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Plant Wall Design created a custom, self-sustaining vertical green wall for the show.

Hang plants with creeping vines from your bathroom's ceiling for a calming visual effect.

Hang lavender from your shower head for added relaxation and a soothing scent.

Salminen chose flame birch for the cabinetry for its remarkable wavy wood grain.

The sinuous interior is lined with CNC-cut wooden panels that define stepped sauna seating and porthole windows.

Solid Timber door with hanging pegs to hold the sink cover/chopping board – designed and built by Echo Living. The floating kitchenette unit with drawers and cupboard has a set-in Butler ceramic kitchen sink, and integral compact 12v fridge. The open shelves were designed and built by Echo Living. White Ceramic 300 x 300mm floor tiles from a range at Afoi Kathekklaki, Rethymno, Crete.

A 100-foot-long wall of terracotta breeze blocks designed by Patricia Urquiola for Mutina—called Tierras 3D—surrounds the reception window and extends into a seating area.

With its 15 floors, The Laylow stands above Kuhio Avenue in Honolulu’s Waikiki neighborhood on the South Shore of Oahu. The welcoming, tropical lobby is located on the second floor, providing a place for guests to enter peacefully away from the hustle and bustle of the street.

Detail view of the fern green shower wall.

Ceramic Bells by Mt. Washington Pottery.

Amanemu in Ise-Shima, Japan

Sliding glass doors and screens pull open to present framed views of nature, including the surrounding forests, private gardens, and the waters of Ago Bay. In the bathroom, deep stone tubs offer a private onsen experience, with the taps drawing water from nearby hot springs. When not soaking, step onto covered verandas to enjoy the natural surroundings at your leisure.

Deep in the Italian countryside a few hours from Rome, a fashion advertising couple left their frenetic life in Milan and remodeled a trio of 15-century buildings into a Japanese-style inn and center for Japanese culture. Their giant Hinoki tub from Bartok Design in Japan was carefully positioned to take advantage of seasonal views through the sliding windows. “The images and scents were extraordinary,” said one Italian visitor to the center who took a soak, “I revisit them in my mind every day.” Photo courtesy of: Bartok Design and WabiSabi Culture Japanese Center

Tubs can be partly sunk for easier access, as in this tub from Zen BathWorks. The river rocks at the base hide a linear drain, but tubs can also have a regular overflow or drain onto a wet-proofed bathroom floor, says Bill Finlay, of Zen BathWorks. Jennifer Aniston bought a Port Orford Cedar tub from him when she turned the “his” part of the bathroom she shared with Brad Pitt into a spa after the couple split up. Bill says many customers site their tub, known as an ofuro in Japanese, to enjoy a view. Photo courtesy of: Zen BathWorks

Grace Boyd’s favorite room has a stunning view of Puget Sound reflected in the Hinoki tub she had custom-sized by Roberts Hot Tubs. The clean lines of soaking tubs “work well in conventional bathrooms,” says Roberts’ Andrew Harris, “no need to make the whole room Japanese-style.” Grace echoed the grey of the sea and sky in the sinks and the silvery pebbles around the tub. After 32 years in West Seattle, she asked architect Mark Travers to build her a new house in the same spot- she couldn’t bear to lose her view. Tubs are popping up in real estate listings as a selling point; new owners can have an existing tub sanded to reveal a fresh layer of pristine scented wood. Photo courtesy of: Roberts Hot Tubs