DRAW ON INSPIRATION TO PLAN BATHROOM OF YOUR DREAMS.

Byline: Charlyne Varkonyi Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

Are any of us really completely satisfied with our bathrooms? We shudder when we look at the mauve and gray tiles that the original owner adored. We yearn for more space. Or we dream about having a bathtub like the one in ``Bull Durham'' so we can relax in a bubble bath surrounded by candlelight.

No wonder Americans are catching renovation fever in record numbers. Kitchen and Bath Business magazine reports that 5.69 million bathroom remodeling projects took place last year. That's up from this decade's low of 5.1 million jobs in 1992.

Each bathroom renovation averages about $8,800, according to the Kitchen & Bath Association. That's a good chunk of change for most of us, so we want to make sure we handle our projects the right way. But where do we start?

One good reference tool is the recently published ``Bathrooms'' (Clarkson Potter; $30) by Chris Casson Madden. The author, a Home & Garden TV channel host and recognized design guru, traveled around the country to find 30 of the country's most stylish and creative bathrooms. She packaged these inspirational designs with an extensive resource guide that includes the latest advice on what's available, how to find it and how to deal with a contractor.

Madden also brings some personal renovation experience to the book. Her dream was to relax in the bathtub of her 100-year-old house in Rye, N.Y., and gaze out the windows at the moon and the stars.

For her project, she spent a year on research - dreaming, clipping favorite ideas from magazines, talking to salespeople and craftsmen and pricing fixtures. When she still wasn't able to prioritize what she wanted, she called in a contractor who helped make her dream a reality.

The 7-by-7-foot bathroom hadn't been touched in years. It was so cramped that Madden said someone sitting down was unable to close the door.

The contractor's clever solution doubled the length of the room and gave Madden her dream view. A wall separating the small bathroom from a dressing room was torn down. The new shower came from space that was originally a closet in the adjoining guest room.

Finishing touches include a pale, creamy beige travertine marble floor, a period pedestal sink, whirlpool jets in a regular-size tub and a steam bath unit in the shower.

This design works for Madden and her family - and your bathroom should work for you and your family's needs, as well. Adequate planning is important, and she stresses the importance of using a professional architect or certified bathroom designer. But you must also be part of the design process.

``A great bathroom is not only efficient, it has soul,'' she said in a telephone interview from her home. ``Design is more about psychological well-being than about money or furniture. If you happen to like candles or flowers or plants or big bars of Ivory soap, go for it. If you like to have pictures of children or grandchildren or your boyfriend, put them in there.''

Madden celebrates this ``soul'' in her book as an appealing individuality that transcends choices of cabinetry, fixtures and handmade tile. The bathroom can be a place to display his collection of antique mugs, her Chinese robes, hatboxes and rose paintings.

Soul is reflected in the romanticism of the bedroom-turned-bathroom of fashion designer Jessica McClintock. The bathtub is made from two Victorian-era tubs that were cut apart and joined together with a hand-carved casing. The light wood floor is painted with cherubs and flowers. Over the tub is a hand-blown Venetian glass chandelier. The focal point is her dressing table, which features a cover of softly worn Battenberg and Irish lace, a bust of a young French girl, framed photographs, an elegant carved mirror, antique crystal jars and McClintock's signature cluster of roses.

The nostalgia of another era is evoked in the cabana bathroom in the Los Angeles home once owned by film director George Cukor. Present-day owners Lynn von Kersting and her husband, Richard Irving, have dedicated the 10-foot-by-10-foot cabana bath to Somerset Maugham. Maugham lived in the ground-floor guest room while he finished the screen adaptation of his novel ``The Razor's Edge.''

The mood is set by the large banana leaf wallpaper made originally for the Beverly Hills Hotel and manufactured today by Indigo Seas in Los Angeles. Other elements of the room include wicker furniture, stacks of books by Maugham and a jaunty cabana-stripe canvas skirting on the original sink.