Turning Bathrooms Into In-Home Spas

It may be the busiest room in the house, but for many people, it's also the most relaxing.

Designers say the latest trend in homes is to create luxurious living spaces out of bathrooms-and a new study indicates that homeowners may be on to something. On behalf of German bathtub manufacturer Kaldewei, the Rheingold Institute of Cologne, Germany, found that bathing brought about psychological changes, and concluded that a relaxing bath in the evening was calming and helped people "wind down."

So how do you transform your bathroom into an at-home spa? One way is through aromatherapy. Try these recipes for a luxurious bath:

Fortune and Harmony

Add 4 tablespoons each of honey and cream to warm bath water with 5 drops of jasmine, 3 drops of orange, and 2 drops of vanilla.

Dream Bath for the Soul

Forget stress and tension with a combination of 4 tablespoons of honey, 3 drops of lavender, 3 drops of rosemary, and 2 drops of violet oil.

Revitalizing Soak

Boil a cup of lavender flowers and strain through a sieve into bath water. Add 2 drops of peppermint oil, 5 drops of everlasting oil, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1 to 2 tablespoons of cream.

Of course, all the sweet aromas in the world probably won't help you relax if your bathroom isn't comfortable-and a good place to start is your bathtub.

Kaldewei, Europe's #1 in baths, makes luxurious bathtubs that are guaranteed for 30 years. The bathtubs are manufactured from a steel enamel that resists damage from cleaning chemicals, abrasions, impacts and scratches. The resistance to scratches helps eliminate bacteria buildup, and the bathtubs can be cleaned by simply wiping them down with a dry cloth-meaning you can spend more time relaxing in the bathtub and less time cleaning it.

The bathtubs also resist the long-term damaging effects of perfumes and oils, making them particularly well-suited for aromatherapy.