Wow. First time home owner here. I bought a really old house that I knew I would need to put a lot of work into which, for me, meant a lot of money because I am nowhere near a DIYer. First up was the kitchen. I had the kitchen measured, went to Lowes and bought a bunch of cabinets. Then I interviewed about twenty different handymen and contractors before I found one that I liked to install them. I had no idea how to work with a contractor but I did know how I wanted my kitchen to look. He allowed me to buy some things and he took care of the rest and I was pretty pleased with the final result. I asked him to quote installing the master bathroom and not only was his quote very high, his finishes were also not broken out and I suspected they were basic builder finishes. While looking for another contractor for the bathroom, I started accumulating things that I liked from Craigslist, eBay, thrift stores and online suppliers. By the time I found a contractor, I already had the majority of the materials I needed. I explained my vision for my bathroom and showed him all of my materials. He was absolutely fine working with what I had. For the remaining items, if I didn't have a preference, he would buy it but if there was something specific that I wanted, I would buy it for him to install. Anything that was the least bit questionable, he would look at it before I bought it. It is certainly taking longer due to scouting out materials but he understands that this is not a builder bathroom and has bought into the vision. Now that I've been through it, I wouldn't work any other way with a contractor. I stayed in touch with the first contractor and while we both agree that he would have had the bathroom done by now, we also agree that I wouldn't love it as much as I will when it's done because he wouldn't have allowed me the kind of flexibility that this contractor does. That was a very long winded way of saying that I agree with what was stated up-post in that if you can find a contractor that will allow you to purchase materials and you clearly establish who is responsible for what, it can work out quite nicely.

Rhome - I didn't spot this thread earlier, but will add my two cents. I'm a few years older (58) and also live in the PNW. We have tile floors in the bathrooms (heated) and tile at the front entry and mud room that is unheated. I'm thankful every day that we don't have unheated tile floors in the kitchen. Too hard and too cold. And it's the kind of cold that goes through a thick pair of socks unless they are wool. I tend not to wear shoes in the house, and those tile floors are a chilling surprise every time I stand on them for more than 15 seconds. We did pre-finished hardwood which is a bit more forgiving in a lot of ways. This is a beach house and we have a large dog who refuses to let anyone (including the vet techs) near her with nail clippers, plus wet and sand. We have oak that's kind of a busy grain in sort of a honey color. It hides just enough, and I don't sweat the patina it will get over the years. When it gets bad, we'll have it refinished.

My advice is to go for it, Kathy! We didn't get the brass faucet (my husband didn't like the bridge style and besides, they were way too pricey for us....) We went with "champagne bronze" which works, but honestly, I don't love it. My hope was that it would echo the brushed gold cabinet pulls. It sort of does, but a brighter color would have been better. We haven't installed the pot filler yet (still waiting on that GE Cafe range; ugh), but my husband chose copper and now I'm worried since it doesn't match the faucet. We could have gone with copper on the faucet (the fake kind) since it stays shiny and the sink has the patina, and so would match the hardware on the appliances. I may end up changing out that sink faucet. (It may be too many metals; although we don't have stainless in there, so that helps.) Either way, they all look good with the Cambria Britannica gold, and the SW pure white cabinets as well as the green cabinets. I still haven't chosen a backsplash, believe it or not.... (please ignore the cereal and junk; just visited IKEA and the grocery store!)

We have a rustic slate bathroom which I love and am extremely happy with. That said many of the comments made here about it are legitimate thoughts to consider. The tiles are uneven, and if a tiler without a lot of experience laying slate does the job, you could have bumps in areas of the flooring that won't appeal to your feet. It can run cold, but that has not been an issue for us even in sub zero weather, it's just not something we care about. It's very hard and can be hard on one's legs if you're standing for a long period of time. The pro's are that it's very low maintenance though, seldom shows dirt and super easy to clean when it does which was important to me. I don't agree with Lakeeffect in that you don't have to get Vermont Slate. If you research it at all, you'll find there are lots of different types of slate that will work fine. We didn't get Vermont slate. I did however take the suggestion of a pro in the bathroom forum and soaked some tiles in a bucket of water for several days to see if they would break down. It didn't and it's done amazingly well in all areas including the shower. These are old pictures from our remodel just after the install and sealant. It's called Indian Autumn and the pictures don't really do it justice. We wanted everything we've upgraded with to be of natural materials and earthy, so we didn't go with a porcelain, but if it's not something you care about, I think that the Daltile would be a good alternative.