These days, whether you’re having a new home built or planning a renovation, the bathroom is an area that receives a lot of scrutiny. Specifically, having just the right shower built requires a lot of attention. These days, homeowners are moving away from the traditional bathroom design, and making an effort to personalize it just for them.

While there are an infinite variety of options for a shower, there are still a few things worth focusing on, regardless of the design. Keep reading for 4 important details.

1. Back in the day, people would buy a hanging shelf for holding soap, shampoo, and other toiletries. But now, homeowners are choosing a “shadow box,” which is basically a recessed pocket for holding all of your stuff. Shadow boxes look more elegant, and you never have to worry about knocking over your things if you have shampoo in your eyes.
2. Ever see those showers where the tiling floor is cut into strange shapes in order to properly fit around a circular drain? They’re inefficient and, frankly, a little weird looking. Consider a drain trough, where the shower floor drains in a single direction, and the drain itself is a piece of sheet metal that’s correctly bent and perforated to allow water through. It looks clean, modern, and you can go back to clear squares of tile.
3. Adding a stool in the corner of the shower is a smart move. It allows those who shave their legs an easy way to do it without assuming yoga positions, and it gives elderly folks a place to sit. A teak shower stool is easy to move into position, and it compliments the look of the tile.
4. An intelligently placed light above the shower makes it easier to see what you’re doing, and the reflection of the light off of wet tiles is simply beautiful.