Shower Design Options: Entries, Glass, Niches, Benches and Drains

Shower design guide

Start with how the shower will be used

Before choosing glass or tile, picture the daily routine. Is this the shower for one adult who leaves in a hurry, a shared space for a busy household, a guest bath that is rarely used, or a room that must stay comfortable as the people using it get older? Each answer points to a different design.

A shower used by several people benefits from a generous footprint, durable surfaces and easy cleaning. A guest shower can be more decorative because it sees less wear. A shower planned for long term comfort often leans toward a low or no threshold entry, a bench and thoughtful grab bar locations, as discussed in our accessible bathroom design basics.

Size drives most of the other choices. A small enclosure leaves little room for a bench or a wide entry, while a larger one can have a niche, a bench and a rain head without feeling crowded. Measure the space honestly and mark the outline on the floor with tape to see how it feels to step in and turn around.

If you are still deciding between a shower and a bathtub, our comparison of a walk in shower or bathtub lays out the trade offs in plain terms.

Curbless and low threshold entries

A curbless shower has a floor that flows from the bathroom into the shower with no raised lip. It looks clean, makes a small room feel larger, and removes a step for anyone with limited mobility or a wheelchair or walker. It also asks more of the construction than a standard shower, because the floor has to slope toward the drain while water is still kept inside the wet area.

Achieving that slope often means lowering the shower floor framing relative to the bathroom floor, or building up the bathroom floor around it. That is a structural and layout question for the planning stage, not something to improvise. The floor framing, the subfloor material and the height of the drain all have to work together, and in some buildings the structure limits what is possible.

A low threshold, a small raised edge rather than a full curb, is a middle option. It keeps water in more easily and can be simpler to build, while still being much easier to step over than a traditional curb. Some people also choose a short ramp edge that blends with the floor tile.

Whichever entry you pick, discuss where the water will go when the door is open, how the floor tile pattern will help or hinder the slope, and whether a linear drain or a wide shower pan suits the entry. Our guide to large format porcelain tile explains why slope and big tiles need careful layout.

• Decide early whether a curbless entry is realistic for your floor structure.
• Ask how the floor will be sloped and where the drain will sit.
• Consider a low threshold if a fully flush entry is not practical.
• Plan the bathroom floor tile so it continues cleanly into the shower.

Glass enclosures, curtains and open designs

Glass enclosures come in framed, semi frameless and frameless styles. Frameless glass has clean lines and few places for grime to collect, but it relies on well placed hinges, seals and a fixed panel to stop splashing. Framed glass uses more metal but can be more forgiving when walls or floors are slightly out of square.

Some showers use only a fixed glass panel with an open end, sometimes called a walk in design. This looks elegant and is easy to enter, yet water can travel beyond the glass if the panel is too short or the shower head points the wrong way. The size of the opening, the position of the shower head and the room size all matter.

A curtain on a rod remains a practical choice, particularly for tub and shower combinations and for budgets that need to stay flexible. The key is choosing a material that dries well and washing it regularly so it does not hold moisture in a humid room.

Think about hardware finish as well. Brushed and polished metals show different kinds of spots, and sealed edges at the glass bottom reduce the dripping that can stain tile. Ask about glass coatings and how they should be cleaned, since harsh products can damage them.

Door swing is a detail that gets overlooked. A hinged glass door must open without hitting the toilet, the vanity or a towel bar, and it should swing outward so it is easy to exit. A sliding or pivot door solves tight clearances but brings tracks or a wider opening to keep clean. Test the swing with tape on the floor before ordering glass, because custom glass cannot be adjusted once it is made.

Niches, shelves and benches

Storage in a shower keeps bottles off the floor and out of the way. A recessed niche is built into the wall between studs and finished with tile, so it takes no floor space. A surface mounted shelf or corner caddy is simpler but sticks out and can collect soap film.

Niche placement deserves thought. Put it where it is reachable without standing under the water, away from the main spray, and at a height that suits the people using it. Avoid a position directly on an outside wall without discussing insulation and moisture protection, and make sure the bottom of the niche slopes slightly so water drains out instead of pooling.

Benches serve several purposes. They give a place to sit while washing, a spot to rest a foot for shaving, and a surface for toiletries. A built in bench is tiled and sloped like the rest of the shower, while a fold down seat offers flexibility in a smaller space. Either one should be planned with the plumbing and the wall construction in mind.

All of these items add edges, corners and seams, and each of those is a place where waterproofing must be done carefully. More features is not always better, and a simple shower with one well placed niche often outlasts a complicated one.

Think also about how a shower will be cleaned from the inside. A bench with a deep recessed edge, a niche with sharp inner corners or a shelf with a flat top can all collect soap film and standing water. Rounded corners, sloped surfaces and shallow depths make wiping simple, so ask how each feature will be finished before you commit. The goal is a shower that looks calm and stays that way with ordinary effort, not one that requires special products to keep it presentable.

Drain styles and what they change

The drain decides how the floor is shaped. A center point drain sits in the middle of the shower and the floor slopes toward it from every side, which usually means four slopes meeting at one spot. That works well with small tiles and mosaics that bend easily to follow the slope.

A linear drain is a long channel, often placed along one wall or at the entry. The floor slopes in a single direction toward it, which allows larger tiles to be used with fewer cuts and gives a very clean look. Linear drains need careful planning of the floor slope, the grate style and the cleaning of the channel.

Offset and corner drains exist as well. Each changes how the tile is laid and how the floor feels underfoot. Ask your installer what slope the floor will have, how the drain will be connected, and how the grate can be removed for cleaning.

A drain that is slow to empty is often a symptom of a larger issue, from hair buildup to a pan that has not been sloped well. If this sounds familiar, our page on a shower that leaks or drains slowly explains what to look into.

Waterproofing: the part you will never see

Everything beautiful about a shower sits on top of a hidden system. Tile and grout are not waterproof on their own. Water passes through grout lines and tiny gaps, so a membrane or waterproof layer behind and beneath the tile does the real protecting. Choosing which waterproofing system to use, and how it connects at corners, drains, niches and the entry, is one of the most important decisions in the whole project.

Different systems exist, including sheet membranes, liquid applied coatings and tile backer boards that are themselves waterproof. Each has its own rules for overlapping, curing and testing. Ask which system will be used, how corners and penetrations will be treated, and whether the shower pan will be tested for leaks before tile goes down.

In Florida the humid air adds a challenge, because a shower that does not dry out between uses stays damp for long periods. Our article on moisture planning in Florida homes explains how wet areas, ventilation and materials work together.

Give this stage the time it needs. Waterproofing should be checked before it is covered, because after tile goes up there is no easy way to see what is behind it. A shower is one of the few places where a small shortcut in a hidden layer can turn into a large repair later, which is why the order of work and the inspection points deserve a place in the plan.

• Ask which waterproofing system will be used and how corners are sealed.
• Ask whether the shower pan will be tested before tile is installed.
• Plan the niche and bench waterproofing along with the main walls.
• Make sure the room has a working fan so the shower can dry between uses.

Tile, grout and surface choices

Shower walls and floors take constant wetting, soap, shampoo and cleaning products. Porcelain tile is dense and resists water, while natural stone is beautiful but usually needs sealing and gentle cleaning. Large panels and big format tiles have fewer grout lines, which means less to scrub.

Floor tile needs grip. A shiny, smooth tile can be slippery when wet, so floors often use smaller tiles, textured finishes or mosaics that give more grout line and more traction. Our overview of tile types for Florida homes compares options.

Grout deserves its own decision. Standard cement based grout is porous and needs sealing, while epoxy based grout resists stains and moisture more strongly but is trickier to install. Read our grout and sealer guide to choose with open eyes.

Color matters in practice. Very dark tile and grout show soap residue and mineral spots, while very light grout can show stains. A mid tone with a slight texture often hides daily wear in a way that high contrast designs cannot.

Ventilation, lighting and the small details

A shower without good ventilation will tend to hold humidity, and humidity is the root of most mildew complaints. The fan should be sized for the room, ducted outdoors, and located so it actually draws steam away from the shower. Our bathroom ventilation guide goes deeper into this topic.

Lighting in a shower needs to be suitable for wet locations, and the fixture choice and placement should be handled by the electrician and checked against your city's rules. Even light that reaches the corners makes cleaning easier and the space safer to use.

Small details complete the room. A shower head height that suits the tallest person, a handheld spray for rinsing and cleaning, a mixing valve that is easy to reach from outside the spray, and hooks or bars for towels all add comfort. Think through where each thing will go before the walls are closed.

If mildew has been a recurring issue in your current bathroom, our page on bathroom humidity and mold concerns may explain why.

Cleaning and long term care

A design that looks perfect on day one can become a chore if it is hard to clean. Fewer grout lines, smooth glass with a coating, a drain that comes apart easily and surfaces that wipe clean all reduce the effort. Consider how much time you really want to spend scrubbing.

Habits matter as much as materials. Running the fan during and after a shower, squeegeeing glass, wiping the floor and walls occasionally, and using cleaners that suit the surface all extend the life of the finishes. Avoid harsh acids on natural stone and on some metal finishes.

Sealers on grout and stone need to be renewed on a schedule the manufacturer provides. Cracked caulk at corners and around the base is a common place for water to enter, so replacing it when it fails is an easy way to protect the work behind it.

Watch for warning signs such as soft spots, stains on the ceiling below, persistent musty smell or grout that keeps cracking. Early attention is far easier than repairs after water has traveled.

Bringing the choices together in a plan

A good shower comes from a plan, not a pile of selections. Entry style, glass, tile, drain, waterproofing, niche and ventilation all influence one another, and changing one late can affect the rest. Settling them together on paper avoids surprises.

Our process begins with a call where you tell us about the property, the space and your priorities. We talk through layout, materials, storage, lighting and existing conditions, then build the plan and selections, and prepare for construction by going over the plan and the information needed before work begins.

Take a look at our bathroom remodeling service to see how we think about the whole room. Permit and approval requirements vary by city, building and community, so ask your city building department, and your condo or homeowner association if you have one, before work starts.

When you are ready to talk about your own shower, use the call button on this page and tell us about the room.

Questions and answers