…the list goes on. The stress of everyday life can take a toll on our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Whenever we can incorporate wellness into our lives and take a break from all the chaos, it is welcomed. Oftentimes, people find the most comfort and peace at home. A luxurious bubble bath, or a rejuvenating hot shower can sometimes do the trick. Spa inspired bathrooms, or “spathrooms” are one of the biggest trends in home design today as more and more Americans are prioritizing health and wellness. But the bathroom isn’t the only place where wellness enhancing opportunities exist. Here are eight at-home wellness innovations in the bathroom and beyond that can help turn your home into the sanctuary it is meant to be.
Steam Bathing with Mr. Steam, Featuring iSteamX
One way to experience wellness at home is with steam bathing. Not only is steam bathing a relaxing, enjoyable, and invigorating experience, it offers dozens of benefits that range from physical to holistic wellness.
Spending time in a steam room has been found to help ease respiratory distress symptoms and other respiratory issues. In addition, a regular steaming routine can help eliminate toxins and flush out impurities that are damaging to the skin. Steam therapy can help alleviate stress, encourage relaxation, promote deeper, more restful sleep, improve circulation and so much more.
Mr. Steam has been creating steam showers for over 100 years, bringing one of the oldest therapies in the world directly to your bathroom. They recently launched a new sophisticated digital control system, iSteamX, which combines WiFi connectivity with unparalleled control over all features of your steam shower experience. With iSteamX, you can connect the serenity of a steam shower with your favorite playlist or podcast, then select chroma lighting, infuse aromatics, and elevate your steam bathing experience to a heightened level of sensory bliss.
Cold Plunge with Hydro Systems
One of the hottest wellness trends right now is ironically all about getting really cold, with cold plunging. Studies show that cold water immersion is full of physical and mental benefits. Repeated cold water exposure allows the mind to get acclimated to a state of discomfort, which improves its ability to handle other types of stress. Training yourself how to handle extreme discomfort starts to teach your body and mind that you’re in control. It can also offer a huge rush of endorphins, promote better sleep, decrease inflammation, boost your immune system, help with aches and pains, regulate hormones, and so much more.
Hydro Systems recently introduced a new cold plunge system, which can be added to practically any Hydro Systems bathtub. You can choose a tub that fits your style and add Cold Plunge, which reduces the water temperature down to 37°F. There are a host of additional options available that allow you to create the ultimate at-home wellness experience, like chromatherapy, enhanced jets, a masseuse system, and so much more.
Whole Home Water Filtration
Whole home water filtration is an excellent way to instantly enhance wellness in your home. Although tap water is considered by many to be safe, unfiltered water contains chlorine and/or chloramine and can also contain heavy metals, bacteria, lead, PFAS, and other contaminants. When showering or steam bathing in tap water, all these contaminants are aerosolized, which can become a breathing hazard. Wellness enthusiasts who regularly use home spa products like therapy tubs, steam rooms and cold plunges should especially consider water filtration to ensure these experiences are truly health enhancing.
Filtered water can also positively transform your hair and skin. Chlorine is one of the worst offenders to our skin and hair because it strips the skin and hair of their natural oils, leading to dryness and irritation. By removing chlorine from the water as it enters the home, the skin can maintain its natural moisture balance and your hair will be softer and shinier.
Environmental Water Systems is a health and wellness company who offers high-quality water filtration systems for every faucet in the home. Their products are designed to remove impurities and contaminants from your water, ensuring that you and your family have access to clean, safe, and healthy, filtered drinking water.
Whole home filtration is connected at the main service line, filtering the water from every faucet in the home, but point-of-use filtration is also available through Environmental Water Systems. Point-of-use filtration allows people to experience healthy, great-tasting water from a single water source, most commonly the kitchen sink. This allows you instant access to filtered water for drinking, cooking, washing your organic produce, and providing fresh, clean drinking water for your pets.
Cooking With Steam
Steam bathing isn’t the only way that steam can provide wellness benefits. You can cook with steam too! With a steam oven, you can cook healthier, more nutrient dense meals. Steam ovens work by drawing water from a small tank into a built-in boiler, heating it to create steam, and releasing it into the oven cavity. Compared to a traditional convection oven, a steam oven does a better job of preserving foods’ vitamins and minerals because it creates a moist cooking environment, therefore there’s no need to add oil like you would when using a conventional oven.
One of our favorite steam ovens at PIRCH is the Wolf Convection Steam oven. This incredible appliance combines conventional oven features with steam to help ensure roasts are juicy and baked goods are light and fluffy. Wolf’s unique digital technology senses the amount and size of foods, adjusts as necessary, and cooks meals to delicious perfection.
With a steam oven, you can also easily revive and rehydrate leftovers instead of using a microwave. In addition, Wolf’s Spa Mode feature uses a combination of gentle convection and steam heat to warm towels, wraps, or stones for use in massages or relaxation.
Food Preservation With Thermador
The latest technology in refrigeration does so much more than just keep your food cold. Modern refrigeration is now all about food preservation. Food preservation is generally defined as inhibiting undesired bacterial growth or chemical changes to your food, and it’s a great way to enhance the nutritional quality of your foods at home. Food preservation guards against foodborne illnesses, and protects the flavor, color, moisture content, or nutritional value of food.
Thermador has a long history of being an innovator in refrigeration. They recently introduced their ThermaFresh® System, which uses advanced and improved cooling technology for humidity control and temperature management. This technology is especially useful for properly storing items like fruits or vegetables which require different humidity and temperature levels.
No matter what’s in your Thermador fridge, you can rest assured that it’s stored in the proper conditions to maintain its freshness and nutrients. Whether it’s the special herbs you’re storing for an upcoming recipe, or the produce you recently bought from your local farmer’s market, Thermador knows how important it is to keep ingredients fresh and flavorful, and they understand the science behind how to do it.
Watch Chef Kimberly show what makes Thermador refrigeration so great in this deep dive video.
Blast Chilling & Vacuum Sealing with Irinox
Blast Chilling
You can take food preservation a step further and even triple its shelf life by blast chilling it before storing it in the fridge, with the Irinox Freddy Blast Chiller.
Irinox blast chillers rapidly lower food temperature to 37ºF, quickly dropping through the range where bacteria can proliferate, which is ideal for preserving food’s quality, fragrance, colors, and aromas. Irinox’s blast chillers also offer a shock-freeze cycle, which rapidly takes the food to 0°F at the core. The result? Perfect preservation, with stored frozen food that will thaw exactly as it was when fresh. Freddy can lock the succulence into food at just the right moment and keep it there over time, which allows you to enjoy the best possible flavor, color, consistency, and nutrients.
Vacuum Sealing
The Irinox Zero vacuum sealer is another innovative product that can preserve food in the fridge up to five times longer. Zero is the first domestic professional-standard built-in vacuum sealer that can vacuum any liquid reaching a 99.9% vacuum capacity. This superior quality natural process is extremely effective in keeping food properties intact longer, without compromising nutrients.
You can also cook sous vide with Irinox’s Zero vacuum sealer. Sous vide is a method of cooking where vacuum sealed food is cooked in a temperature-controlled water bath. When you cook sous vide, all the juices and flavors remain in the vacuum-sealed pouch, resulting in more intense flavor, which means that you don’t need to add much salt to your food. Also, since the food is cooked in a water bath, you don’t need to add oil or fat before vacuum sealing it.
EFFE – Sauna, the Cabanon Collection
The health benefits of a sauna have been praised by old world cultures for generations. Some of the health benefits that saunas offer include detoxification, increased metabolism, weight loss, increased blood circulation, pain reduction, antiaging, skin rejuvenation, improved cardiovascular function, improved immune function, improved sleep, stress management, and relaxation.
EFFE is well known for designing and creating award-winning wellness spaces for residential homes, and five-star, luxury commercial spaces. Their saunas, Turkish baths, and spas are the epicenter of indulgence, and everything you need to round out your at-home retreat.
They recently launched a new outdoor sauna cabin, the Cabanon collection. The Cabanon collection captures the original spirit of the Finnish sauna, a separate building outside of the home which is often built by a lakeside or surrounding nature. The sauna, designed by Rodolfo Dordoni and Michele Angelini, is available with a deck that comes in two different sizes: a small relaxation area that complements the product in a refined and elegant way.
Porcelain Surfaces
If you’re considering updating the surfaces in your kitchen or bathroom, porcelain is an excellent option.
Porcelain’s non-porous surface is inhospitable to the growth of bacteria and other microbes such as mold, giving peace of mind to homeowners that the surface is safe and clean. The hygienic benefits and low maintenance aspect of porcelain make it perfect for areas of high traffic and damp spaces like a kitchen or bathroom. It is also slip resistant, scratch, heat, and stain resistant.
It comes in an array of timeless designs, so homeowners have the ultimate creative freedom to create kitchen countertops or backsplashes, as well as flooring, walls, and in-shower applications within a dream bathroom space.
Moderno Porcelain Works specializes in the fabrication and installation of ultra-luxe large format porcelain panels in the residential and commercial markets. The brand’s surfaces aren’t just aesthetically brilliant, they’re also good for the planet. All Moderno countertops are sourced, designed, and produced sustainably with a focus on remaining environmentally friendly.
The pursuit of wellness is a trend with mighty staying power. An elevated awareness of our indoor spaces has encouraged many folks to invest in their homes and design them to look and feel better. As you can see, there are numerous ways you can incorporate health and wellness at home, in the bathroom and beyond. From kitchen appliances, to plumbing products, to surfaces, wellness can touch every part of the home to create a safe, highly functional, and relaxing sanctuary for you and your family.
To learn more about how to incorporate wellness into your next remodel, visit a PIRCH showroom near you, and speak to a sales consultant.
