Market Ready

A large walk-in shower could be a selling feature, but the answer really depends on your home’s size and the existing features.

“I see people wrestle with this question regularly,” said Michael Shapot, a senior vice president with the New York office of Keller Williams Realty. “The industry trend is to have walk-in spa showers.” However, he said, “There are people out there who need bathtubs.”

If you plan on renovating only one bathroom, and there is at least one bathtub somewhere else in the home, then “go for it,” Mr. Shapot said. But if you’re contemplating replacing your only tub, you should carefully consider the types of buyers who might be interested in your property.

“If the target market is empty nesters or the elderly, a walk-in shower is great,” Mr. Shapot said. A large luxury shower would also appeal to many single professionals.

“But if it’s a family-sized apartment that would appeal to a young couple that could grow into the apartment and have a child there — like a convertible two-bedroom — you need a tub.”

Robin Elmslie Osler, an architect in New York, said that her residential clients frequently request large walk-in showers. “I think it’s because the idea of taking a bath, in urban areas, carries a connotation of leisure and time,” she said. “And it doesn’t seem like that is something that New Yorkers, in particular, have much of.”

Bathrooms in urban apartments are also often quite cramped, she added, and a generously sized shower can be more appealing than a tiny bathtub — one of the reasons Ms. Osler hopes to replace her own tub with a shower someday soon.

If you do decide to convert your tub into a shower, she recommends using a glass panel to separate the shower stall from the rest of the bathroom, rather than a solid tiled wall. “If the shower is located somewhere near the window, and it’s glass, you can bring the light in,” she said. “We’ve used a lot of translucent glass, but I think clear glass is also a really nice way to go.”

To create an even greater sense of openness, she suggests forgoing a shower door — unless you plan on adding a steam generator or body sprays — and leave an opening at one end of the glass panel, which “visually extends the space of the bathroom.”

For a seamless look, she also recommends using the same type of flooring you have in the shower in the rest of the bathroom, whether it’s concrete, stone or ceramic tile.

The shower can then be finished off with high-quality fittings (Ms. Osler prefers Dornbracht controls for modern or traditional bathrooms), and maybe a rain showerhead, “if there’s enough water pressure in the building.”