Designing the Everyday Escape: How to Create a Spa-Inspired Bathroom Retreat at Home
How Utah designer Allison Campbell builds the ultimate spa-inspired bathroom retreat using natural textures, layered finishes, and sculptural fixtures that invite everyday luxury.
Designer (all): Allison Campbell | Featuring: NativeStone Avalon 72 freestanding concrete tub in Ash
When designing a spa-inspired bathroom, interior designer Allison Campbell explains that the goal isn’t to create a space that simply looks luxurious — it’s to create one that feels restorative.
“I want people to feel like they’ve stepped into a high-end resort bathroom — in their own home,” she explains. “Not necessarily because of the expense, but because of the feeling.”
That emphasis on emotional atmosphere runs throughout her work. Whether a home leans mountain modern or classic traditional, her spaces carry a signature softness and warmth.
Allison’s Guiding Principles
When approaching a spa-inspired bathroom, Allison notes that the transformation is all about thoughtful material selections, considered layout, and layered sensory details.
Featuring: NativeStone Mendocino freestanding concrete tub in Ash
1. Begin with the Focal Point
Allison begins each bathroom not with paint or tile — but with plumbing fixtures. “We start with the plumbing early, because if we want a wall-mount or a freestanding filler, the valves have to be planned before the walls are finished,” she notes.
This typically means opting for a tub-first approach.
Featuring: NativeStone Avalon 62 (left) in Earth & NativeStone Nipomo in Earth (right)
2. Choose Natural, Calming Materials
Spa spaces depend on warm, tactile finishes — stone, wood, plaster, linen, and gentle metal tones. Rather than one statement material, Campbell weaves together subtle tonal shifts to build atmosphere.
“Luxury is about the finishes,” she emphasizes. “Making sure you’ve got all the colors dialed in, the careful layering of textures and colors. Layers give you that luxurious feeling.”
3. Incorporate Wellness Features
Current bathroom trends embrace ritual and recovery. Allison most often sees clients request:
- Heated flooring
- Steam showers
- Saunas or infrared rooms
- Cold plunge zones
- Indoor–outdoor bathing connections
“Wellness is trending massively,” Allison says. “We’re often designing a suite — not just a bathroom.”
Featuring: NativeStone Avalon 62 freestanding concrete tub in Ash
4. Place the Freestanding Tub with Intention
A freestanding tub shouldn’t be squeezed into a corner. Allison offers practical placement advice:
- Pull the tub a few inches from the wall so the area remains easy to clean.
- Choose a floor-mounted tub filler and position it at the front corner, where it becomes, as she so charmingly puts it, “the jewelry for the tub.”
- Add a small stool or side table so everything you need is within reach.
Featuring: NativeStone Trough 4819 in Pearl (left) & NativeStone Avalon 62 in Ash (right)
5. Let the Sink or Tub Serve as “a Moment”
Resist the urge to go basic with your sink or tub selection.
“Instead of having sinks and tubs just be the standard white, have them be a moment, and then complement all of your finishes to those,” says Allison.
Your eye needs a place to land; the surrounding palette should echo the tones and textures of that centerpiece.
Inside Allison Campbell’s Spa-Inspired Retreats
Stepping from principle into practice, Allison’s work offers a clear view of how a spa-like retreat takes shape: through restraint, material clarity, and sculptural grounding. Native Trails’ NativeStone tubs appear throughout her projects, often serving as the quiet anchor that defines the room’s mood.
In particular, Allison returns often to the Avalon for its presence and versatility. “As much as a tub is a focal point of the room, I don’t want it to steal the show. With its lines and the clean look of it, the Avalon complements everything we put with it.”
She adds that the tub is “a leading lady in the room.”
Featuring: NativeStone Avalon 62 freestanding concrete tub in Ash
The Bath Lover’s Retreat
Designed for a homeowner who is “a bather, not a shower taker” — and who is 6’4” — this retreat required a generously sized tub. The Avalon became the heart of the room, beloved not only by the homeowner but by the couple’s dogs, who are routinely bathed inside it.
Here, the tub anchors a serene environment where daily rituals feel unhurried.
Featuring: NativeStone Avalon 72 in Earth (left) & NativeStone Avalon 62 in Ash (right)
The Parade Home Sanctuary
In the Utah Valley Parade of Homes (above, left), Allison paired an Avalon in Earth with a stone fireplace, full-height windows and Hammerton Studio lighting for a warm, organic effect.
Traditional Meets Organic Modern
Here (above, right), a barrel-vaulted ceiling clad in black-and-white subway tile and a floor in coordinating hex tile meet the sculptural simplicity of a concrete tub.
The Future of the Bathroom Retreat
Allison sees bathrooms continuing to evolve into private wellness suites — emotional reset spaces that serve as transition zones before entering the world again.
“I want people to be in there and think, ‘I don’t want to leave.’”
Discover more spa-inspired bathroom retreats featuring Native Trails’ artisan-crafted designs in our Inspiration Gallery.