Wow, a body dryer! That sounds so nice. Off to google... Yeah, I'm pretty excited about that. We are almost empty nesters /close to retirement, and we are planning a house that'll be elder-friendly -- the body dryer plays into that. But it's also just cool. JR, what you're doing is similar to getting an awful haircut and then pulling a few strands into a rubber band, covering it with a bow and thinking no one will notice the bad haircut. Yeah, that's a good analogy. You may cover it up for the day and at first glance it looks okay, but underneath you still have a bad haircut. It doesn't function: you aren't able to style your hair in whatever way you please; you've become a one-trick pony and all you can do is pull your hair back ... or pay more money and get someone to "clean up" the bad haircut ... yet you're limited in what you can do 'cause your hair's now short. Mine has a sliding bar with a shower that can be handheld so that I could have a very low shower (which I wanted) but have it be adjustable for "some day". Yes, that's what I'm planning too. With a handheld model on a bar, you have options. You can shower standing up, or -- if you're sick, elderly, or just lazy today -- you can sit down and still use the same shower head. While we're on the topic of showers, be sure of these basics: - Place the controls in such a location that you can reach your hand in to turn on the water ... without walking in /putting yourself in the path of the spray. - If you're not building in grab bars today, spend the pennies necessary to put solid plywood behind the spot(s) where you would place a grab bar. It might one day save you from ripping out all your expensive tile. - Consider where your towels are going to hang. How many Houzz pix have you seen of lovely bathrooms ... yet the towels are hanging across the room or behind a swinging shower door?

I came to this forum from kitchens where I spent a large partt of my life for a while. My kitchen planning got stopped cold by an injury and then restarted with some different ideas. I tested them and reworked and retested until I was pretty comfortable I had the best possible for my situation and limitations. I held my breath and posted my plan. I asked for thoughts on one specific part but got a lot of challenges in general. I could get upset or defensive, but I realized I had an answer for why each of those things was in the plan as it was and I didn't want to change it. I got reassurance on my one question, and then I knew I was ready to move forward. You have to test your ideas. That is the least expensive and most important part of the process whether you are building or remodeling. Changes only get more expensive and when you cant change, regrets may be forever. Those hard feelings are likely to be much greater than any you may get over a "this is the biggest investment we will ever make and where we plan to live forever - we get once chance to make it great, so I'm sure you can appreciate that we want a double check from someone who hasn't been too close to this." Consider that the family member may feel the same away about giving you feedback, criticism or questioning the things you say you want. Guarding each other's feelings is the best recipe for unhappiness for both of you. Ask any first year law student about the number of family matters in their case books. If you can't question a family member or get a second opinion now, it will only get worse once you start. If your family member is worth their salt, they will understand and will want you to get the best possible result. Ask the second architect to do a reality check for how this will live and spot problems, not do a redesign. Just make it a team approach moving toward a common goal, not adversarial. If you can't do that now, I'd scrap the project. Seriously -- this is a huge investment of time, money and self. Can you really afford, financially, emotionally and in terms of family relationships to not be happy when it is all done? Now is the time to test nerves, bang heads and check and recheck plans -- not once the work has started.

I knew two houses, growing up, with master suites I liked. These are "squared bubble diagrams", no dimensions are given, this is just rough placements. The first, I like that there is a dressing area so you can "finish up" before/after dressing without getting your stocking feet wet. I'm pretty sure there was a door to the bath at the open area, which may have been more to the left, away from the wet area. This next one, I liked how there was a short "entry" to the whole suite; as I recall the door was arched. The closets were to the right, they were reach-ins so it was basically a walk-in but with doors in front of the clothes. Tidy. And at the end was a door to the bathroom. The bathroom also had a door to the master bedroom, so you could do a circle. But you could also use the bathroom in the night without a long trek, and could also get ready for the day or for bed without disturbing a sleeper. Neither required a long hallway. And remember, no dimensions are given, these are just placement.

@John Creek do you have any installation photo of the Regretta? I'm actually thinking of intalling the Hallmark Leeward Regretta in our kitchen and then the Hallmark Organic 567 in Gunpowder in the rest of the house. The colors and look are almost identical (I have sample boards of each), although the texture is a little different since the Organic 567 has more scrapes and texture. But the Regretta being waterproof, seemed a better fit in our kitchen. The living room is a step down, so the transition is not a big deal in there, but we do have to other rooms (dining and office) that I would like to keep the Oragancic 567 as well, but it flows into the kitchen via a doorway, so I might just keep it all the Regretta, even though I love the look of the Orangic 567. The 567 will go up the stairs as well (off the dining room). I'd love to see photos of the Regretta in a real house. There are very few photos out there. Post some if you have any. Any info would be helpful. Thanks!