You can get hand showers with slide bars. They have to be installed specifically with that in mind, otherwise the typical hardware used to attach them to the wall is not sufficient. We're installing one in our shower and I wanted it to be a safety feature as well, so our contractor just made sure there are studs available in the wall where we want to place it in.

If you google "designer grab bars" you'll find a bunch. I kind of like the Moen Kingsley in a more traditional bath, but if you want modern you'll have a lot more choices.

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Here is a link that might be useful: moen grab bars

There's a company someplace in FL (Naples, maybe) that makes really cool looking sculptural grab bars, but they're not very traditional looking. Also, some tubs can be ordered with a grip bar built in, and sometimes they're not hateful looking--depends on the manufacturer, in case you're planning to replace the tub, too.

One thing I've noticed is that it's very hard to get a wide choice in finishes unless you spend a lot of money, so that did make it easier for us to decide to stick with chrome. Right now you can still find brushed nickel and ORB in pretty much all the different styles, but forget PN or anything like that in the mid to low price range.

Also, HD has some Pegasus ones that are okay if not luxurious looking. Not exactly glam, but not totally institutional, either.

So far as I have seen, you can either pay a pretty penny for a designer one (like a couple hundred bucks), or get the basic insitutional looking variety for like $50. Unless I missed something, there doesn't seem to be a lot of middle ground. And honestly, even the designer ones are still grab bars -- bulky and not altogether attractive. I got one of the pegasus ones at HD, mostly because I wanted polished chrome and a square trim, and that's the only one I could find. It's still in the box and I'm still on the fence about it....I told GC it'll be the last thing installed so I have time to decide. I like Lukkiirish's idea about using slide bars....wish I'd thought of that....wonder if it's too late.....

I recently got those for my new bathroom. My bathroom is what I would like to call "high-end" though small space; and the shower has two grab bars, one at each end. (A local bath accessory store owner told me that they are becoming more common in high end bathrooms)

Unfortunately I do not have ready pix due to camera issues.

I bought Smedbo grab bars from efaucets.com. They come as a part of a "collection" of other accessories such as towel rods, robe hooks, paper holder etc. If you match them nicely with your other accessories, then you need not worry about them looking like eyesores (mine look quite pretty and I am happy with the overall effect + function). They were not expensive (~80.00 per piece).

However, I happened to see that in general you could spend a fortune on those puppies depending on the brand you pick. The point is that aesthetics is not a problem any more.

Hope this helps!

> you could spend a fortune on those puppies depending on the brand you pick.

Yeah, we loved the Herbeau and Newport Brass ones, but they would have cost more for one bar than we spent on the tub/shower.

Thanks Leigh. :c) I was just at Lowes and they actually had a pretty nice variety of grab bars. I was suprised.

I was also extremely grateful for the former owner's grab bars (and lower tub side) when my back went out. I plan to never again have a shower without them, but I never realized I could get nicer looking ones, hooray!

Thanks everyone for the pictures. I was able to find some more visually pleasing bars, but I still haven't seen many examples of them in use in fantastic bathrooms.

I do like the idea of retrofitting the shower slide bar for additional support. I'm putting that in my idea file.

Thanks again!

Take a look at homey_bird's completed bath thread. The Smedbo look great there.