PLAYING happy families can be tricky first thing in the morning when Mr Grumpy is monopolising the basin mirror or Ms Busy is washing her hair in the shower. Even worse can be that pre-party slot when work-frayed tempers cause flare-ups over whose turn it is to soak in the bath. No wonder designers and manufacturers are coming up with separate his-and-hers washing solutions.

Many homeowners are now willing to spend as much on their bathrooms as on their kitchen. And, when budget and space allow, the twin-basin option is extending into separate units within the same room, perhaps either side of the bath, so that his shaving kit and colognes need never mingle with her cosmetics and face creams.

“People like to have their own zones now that we all lead such busy lives,” says Pauline Heffernan, senior designer at Ripples in Oxford. “Speed is one factor, but so is relaxation. People like to escape into a personal sanctuary, even if they are in quite close proximity to each other.”

“Open-plan living is all very well, but everyone needs some private space,” agrees Karen Howes, of the Chelsea-based interior designers Taylor Howes. “Very few couples are compatible as morning or evening people.”

The designer Tara Bernerd, of Target Living, recently created two distinctly different bathrooms for clients moving into a penthouse in Paddington Walk, Central London. “Having separate bathrooms allows people to put their own personality into each space,” says Bernerd, who believes that hotels and health spas are increasingly influencing our design tastes. His chic, all-black space (black marble wall tiles; black granite floor tiles) has a power shower and loo within a glass cubicle, white sanitary ware and walnut-veneer storage units. An LCD television screen is recessed into the wall.

On the other side of the master bedroom, the woman-friendly bathroom has a huge, circular hot tub-cum-bath recessed into a raised iroko-wood platform from which you can watch the plasma wall-screen television. Creamy marble wall and floor tiles and bespoke burgundy velvet light-fittings add a feminine touch. However, the spacious walk-in Dornbracht Rainforest shower, two white ceramic basins and a separate glass cubicle for another shower make one think the user will not be alone for long.

Manufacturers, too, are realising that separate bathrooms are a practical alternative to marriage counselling. Smallbone of Devizes has launched two new bathroom collections which, although not labelled His and Hers, offer distinctly different sex appeal. Men are drawn to the Alchemy range with its sleek black walnut cabinets and robust end-grain maple. Women are tempted by the boudoir appeal of Shagreen with its glamorous, 1930s-inspired, hand-painted cabinets and white marble basins inset with mother-of-pearl circlets.

“Men want powerful showers, high-tech gadgets such as waterproof TVs and design-led features such as Porschedesigned basins,” says Heffernan. “They like open-plan simple room designs which often include wet-rooms. Women want spa-like retreats, with a stylish bath, where they can relax. They choose calming colour schemes, such as natural stone, and want intelligent storage solutions.”

Cheryl Gurner, of Bathrooms International, believes that the ideal layout is a master bedroom leading to a dressing room area with separate bathrooms either side. But even in smaller, or shared, spaces a sit-in steam shower with massage jets and double overhead rain-showers offers possibilities for tandem ablutions.

Gurner recently supplied fittings for an in-your-dreams scheme in Knightsbridge by the luxury property developer Candy & Candy. A double-ended oval bath lines both sides of the room while a central double shower can be entered from either side. “You could tailor this scheme to your budget by choosing simpler baths and showers and ceramic tiles instead of marble,” she says. Or, as Karen Howes suggests, you could put a bath centrally in the room with a separate shower at one end and individual basins and vanity units on either side.

Heffernan recently designed a shared bathroom for a modern house in Oxfordshire with two separate vanity areas back to back. His zone has an illuminated mirrored cabinet concealing everything. Her area has a scalloped mirror with storage in a bespoke, high-gloss white unit. The walk-in Dornbracht JustRain shower is large enough for two and there’s a double-ended spa bath set in limestone.

Bathrooms International, 020-7838 7788, www.bathroomsint.com; Candy & Candy, 020-7594 4300, www.candyandcandy.com; Ripples, 0870 7501626, www.ripples.ltd.uk; Target Living, 020-7823 2316, www.targetliving.com; Taylor Howes, 020-7349 9017, www.thdesigns.co.uk

FOR HIM

FOR HER

Big deep bath, preferably double-sized

Massage jets in the bath

Good-looking yet practical storage — and lots of it

Big mirror with good lighting for make-up

Soothing colour schemes

Large shower, preferably double-sized, with seat and steam/body jet options

Plasma screen

Natural materials such as iroko wood

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