One of the most important aspects of building or buying a new custom Florida home is making sure the home functions the way it should. Nowhere is that more important than bathrooms.

For all the time we spend cleaning up, getting ready, or washing away daily aggravation via a hot bath or shower, we need our bathrooms to be comfortable, attractive and easy-to-clean. Some recent trends in residential bathroom design take care of necessities while turning up the wow factor at the same time.

One of these trends is a walk-in shower, which eliminates traditional entrance barriers to a shower space and opens up a slew of design possibilities. With that in mind, here are some things to know about a walk-in shower in your new custom Florida home.

It’s like a walk-in closet

Know how nice it is to enter a spacious, well-lit closet and find what you need?

It’s the same with a walk-in shower. No more squeezing into a cube in the corner. No crawling over bathtub walls or typical tile curbing that separates the shower floor from the bathroom floor. No fumbling with shower curtains or bulky sliding doors.

You just…walk in the shower. A half-wall topped with a glass panel keeps the rest of the bathroom dry. Another option is full-length glass walls that admit extra light.

It requires excellent drainage

And the willingness to mop surrounding surfaces, and squeegee glass walls or panels to keep them clean and clear. It’s also wise to use an absorbent bath mat, and keep a mop handy for stray puddles or footprints.

Because a walk-in shower doesn’t use tub walls or tile curbing to keep splashing at bay, your ICI Homes floor plan designer and builder team will make the sure the shower entrance slopes away from the bathroom floor and toward the shower drain.

Post-shower, give glass and tile surfaces a quick swipe with a cloth or squeegee, and you’ll keep your walk-in shower as pristine as the day you move in.

It can make a bathroom feel larger

The traditional shower cube is cordoned off by frosted glass walls and doors and sports a bland, fiberglass shower pan. Ugh.

If doors are still your thing, you can cordon off a walk-in shower with clear glass walls and doors that seem to disappear and visually expand the bathroom. Include a freestanding tub in that same walled-off, walk-in shower space for a showstopper look.