Now that the size of the average American house has grown to 2,320 square feet from about 2,100 square feet just sixteen years ago -- the "size of an extra family room," according to
Reader's Digest -- it's no surprise that the size of American bathrooms are growing as well. And with size comes style. According to the Washington Post, luxury bathrooms -- which must cost $8,000 or more -- are expected to generate
$22 BILLION dollars in spending this year. In 2003, we only spent a measly $7.3 billion on our rooms of release.
The Post helps us put that in perspective: "That is ten times what the U.S. government will spend on AIDS research this year. It is six times the annual budget of Kenya."
I don't know about you, but I don't make enough money to spend $70 per square foot of stone and $600 on a faucet, much less ten grand on a tub! Sure, I'd love to have heated floors, which heat the toilet and the seat as well. That wouldn't be so bad on a cold day. But wait -- I shouldn't have quoted a mere ten G's on the tub. You can get an all-copper version for nearly 30,000 dollars. My car was cheaper than that!
How crazy have Americans gone for luxury? As Barry Goldberg, vice president of Union Hardware in Bethesda, put it: "A $300 faucet is almost on the verge of becoming a commodity."
In fact, most people are now trying to "option up," or get the biggest and most expensive products available. Sometimes that requires a bathroom expansion. Take Eddie Burka, who recently spent $120,000 on his bathroom, where he "often lounges for a good hour in the morning, watching The Today Show from the tub." The article talks about other homeowners who felt pressured by friends and family who had bigger and better bathrooms. It even describes one family who made their huge bathroom the new family room, where they have "spa night."
Maybe it's just a question of keeping up with the Joneses. Jerry Weed, owner of Kitchen and Bath Studios in Chevy Chase, thinks it's temporary. "Will it last forever? Probably not. We just happened to come along at a good point in history." But that's what they said about gas prices, too...
Homeowning PoopReporters, tell us: are you feeling a different kind of pressure when you enter your bathroom these days?
