LOL :) you guys have me cracking up at work... M & M/Jane should work together - Mongo tells it straight up as only a guy from the northeast can, and m/j gots them facts down straight. too bad my bathroom is so tiny & i'm so poor - these sound great, all of them keep it up guys... and bill, chime in with more stories too - love em lisa

I came across this thread while searching the bathroom forum for installing sinks! Very interesting thread, I just have to add my two cents. I grew up in the Philippines (in the 60's) and our shared bathroom had a toilet that was retrofitted with a small tube that sprayed water upward--specifically pointing in the right direction (after #2), if you know what I mean. It was effective for getting the bottom clean, and not wasting a lot of TP. Moving to a new house in the late 70's, we were able to install bidets in some bathrooms. We favored the fountain sprays as opposed to the one which had a faucet. We had always used the bidet by sitting on it the same way you would a toilet. It surprised me years later to find out that Europeans use it by straddling the bidet, facing the bidet controls. Having to transfer from toilet to bidet was a hassle, but having a bidet had become a necessity since we got so used to a water stream in "that area". Fast forward to the 2000's. Most homes I know don't even bother with the bidet anymore because what has become very popular here is a "bidet hand spray". It's like a kitchen spray that is connected to the side of your toilet, to use whenever you felt like an extra blast of water would be useful. A bunch of rolled face (should I say "bum") towels sits next to a bench beside my toilet. The hand spray is easily retrofitted to an existing toilet by using a valve that has two outlets--one for the toilet and one for the spray. With the new homes that use "gray water" for flushing toilets, many have just plumbed in another cold water line where the hand bidet would be connected. Now even the guest and powder rooms usually have this feature since it's so inexpensive to add. A handspray is cheap--from $8 to $30 depending on brand and material (plastic, chrome-plated brass, etc). The only downside we've experienced is if the water pressure is too strong, and the valve is not shut off before leaving the house for vacation, the hose can break and flood your bathroom. That would do a lot of damage to wooden floors and sheet rock. But if you know this, and keep the pressure at medium at all times, shut valve off in long absences, it should be fine. Bidet sales have almost vanished here, even in the most high end homes, giving way to these hand sprays. I was trying to put in a picture but I don't know how to, so just google "bidet hand spray" and you'll see what they look like. I'm not sure if they carry bidet hand showers now in Lowe's of HD--but I've actually sent these over (together with the retrofit valves) to some cousins in the States.

Accent tile - I got it from an ebay store http://stores.ebay.com/Lands-Warehouse T.hey have gorgeous tiles. The one I used was called Crystal Glass Mosaic Tile Mix w/Natural Stone Bath Wall There is a beautiful mosaic in tones of maroon that I am thinking of using as an accent tile in the window wells of my dining room. Except I am so gun shy of starting another project I might just lay a chunk of the raw tile on top for a while! Paint - I usually use Ellen Kennon, but couldn't find the right tone, so I went with Beauty tone Designer Series from Home Hardware - colour Nougat. The white is Ellen Kennon Blush Tile - walls COEM travertino romano walnut; Floor - Mother Nature Jet Brown Fixtures - mostly American Standard Tub - Maax bubble tub Toilet - Toto drake Steam shower - Thermosol

That wasn't it, but much closer! At any rate, you helped me with my search (google to the rescue!). I did FINALLY find the link that I'd posted to "hilarious review", and guess what----that site no longer exists! Aaargh. I have one recourse--it was so funny that I recall doing a copy-and-paste of it (at least I think I did--and not another link) to email to 2 friends who had no idea what a washlet was. Now to fire up the old computer and see if I can find it....assuming it still works--was in bad shape before getting a new one, and we've moved since (I might not have taken great care with it).