Archive for Faucets
JADO Stoic Collection: Elegant Bathroom Faucets that are Built to Last
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If you are looking to add a sophisticated touch to your bathroom, the Professor strongly recommends the JADO Stoic collection of luxury bathroom faucets. Inspired by the elegant look of modern jewelry styles, the collection is available in four distinctive handle options and three signature hand-buffed finishes. The Professor finds that the wide variety of styles allow the faucets to fit any number of different stylistic settings, easily complementing more minimal bathrooms or gracefully contrasting with more transitional ones.
Underneath the beautiful finishes and delicate-looking shapes lie solid brass construction for durability and ceramic disc valve cartridges, which ensure a lifetime of drip-free performance as well as noticeably smooth handle control. Stoic sink faucets are also WaterSense-certified and feature the exclusive JADO Luxury Speed Connect Drain, an innovation that radically simplifies drain installation, something that even certified experts like the Professor can appreciate.
Learn more about the new faucet collection, or view the complete JADO Stoic Collection.
Bathroom Safety Month: Bathtubs and Beyond
Posted by: | CommentsJanuary is Bathroom Safety Month! This may not seem like the most exciting or important observance, especially compared to widely celebrated holidays like World Toilet Day. However, the Professor recently read some very sobering statistics that should make anyone reevaluate the importance of investing in home furnishings and fixtures designed to help keep seniors safe and steady, especially in the bathroom. A few examples:
- 70% of home accidents occur in the bathroom
- Every 2.3 seconds, an adult aged 65 or older suffers a fall
- 40% of those hospitalized from hip fractures do not return home
Whether you are making arrangements to have an aging parent move into your home or simply wish to plan ahead to grow older independently in your own home, incorporating universal design features into your home can be a wise idea. Fortunately, there are many ways to help prevent slips and falls, even while maintaining a stylish and luxurious bathroom.
One task that can be especially dangerous for older adults – and anyone with limited mobility, such as after an injury – is getting in and out of the bathtub. According to a recent report submitted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an average of 370 Americans suffer bathtub or shower-related injuries every day.
An increasingly popular solution to this issue is to upgrade to a walk-in bath. Modern walk-in tubs are attractive and available with luxury options like air bath and whirlpool features. The Professor is also impressed by the special Quick Drain option available on American Standard’s line of walk-in baths that drains water from the tub in less than 2 minutes, so there’s no need for a long, cold wait before exiting the tub.
Ready to start making your bathroom a safer, more comfortable place to be? The Professor is pleased to offer the chance to win a single-control JADO Hatteras faucet to help you do just that. The stylish faucet meets the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines and is also WaterSense-certified. For your chance to win, just answer the following questions in the comments. The Professor will choose his favorite response on 2/3/12 as the winner.
1. What are some creative ways you gear up your bathroom to be a safe place for children and the elderly to use?
2. What creative remedies have you found to protect against falls on a slippery tub or floor?
3. What are some changes you have made to your home that will allow you to “age in place”?
4. Thinking of safety with the other end of the age spectrum, what are the best ways to baby-proof a bathroom? What are your favorite kid-friendly safety devices?
Smart and Beautiful: Commercial Restroom Innovations
Posted by: | CommentsSmart commercial restroom innovations are, in the Professor’s experience, few and far between. The status quo is so readily accepted that many manufacturers of plumbing fixtures have little incentive to invest in attractive designs and technological innovations. That’s why the Professor is so impressed by the latest commercial offerings from American Standard. From smart, water-saving technology to sleek, unexpected shapes, here are a few of the commercial toilets, sinks, and urinals that are transforming modern restrooms.
- If you’ll pardon the pun, the Professor’s hands-down favorite innovation is American Standard’s hands-free dual flush toilet valve. The way it works is that the Selectronic dual flush toilet valve releases a light flush of 1.1 gallons when motion is detected for less than 60 seconds. A standard 1.6 gpf volume is used when motion is detected for 60 seconds or longer.
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The Lucia Lavatory Sink from American Standard
The Lucia wall-hung lavatory sink is a great solution
for commercial spaces in need of extra storage areas for soaps, toiletries, and accessories but have little space to spare in the restroom. The sink has a graceful, upscale appearance and offers a surprising amount of usable storage surface for such a small fixture.
- The strikingly modern Decorum high-efficiency urinalwould not be out of place in spaces like an art museum or a luxury resort. Decorum only uses 0.5 gallons of water per flush (gpf) and also features the EverClean permanent finish that inhibits the growth of stain and odor-causing bacteria, mold and mildew on the surface – making it ideal for commercial, institutional and other high-use, public installations.
- The surprisingly smart Ceratronic proximity faucet that allows users to control water temperature in addition to the on/off function, all without touching the faucet. Ideal for hospitals and other settings where spreading germs is a concern, the faucet’s detection range and time variables can be customized with the touch of a button from an optional remote control.
What’s most exciting to the Professor about all these creative, problem-solving products is the knowledge that even more transformative innovations are still to come. Here’s to a future of cleaner, smarter, more beautiful restrooms for us all.
Note: This post is part of the 2011 Bathroom Blogfest, now in its sixth year. The Professor is thrilled to participate in the blogfest for a third year this year. For more information about the blogfest, visit Bathroom Blogfest. Look for the tag “#BathroomEXP” on flickr, del.icio.us, Technorati, Twitter and Google, or ‘Like’ on Facebook. A list of participants is below.
| Name | Blog Name | Blog URL |
|---|---|---|
| Susan Abbott | Customer Experience Crossroads | http://www.customercrossroads.com/customercrossroads/ |
| Paul Anater | Kitchen and Residential Design | http://www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com |
| Shannon Bilby | From the Floors Up | http://fromthefloorsup.com/ |
| Toby Bloomberg | Diva Marketing | http://bloombergmarketing.blogs.com/bloomberg_marketing/ |
| Laurence Borel | Blog Till You Drop | http://www.laurenceborel.com/ |
| Bill Buyok | Avente Tile Talk | http://tiletalk.blogspot.com |
| Jeanne Byington | The Importance of Earnest Service | http://blog.jmbyington.com/ |
| Becky Carroll | Customers Rock! | http://customersrock.net |
| Katie Clark | Practical Katie | http://practicalkatie.blogspot.com/ |
| Nora DePalma | O’Reilly DePalma: The Blog | http://www.oreilly-depalma.com/blog/ |
| Paul Friederichsen | The BrandBiz Blog | http://brandbizblog.com/ |
| Tish Grier | The Constant Observer | http://spap-oop.blogspot.com/ |
| Elizabeth Hise | Flooring The Consumer | http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com |
| Emily Hooper | Floor Covering News Blog | http://www.fcnews.net/category/blog/ |
| Diane Kazan | Urban Design Renovation | http//blog.urbandesignrenovation.com |
| Joseph Michelli | Dr. Joseph Michelli’s Blog | http://www.josephmichelli.com/blog |
| Veronika Miller | Modenus Blog | http://www.modenus.com/blog |
| Arpi Nalbandian | Tile Magazine Editors’ Blog | http://www.tilemagonline.com/Articles/Blog_Nalbandian |
| David Polinchock | Polinchock’s Ponderings | http://blog.polinchock.com/ |
| Professor Toilet | American Standard’s Professor Toilet |
http://www.professortoilet.com |
| David Reich | my 2 cents | http://reichcomm.typepad.com |
| Victoria Redshaw & Shelley Pond | Scarlet Opus Trends Blog | http://www.trendsblog.co.uk |
| Sandy Renshaw | Purple Wren | http://www.PurpleWren.com |
| Bethany Richmond | Carpet and Rug Institute Blog | http://www.carpet-and-rug-institute-blog.com/ |
| Bruce D. Sanders | RIMtailing | http://www.rimtailing.blogspot.com |
| Paige Smith | Neuse Tile Service blog | http://neusetile.wordpress.com |
| Stephanie Weaver | Experienceology | http://experienceology.blogspot.com/ |
| Christine B. Whittemore | Content Talks Business Blog |
http://simplemarketingnow.com/content-talks-business-blog/ |
| Christine B. Whittemore | Smoke Rise & Kinnelon Blog |
http://smokerise-nj.blogspot.com/ |
| Christine B. Whittemore | Simple Marketing Blog | http://www.simplemarketingblog.com/ |
| Ted Whittemore | Working Computers | http://www.kinneloncomputers.com/ |
| Chris Woelfel | Artcraft Granite, Marble & Tile Co. |
http://www.artcraftgmt.com |
| Patty Woodland | Broken Teepee | http://www.brokenteepee.com |
| Denise Lee Yohn | brand as business bites | http://deniseleeyohn.com/best-bites |
American Standard Design Center Visit: Innovation with a Side of Toilet Humor
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Design bloggers tour the American Standard Design Center. To see more photos of the trip, click the photo.
Earlier this month, the Professor was fortunate enough to spend a day at the American Standard Design Center in Piscataway, NJ with a select group of the movers and shakers of the design blogger world. It is a pleasure to share their insights, reflections, humor, and excellent photographs of the trip:
Paul Anater, who blogs at Kitchen and Bath Residential Design, was especially impressed with some of the company’s unique and functional designs and the fashionable digs the bloggers enjoyed in New York.
For J.B. Bartkowiak of Building Moxie, the trip offered opportunities to reflect on design, innovation, performance, and the impact that brands can have when they build intimacy with customers.
Meanwhile, the engineering department’s space age 3-D copier was a big hit with Laurie Burke of Kitchen Design Notes. (The Professor also appreciated the occasional plumbing pun she threw in for good measure, naturally.)
Andie Day (and her photographer’s eye) especially loved the great views and fashionable setting of the rooftop of the Standard Hotel, where the bloggers gathered the night before their Design Center tour.
American Standard’s many green initiatives, including the eco-friendly Design Center and strong emphasis on water conservation, were particularly appreciated by Saxon Henry of Roaming By Design.
Saxon and her business partner Rich Holschuh also wrote about the company’s fixture fixation, the “stylish verve” of the American Standard design team, and shared a video of a portion of the tour on the site for their social media consultancy, Adroyt.
Great shot of everyone: Laurie Burke, Rich Holschuh, Saxon Henry, Andie Day, Paul Anatar, J.B. Bartkowiak. To see more photos from the trip, click the photo.
Many thanks to everyone who attended! The Professor had a marvelous time getting to talk plumbing with everyone and truly appreciates everyone’s thoughtful commentary.
Saving Water & Looking Great
Posted by: | CommentsSwitching out an outdated faucet can do wonders to perk up your bathroom, but there are other great reasons to upgrade to a stylish new model – like conserving fresh water resources, for instance. Many of the most attractive faucets on the market right now are WaterSense certified. Watch the video below for more info, or start shopping for water-saving faucets now!
Bathroom Design with Nautical Style
Posted by: | CommentsThe Professor is typically a land-lubber, but still appreciates the unique look that nautical decor can bring, particularly to the bathroom. The stylish Hatteras collection of lavatory faucets and shower fixtures available from JADO is a great example.
Handsome Bathroom Style with the Town Square Collection
Posted by: | CommentsThe Town Square collection from American Standard is a stylish and water-efficient collection of fixtures and furnishings, perfect for any traditionally-styled bathroom. It’s also highly customizable with 20 pieces to mix and match. See the video demonstration of the Town Square faucet, shown below in oil-rubbed bronze.
Bathroom Remodeling: Replacing a Pedestal Sink
Posted by: | CommentsUpdating just one element in your bathroom can have a surprising impact on the style of the room, and at a much smaller time and financial commitment than a complete overhaul. Do it yourself and you’ll save even more. Sound like an impossible task? As an example, a helpful video series on replacing a pedestal sink and installing a new faucet (the first video is linked below) will walk you through the entire process.
Bathroom Remodeling: Easy Faucet Installation
Posted by: | CommentsDreaming of updating a bathroom faucet, but think the installation is beyond your capabilities? Many new lavatory faucets, like those manufactured by JADO, American Standard, and Eljer, come equipped with a great piece of technology called the Speed Connect drain. These drains contain ten fewer parts than standard drains and can easily be installed without special materials or complicated guesswork. Watch the video below to see how easy it is.
Kitchen Design Trends Look to the Past
Posted by: | CommentsEvery once in a while the Professor’s mind drifts from the bathroom to the kitchen… usually around lunchtime. One kitchen style trend that has been particularly eye-catching is the Victorian look. The exquisite details of JADO’s Victorian Kitchen Faucet collection are a great way to bring a touch of old-fashioned charm. Watch the Victorian Pull-Out Faucet in action below.
