Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Could there be anything more luxe, more catered to the comfort-seeker, than a toilet that flips its own seat? Actually, yes. A toilet that also sings. Or rather, pipes gentle music from, it seems, somewhere deep in the bowl. The Numi toilet by Kohler does just that and can be purchased at Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery (17895 Chesterfield Airport Rd., 636-519-7299, ferguson.com) for a mere $5,100 (marked down from a list price of $6,600). A computerized, iPod-like touchpad operates this toilet, which senses you coming and opens up welcomingly. It also illuminates for nighttime bathroom fumblings, dries, and puffs hot air at foot-level. Naturally, its seat is heated.
“The Numi isn’t being purchased by everyday homeowners,” manager Brad Young says. “It’s for the person who wants the latest in design and technology and wants a fashion statement in their home.”
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The company has 1,350 stores in all 50 states and stocks all manner of luxury goods: $25,544.93 for the Sophia crystal and Florentine bronze large foyer chandelier from Schonbek, or $10,280 for an imposing 48-inch Sub-Zero stainless refrigerator. Or what about a contemporary bathtub from Kohler that thunders water from the ceiling, for $11,700 (plus $920 for the faucet and $180 for the custom jets)?
The vast showroom offers many manufacturers. On site, the shop stocks appliance brands like Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Bosch, Wolf, and Thermador.
The store stocks a wide range of plumbing needs, including traditional sinks, vessel-style ones (Native Trails’ Maestro for $725), and ultra-modern slabs of glass (the Kohler Anatolia Wading Pool sink for $2,945). Fine-tune your sink by style, price, color, brand, length, depth, shape, and number of holes. Showerheads run the gamut, the Moen easyclean for $27 to the Hansgrohe Raindance for $2,580.
If the company doesn’t have a product, it can usually offer next-day delivery.
