Bathroom grab bars get stylish

The renovation of the master bathroom in my 83-year-old father’s new house turned out beautifully, with a frameless glass shower and handmade ceramic tile accents. Neither of us wanted to make it look institutional with a grab bar.

We needn’t have worried.

Many of today’s grab bars are cleverly disguised, looking instead like sleek soap dishes, functional shampoo trays, trendy towel racks and even toilet paper holders.

Take, for instance, the corner shelf from American Standard’s Invisia line. It looks like nothing more than a solid white tray set inside a tubular frame. But that tube, available in brushed stainless or chrome, functions as a grab bar and can support up to 500 pounds.

Want fun and funky? Best Bath Systems has a series of acrylic towel bars with hidden mounts that come in more than two dozen colors, some opaque, some translucent, some with embedded stones and some that even glow in the dark.

Or for a spa feel, they make a teak grab bar that comes in six different lengths, from 10 inches to 42 inches. Mounting hardware is available in a choice of five finishes.

“We realized there were a lot of people who wanted an attractive option for safety, and who didn’t want to be reminded of their inabilities first thing in the morning and last thing at night,” said Abbie Sladick, 53, of Naples, Fla., a certified contractor and remodeler who created the GreatGrabz line. It was purchased by Best Bath Systems last year for an undisclosed amount.

Still, I wondered what having a grab bar in the bathroom might do to the eventual resale value of the house. Turns out, it might just help it.

A 2012 survey found that about half of those ages 55 to 64 thought that bathroom aids, such as grab bars and shower seating, were “essential” or “desirable.” That rose to nearly two-thirds among those age 65 and older. Even in the younger age groups, about a third of those surveyed agreed.

The National Association of Home Builders’ online survey of more than 3,860 respondents included only those who had purchased a house in the past three years or were planning on doing so in the next three years. In other words, people who were “really thinking” about what they wanted in a home, said Stephen Melman, NAHB’s director of economic services.

Statistics show that while people 85 and older are the most likely to slip and fall, no age group is immune. Nearly 22 million people over the age of 15 went to the hospital because of a bathroom injury in 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Falls accounted for more than 80 percent of the injuries.

Although 85 percent of those taken to a hospital were treated and released, the injuries still resulted in approximately $67.3 billion in lifetime medical costs, the CDC said.

Some things to think about when choosing a grab bar:

With so many choices, it was easy to find attractive options for my father’s bathroom. And the best part is, no one knows it.