Create Your Own Spa Retreat

You don’t have to leave your home to “get away from it all.” With a little planning, you can create a private spa experience and escape within the confines of your home.

Here are eight simple ways to turn your master bathroom into a personal oasis where stress melts away, and little intensive self-care is your top priority.

1. White Towels and Wood

Invest in several uber-thick, oversized white bath towels and washcloths, plus a cushy white terrycloth robe to wrap yourself in. Nothing says “spa” like luxurious all-white robes and towels.

Heat your towels while you soak. If you don’t have a heated towel rack, try tucking a hot water bottle into the folds and stacking the towels on a wooden stool, placed inches away from the tub for fingertip access. Imagine how good the warm towels will feel against your skin.

In addition to a wooden stool, add a bamboo mat, to improve the spa vibe and avoid soggy rugs.

2. Scented Delights

The spa experience isn’t just for your skin. Delight your nose with bath salts, bath oil, calming essential oil diffusers, or candles in your bathroom. Be sure to select safe, nontoxic candle options.

Consider flowers or an aromatic green plant (eucalyptus, rosemary, cotton lavender, lemon verbena, or chocolate mint). The more senses you involve, the more effective the spa experience will be.

3. Go Natural with Colors and Textures

Take your cues from nature when selecting colors and accessories. Paint the walls soft shades of gray, brown, blue, or green. Add a wooden bowl filled with smooth round rocks that beg to be touched, a large quartz crystal, a simple vase of flowering tree branches, or an orchid.

4. A Luxury Shower

If you have the money and inclination, consider creating a walk-in shower that uses earth tone tiles and includes a glass half-wall or a frameless glass door to expand the visual size of the shower. Install an overhead rainfall showerhead and a hand-held shower with a massage head.

If you can’t do a complete shower overhaul, there are other ways to move toward a spa-like experience. Start by hanging a high quality, heavy white shower curtain. To step up your spa game, trade an old or basic showerhead for something more exclusive.

5. Legendary Lighting

Bright white lights have no place in a spa. They are too harsh. You need relaxing, “mood lighting.” Install dimmers to your bathroom light switches or improvise with a low-wattage bulb in a lamp. Try draping a cloth over the shade to dampen the light further.

Candles are an instant and portable option that can be placed on your sink or even around your tub! If your bathroom is large enough, try threading a string of white lights through a ficus tree, which can light up a corner and add a soft glow to the whole room.

6. No Clutter, Easy Access

Bathrooms are notorious collection spots for personal care products and related accessories. Clear the clutter from all your surfaces and place the products you need for your spa experience in a wooden bowl, a basket, or a bamboo tub tray. Clutter has been shown to cause stress, and your spa should be a stress-free zone!

7. Tasty Treats

Be sure to offer your sense of taste something delightful to enjoy during your spa experience. Options include a mug (or china cup and saucer) of herbal tea, ice-cold seltzer water with a fruit garnish, a square of dark chocolate, or a glass of wine. Sip, nibble, and soak!

8. Music, Of Course!

No spa experience would be complete without soft, relaxing, meditative music. You can pipe in a full-blown music system to fill your bathroom and bathe yourself in sound.

Or, rely on your phone and use a small, waterproof Bluetooth speaker to bring your music next to the tub, while keeping your phone a safe distance from the water. Create your own spa playlist or try a meditation music app.

Look for ways to envelop all of your senses in a private spa experience. Just be sure to put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the bathroom door and inform everyone else in the house that you are officially off call!