In this episode, we delve into the innovative world of home design and materials for your home, exploring how to create harmonious living spaces that accommodate both aging in place and multigenerational living. Join us as we interview a renowned designer, Wendy Glaister from Wendy Glaister Interiors and Jarrett Oakley, Director of Marketing for Toto USA to discuss practical solutions, design trends, and the future of inclusive home environments.

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[00:00:18] Wendy Glaister: Heated floors are coming into play. I think when you talked, Eric, about people's sensitivities, we're doing a lot more heated floors and lighting, especially as you're planning for a living in place, bathroom.

[00:00:47] Eric Goranson: to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know. But we've got you covered. This is

[00:00:56] Eric Goranson: Welcome to the Around the House show. The next generation [00:01:00] of everything about your home from home. Home improvement to design to construction. We're here to help you out with your next project. Now we've got a super important conversation today that I think anybody that's living in a home or even renting a home should pay attention to because there's a massive.

[00:01:36] Eric Goranson: Thanks for coming on today. And of course, Jared Oakley from Toto. Thanks guys for coming on the show today. Thanks, Wendy. Let's talk about you first here and then we'll get to Jared. What's your background? Cause you're an expert in this field as well.

[00:01:58] Wendy Glaister: So it was in the bread basket [00:02:00] of California. A lot of farmers, entrepreneurs, self made people. I've been doing this work for 17 years and thankfully, very gratefully have not won a number of awards for the work. A lot of it has been ADA informed. Some aging in place informed, and I recently finished a project for a close friend who was hurt in a car accident.

[00:02:33] Eric Goranson: Yeah, no kidding. Jarrett.

[00:02:39] Jarrett Oakley: And Wendy, it's wonderful to see you and have this important conversation today. A little bit about me. I'm the director of marketing here for Toto North America. And so I lead a marketing department. And cross departmental efforts to grow brand awareness of Toto in many different facets in places here in the United States.

[00:03:17] Jarrett Oakley: And that's a big push that we have here in the U S market. Yeah,

[00:03:33] Eric Goranson: He was okay from the medical emergency, but he broke his leg when he passed out and fell off the or so he ended up now he's been in changing his whole house in, in Southern California. For that very reason, he had no active guy, had no thought of being laid up for any amount of time until something happened really quickly.

[00:04:05] Wendy Glaister: Yeah, if you say your friend is a super active guy and loves to be independent, then any change in his lifestyle whatsoever would be really hard to tolerate.

[00:04:28] Eric Goranson: Absolutely. And Jared, you guys have helped a lot with this, and this is something, Wendy, I know you've seen out there as well, but to me as a big umbrella over this whole space, I think it's really cool.

[00:05:00] Jarrett Oakley: I agree and I think we could agree with this statement.

[00:05:27] Jarrett Oakley: So that universal design principle is, you don't know it's there or you need it. And then it's there to support you. And we're seeing a growing end of universal design products like our total washlet. Uh, and our washlet plus this universal height, uh, going into homes earlier for people who are future proofing their home for living in place.

[00:06:08] Jarrett Oakley: So

[00:06:25] Eric Goranson: I was taking classes from her and just opening my eyes up to it. Cause at that point, nobody was talking about it and she was really spearheading that effort. And it's so great to see how that's evolved over the years.

[00:06:44] Wendy Glaister: If you're doing a bathroom for someone in their forties, you don't want. The grab bar necessarily in the shower, even though it's beautiful cooler, makes some beautiful grab bars that look like towel bars, but you can't put the blocking and you can specify exactly where it is. So [00:07:00] if someone turns their ankle or if someone has to have a surgery, it's available and you don't have to tear your.

[00:07:24] Eric Goranson: that outlet behind the toilet, right?

[00:07:30] Jarrett Oakley: 95%. Absolutely. And what we're seeing is if, um, You know, right now, if we all started a movement right now that we said, Hey, building code ordinances need to change. We have to have these outlets installed. We can then change the zeitgeist of thinking about, uh, a spa like sense of clean every day with a electronic bidet seat or total washlet, but also something that helps people with mobility, mobility challenges, those that are aging with community in respect with supporting of toileting.

[00:08:18] Jarrett Oakley: A sense of wellness is created. So I feel like that 1 hurdle that you mentioned, Eric, if you get to that. Install of that outlet. You are really well on your way to a revolution in your bathroom.

[00:08:41] Eric Goranson: And this is just making their life more comfortable, whether or not they use that seat fully or not, these are all great things that happen as well as it makes a little bit taller as well, which means it's easier to get on and off that for anybody, whether you've got a sore knee that day, or you've got even a different mobility issues.

[00:09:00] Wendy Glaister: Two for women, because most of my clients, if you look in through interior design, the industry itself, and who are our customers, Women are mostly interior designers and most of our clients are women. They're the ones who write the checks for what goes in your home. And as women get older and their estrogen levels drop, UTI infections go way high.

[00:09:48] Wendy Glaister: She actually runs a care givers service, quite a large caregiver service, but she just came for her own mother in her home and it was a constant battle with and [00:10:00] once we put the washlet in. And her visits to the hospital went almost completely away. So people who are into women's health and healthy aging for women all talk about, you've got to get rid of the UTIs.

[00:10:20] Jarrett Oakley: That's really nice to hear that, Wendy. And that's really what. All of our staff members and people who work on the total washlet, they really are driven by a sense of creating a better standard of living for the end user.

[00:10:38] Wendy Glaister: Yeah. Stay out of the hospital. Stay

[00:10:42] Wendy Glaister: of the hospital. You can live to a ripe old age of whatever it is you'd like. Just don't end up there.

[00:10:55] Eric Goranson: And I think it's some of the new online purchases people are getting where there's this big [00:11:00] jumble of tubes and wires and nastiness on the side. They go, Oh, I want it to be a clean installation. Jerry, you guys have done a great job now with even just putting this on a Drake toilet where you've created things to hide that and put it away.

[00:11:19] Jarrett Oakley: Yeah, yeah. And this what's nice about this is we really have taken the Washlet electronic bidet seat. We introduced it in January and June of 1980. And since then, we've been working with folks like Wendy interior designers and having our ear to the ground on what is the best way to reach the apex of performance design and functionality all to create a comfortable experience.

[00:12:05] Jarrett Oakley: That washlet plus is a really wonderful component of our product lineup. And we're seeing those really take hold in the United States where people want. A superior toilet that is award winning and also award winning washly experience. They're buying them both and putting them in, just like Wendy said, thinking ahead on their install and saying, I'm going to install and design this for the long term for my health now and in the future.

[00:12:32] Eric Goranson: Yeah,

[00:12:33] Eric Goranson: sense. That makes sense. Wendy, what are you seeing with your clients out there? You've, you do this day in and day out of working with people and addressing their needs and everything else. What are some of the hottest trends that you're seeing these days? It's

[00:12:48] Wendy Glaister: And again, stay now the hospital. So we're dropping all the thresholds and all the showers. So it's a zero threshold shower. We use a lot of the Schluter drains the guys that I [00:13:00] love to work with the most on our teams. They like the Vario and the KERDI line of the Schluter offerings. And the Vario is new for Schluter.

[00:13:36] Wendy Glaister: And those three things living in the Valley where I do and work with surrounded by agriculture, that's a huge deal. And, you know, everyday stress and trouble with sleep as you get older is something that a lot of us don't escape. So anything that helps that always is something that's a big plus. Heated floors are coming into play.

[00:14:33] Wendy Glaister: Tuneable lighting also is very important because it has a lot to do with. Circadian rhythm and your quality of sleep. Some research shows that if you just have a constant with LED and it's a cooler light, it really messes up your circadian rhythm. So you want a tunable light where it, when it's on its highest value, it's a cool, clean light for 5, 000.

[00:15:15] Eric Goranson: Yeah, that makes sense. I did a steam shower at my house here, boy, during one of my COVID projects. And I was like, all right, well, I'm stuck at home. So I might as well do my bathroom remodel. And I put in a, I didn't go Mr. Steam, but I did the thermosol system in there. So I have the video screen and the, The aromatherapy, chromotherapy, all that different stuff with it, and I did it all myself, which was totally fun, but you really have to pay attention on the health and wellness side of putting steam in because not only do you need it to be waterproof, it needs to be vapor proof, which a lot of systems don't work well with.

[00:16:01] Wendy Glaister: Yes. We have a great team and

[00:16:04] Wendy Glaister: they aren't well acquainted with it and they don't have a familiarity, then they don't work on them.

[00:16:12] Eric Goranson: There we go. I love it. So I got a question for Jared here. What you guys are always coming out with, you just have always been, I've worked with you guys for over 20 years. You guys have always been 10 steps about beyond everybody else, especially when it comes to toilets and bidets and stuff, and they're always chasing behind you, where do you see technology going in the years ahead, because it just keeps getting better and better.

[00:16:40] Jarrett Oakley: So what we firmly believe are. Manufacturing process, our product development process is all rooted in the fact that we believe that there is a washlet for every home in America, right? So we will consistently make more feature rich, thinner, more elegantly designed or differently designed to match the consumer's [00:17:00] taste of the moment or anticipate the consumer's taste working with.

[00:17:37] Jarrett Oakley: But I also see that just like the microprocess ship, things are getting faster and faster towards the most technologically advanced possible. And I'm confident that Toto will continue to be at the vanguard of that. But offering technologies at every product line step,

[00:18:03] Wendy Glaister: But they did you see that incredible bathtub? Oh my

[00:18:07] Wendy Glaister: the total just weather. I have a lot of clients that are on their feet all day. If they're in the medical profession, if they're in retail, If they're leading a team, you're up a lot. And by the end of the day, you're pretty tired. Wouldn't it be fantastic if you got into an ergonomically engineered bathtub that's zero gravity.

[00:18:53] Wendy Glaister: But that was pretty impressive, as was that ComfortWave technology that they have in their shower heads. [00:19:00] It's, because especially in California, we have a lot of water wise regulations and things like that, so it's not always the coziest shower experience. But that ComfortWave technology, where they infuse the air particulates into the water drops, makes it feel like a bigger water droplet, so it doesn't just pound on you.

[00:19:21] Eric Goranson: Yeah. That tub Jarrett was stunning. And I'm happy you guys had that center stage in there because I walked in the booth and it was like, Oh,

[00:19:41] Jarrett Oakley: Cause she just loves a bath at the end of the day. I think many people across the country would agree with that. So. The Eric, you meant you made me think about something. So technologies around helping keep the products cleaner and longer. That is a trend that we see [00:20:00] continue. We are seeing that we also are seeing the wall hung units come to prominence.

[00:20:24] Jarrett Oakley: So it features. Act like technology that when enacted a UV light with electrolyzed water and our proprietary glaze keeps the bowl cleaner longer. That types of technology will continue.

[00:20:41] Wendy Glaister: Oh, no. Ever.

[00:20:48] Jarrett Oakley: What is the, what's the, the feeling from architects and designers like you all and the community will just keep it coming. A hundred

[00:21:09] Eric Goranson: And now we've got a lot of people that are discussing about, okay, what happens when, right? It's that what happens when they hit this point where their parents parent or whatever relative needs help. And that generation didn't have a lot of, and to this day, most people don't have a lot of that long term care insurance.

[00:21:54] Eric Goranson: Depending on the situation, you can remodel a bathroom pretty inexpensively compared to [00:22:00] that, to buy some time till they get to that next step.

[00:22:18] Wendy Glaister: And in fact, Some of the research that we're seeing, especially coming from AARP, says if you place someone in a home, their lifespan decreases by 70%. They'll be gone in 3 years or less because there is nothing that feels like Life, your garden isn't there, your neighbors aren't there, your church isn't there, your art supplies aren't where you want them.

[00:23:07] Wendy Glaister: Once you go into a facility like that, you don't have those options. And I think that's why it's so meaningful, especially, and it sounds funny to talk about a toilet this way, but if it means you get to stay in your home with your friends, with the people that you love near you, with your pets, With your habits with your hobbies and the things that you love and make life worth living.

[00:23:54] Jarrett Oakley: I love that.

[00:24:25] Jarrett Oakley: And with fear and not having understanding. And at the same token, we're seeing a society that's witnessing an unprecedented time where people are living far longer and healthier in their life, right? And they're productive. We're, I think the term golden years is an archaic term. I think, I think that people are choosing not to retire.

[00:25:06] Jarrett Oakley: They raised a family in. And so I think is that we need to remove the stigma of talking about aging gracefully in America and make it. Something of a triumph and all of us, Eric, thank you for hosting us to talk about this, Wendy, to continue to champion future proofing and living in place and manufacturers like us to say, Hey, we hear you, we see this need.

[00:25:47] Eric Goranson: Amen.

[00:26:11] Eric Goranson: That's a solid number. And you're not paying that out. Yeah. This becomes just such an automatic yes for many people that even if you had to do a big bathroom remodel After six months to a year, guess what? You're well ahead of the game now. And you've got extra lifespan and your home where you're comfortable, where your friends come and visit.

[00:26:48] Wendy Glaister: yes. I think we've done. I've seen six of these in the past two years, and no, I can assure you that none of them look like a hospital.

[00:27:23] Wendy Glaister: Like you said, Jarrett, future proofing their home so that they can enjoy it forever. And it's funny because a lot of my clients have kids weigh in and offer their opinion, adult children will say, and it's really funny because They do not really want to hear their adult children's perspective, nor, I'm sure, would they like their adult children to make choices for them as they get a little older in years, and so they're really protecting themselves from unwanted input for decades to come, which As [00:28:00] a mother of a semi adult child, I can tell you, this is very attractive to me.

[00:28:24] Jarrett Oakley: And that is a terrifying prospect. So future proofing and thinking about these things from a design perspective, construction perspective from a bathroom perspective is really. Our way of planning for something like, right. And I know financial services are doing something and other sectors of society.

[00:29:05] Jarrett Oakley: And nearly eight out of the 10 of those caregivers of a recent report showed that they had out of pocket expenses themselves taking care of their loved one around 7, 200 a year. Just so not only is it expensive for the elder to age in America, but caregivers are feeling the burden too. That's on top of also probably raising a family and trying to keep a big job.

[00:29:51] Jarrett Oakley: We have research from Washington University in St. Louis. We did that shows that caregiver satisfaction raises. When they're helping the individual that they love with toileting [00:30:00] support, they age with grace and dignity. And now this time in their lives become filled with good memories. And so there is so much to unpack with these, this, uh, topic, but the first step is talking about it.

[00:30:21] Wendy Glaister: I ran into that, Jarrett, with my very close friends, mom and dad. It was the first EADA project that I did and She suffered from Alzheimer's and it was the Alzheimer's that makes you angry, especially on

[00:30:40] Jarrett Oakley: If you

[00:31:03] Wendy Glaister: And she thought she was at the Westin and it made her so happy. And we had this huge shower, roll in shower with a great wand and a heat lamp and heated floors and the bench. So the caregiver, namely her daughter, my good friend, after working a long days at pediatrician could go in and take care of her mom.

[00:31:45] Wendy Glaister: So we had to make sure all the clearances were right for that. So to toilet her, it was wide enough to accommodate that piece of equipment, showering as well. So sometimes people think, Oh, if I can stick a little grooming chair in there, it'll be worth, it'll be enough. [00:32:00] You're never really sure. So if you can make that 48 inch clearance happen, it's nice to have.

[00:32:27] Wendy Glaister: It changes your perspective. And especially when you're going through something that stressful, it's nice to have something really beautiful. We put extra windows in, we put in some more greenery and plant life and got a piece of stone that reminded her dad of the Montana mountains where his favorite cabin was.

[00:33:08] Eric Goranson: Exactly. Wendy, I want to mention about this cause I think it's a big deal and I think it's a shift that we need to think of in building and remodeling. And that is why can't we just start making standards like, Hey, when we go put new doors in, or we're designing a home, let's put 36 inch doors in everywhere.

[00:33:51] Eric Goranson: I wish we could do something better with these standards to make it that much easier. So we're not having to remodel so many places and just make it part of the conversation.

[00:34:08] Wendy Glaister: And, if you are a new designer, and you haven't worked with a lot of people yet, and you're just getting your feet wet, you don't think about, Um, 10 years down the road, how they're going to feel in that bathroom because you haven't been doing this work for 10 years. It doesn't mean that experience means you're better or more talented.

[00:34:54] Wendy Glaister: That means I'm not a very kind or responsible professional, and I do not ever want [00:35:00] someone to have that feeling. So, once you start to have a harder conversation, and you get more used to having those hard conversations. They're not hard anymore because you frame it like number one. I want to make sure that you don't have to pay for this twice Number two, I want you to live your very best life here forever and ever no matter what happens Number three that requires a few things that we talked about that may or may not be uncomfortable But it's to aid in your joy and experience living in this space and that's when you washlet the Lowering the threshold, making sure you block for grab bars later, making sure there's always a wand in the shower.

[00:35:48] Jarrett Oakley: I think that's well put Wendy. And these things start small, right? You have one conversation that builds on another, that builds on another, that. All of a sudden you feel comfortable talking about these things.

[00:36:25] Jarrett Oakley: So, so here's another thing. I'm interesting that we have been monitoring, right? There's a whole host for reasons why people want to stay at home. The emotional one. About right, but also financially with interest rates being rather high, stubbornly high of right now, it's it's seen somewhat more of a risk to to move.

[00:37:07] Jarrett Oakley: I'm going to renovate for the future. I'm going to buy a plus. I'm going to make sure that this is luxury. I can use now. And when I need it. It's going to be a different form of luxury, which I can live in place. So it's just interesting, the time and place that we're living in is informing our design and the product aesthetics.

[00:37:30] Wendy Glaister: I think it's just a beautiful bathroom. It's a beautiful bathroom, sleek. Clean. I don't have to get in there and scrub that toilet and I have four little boys at home. I love it. Get them in the shower and hose them off with that wand when they're done in the pool with their friends.

[00:37:45] Intro: go.

[00:38:06] Wendy Glaister: We need to drop that threshold. It's just, When you look at really beautiful high end design, it does have all of those principles built in with what we're seeing now, especially in larger design competitions with ASID or the Interior Design Society, you don't see clunky old bathrooms with five steps up to a.

[00:38:42] Eric Goranson: Yeah, that's really smart. That's really smart. And I think it's the put a bow around all this I think what's beautiful this is that this is not Expensive to do these kind of things, right?

[00:39:16] Eric Goranson: Do you want to put in the cheapest hospital looking towel bar? That's a. Hand holding bar as well. Or do you want to put in something that looks like a beautiful piece of art on the wall that does both?

[00:39:36] Wendy Glaister: Isn't that lovely? And it's so convenient. And it is, it is like jewelry. What girl doesn't like the jewelry? Really?

[00:39:52] Jarrett Oakley: My parents are jewelers. That's how I grew up.

[00:39:57] Jarrett Oakley: them. Yeah. What's beautiful about this [00:40:00] too, Eric's right. And Wendy, you're right too. That the, so putting somebody in a home. Detrimental. We all know this. It's expensive or find your home for future proofing. If you get to choose it, you design it with a designer.

[00:40:32] Wendy Glaister: multiple trips to the ER with the

[00:40:43] Wendy Glaister: So

[00:41:07] Jarrett Oakley: And it's just now at the time when the largest, greatest generation is starting to retire that they see the benefit of it just in a different way. And I think that's a testament to universal design. I think it's a testament to our company and to this product, but I do think that we're at an exciting inflection point in our society, and I'm hoping that.

[00:41:32] Eric Goranson: Yeah. What's ironic is that the, this is the least cost option, right? Adding luxury is the best for life and the best for the pocketbook, which that always doesn't work out that way, which is cool.

[00:41:46] Jarrett Oakley: We had at CABIS, we had for the flow site was fun. We had three washlet plus models out and we wanted to ask people just Coming to the exhibit hall, how fast do you think you can install one? And we had [00:42:00] someone install it in two minutes in, I think, 30 seconds with, with just a, all you need is a Phillips head screwdriver.

[00:42:26] Eric Goranson: guys, we are running outta time and I wanted to ask Wendy here, I'm gonna ask each one of you guys, is there something we haven't talked about today that you're like, Ooh, I just gotta get this in?

[00:43:07] Wendy Glaister: And it's very hard to lift people out of that kind of thing. And it's just, it makes sense. I don't know.

[00:43:15] Wendy Glaister: approach it that way, I think it's a lot easier

[00:43:30] Jarrett Oakley: We want to make sure that we provide the best products, superior products for technology, functionality, and a sense of cleanliness and luxury. We believe that there's a Washington electronic for every home in America, like I mentioned before, and it is my goal. We'll have 1 in every home in America.

[00:44:17] Jarrett Oakley: And I'm excited to do that with you all. And I'm excited to see other people talk about it.

[00:44:34] Wendy Glaister: Oh, thank you. So Wendy g glader interiors.com, and it's G-L-A-I-S-T-E-R. Interiors, plural. I mess that up sometimes. And then also you can see most of what I'm doing on a day-to-Day basis on Instagram. Also, Wendy Glaser Interiors. Thank you for asking. I appreciate it. No

[00:45:02] Jarrett Oakley: So todousa. com, you can find our latest and greatest products, plumbing products, and our newest washlets. The S7A that we recently launched this year, this is the latest in the product lineup. It has every bell and whistle, as well as our C5, which is our wire cutter New York Times pick. For many years running now and our bestseller.

[00:45:42] Jarrett Oakley: So we'll see you there too.

[00:45:51] Wendy Glaister: Thanks for having us. I really appreciate you.