Plumbing vital to project

It's easy to see how homeowners get caught up in color palettes, fabrics and accessories during room planning.

But plumbing fixtures? In the hierarchy of importance, faucets, sinks and knobs often wind up in last place, a mere afterthought to the starlets that are cabinets, counters and flooring.

Such benign neglect has consequences. If scant thought is given to how kitchen or bath fixtures integrate into the design scheme as a whole, homeowners may end up with a room that is figuratively all wet, designers say.

"Unfortunately, plumbing is overlooked during planning," says Julie Bower of Community Home Supply, a plumbing retail store in suburban Chicago. "You should finish a bath just as you would a living room or bedroom; it's just a different medium."

Still, she estimates designers allot 95 percent of a budget for furnishings and 5 percent for plumbing. A typical 5-by-8-foot bath can be outfitted for $2,000 to $3,000, and "that's with good stuff," says Bower.

Out-of-pocket homeowner expense rises as bath and kitchen sizes become larger and the popularity of kitchen and baths re-dos continues to grow. The trade journal Kitchen and Bath Design News reports demand for plumbing fixtures is projected to reach $5.8 billion by 2010, while plumbing fittings demand is expected to top $5 billion. That's a modest 3 percent per year boost, but it comes amid a flat market for new homes.

Yet Bower says design pros can hardly be blamed for plumbing oversights. Plumbing decor is rising so fast that many in the design community, let alone their customers, are hard pressed to keep up with trends.

She points to a boom in styling and finishes as ample evidence plumbing is ready to take a rightful place in design thinking.

"You see lots and lots of finishes you never had before and differing price points that weren't offered a few years ago," says Mary Dworsky, a designer in Minneapolis.

Her advice to clients: Splurge on fixtures in the more visible rooms and scale back on quality and price in less frequented space, such as guest baths.

The one thing homeowners should do is steer clear of lopsided decisions that plunk pricier items next to inexpensive products. It can make a room seem out of whack.

"People need to have balance in the bath and kitchen," says Seattle interior designer Carleen Cafferty, a proponent of hoisting plumbing items into the bright light of interior design. "You can't have a $10,000 stove and a cheap $100 kitchen sink."

She believes such an imbalance of high-end products contrasted with lesser grade items works against homeowners.

"A lot of these jobs are about integrity of the entire project," says Cafferty. "I would guide my client to spend less on the stove so they could have a better faucet. It's like buying a cheap house, then putting an expensive slate roof on it."

How to include plumbing fixtures in bath or kitchen design schemes:

Build project budgets with specific line items for plumbing fixtures.

Explore all your plumbing options including metallic finishes, styling and price points.

When scouting plumbing fixtures, take samples of counter and cabinet materials and color choices with you.

Make sure you and your interior designer are on the same page in terms of budget, fixture finishes, etc.

Some fixtures, such as oversized "sunflower" or multiple showerheads, are heavy and use large amounts of water, which may require re-working of pipes and equipment, including larger capacity water heaters.

Be aware that delivery of special orders may delay project timetables.