I am in the same boat with you re the shower. There is a Kerdi shower thread floating around that seems to give great directions and I've also seen the john bridge tile forum recommended a lot. We also have a friend that has done a lot of beautiful tile work in his home - including shower walls, but no shower floors. He is willing to to "learn" on our shower floor and my DH is all for it. While that scares me, it scares me less than us trying it ourselves so we have been considering it. My other option is a cast iron shower pan (Kohler Salient). No mortar base, no grout, etc. and can be paired with tile, solid surface, or acrylic surrounds. You can also find clawfoot cast iron shower bases. One of those would be a very appropriate look for your home if you can fit it (they seem to be almost universally 42" square). Here is a link that might be useful: Google shopping results

Here's one suggestion: Depending on your layout, one vanity, one medicine cabinet, plus one floor-to-ceiling "built in" (like 18-24" wide, 12"-16" or so deep) in the corner (provided you have some floor clearance in front of it). If you keep things tidy and organized, leave it with an open front (no door) and shelves relatively far apart. Very useful and retains an open look. Consider framing it to accommodate a pair of doors or curtain in the future, just in case.

"The pull of that tub on the first floor for young families is a real selling point here. Any mom who has had to run up stairs constantly to stay with pre-schooled aged children in the tub, while trying to do laundry and get supper on the table can appreciate the usefulness of a main floor tub. " Yeah, um, no. As a mother with two little kids, I NEVER used the full bath on the main floor for bathing. If I'm making dinner and doing laundry, there's no way on God's green earth I've got kids in a tub as well. Kids in tubs need to be watched. If their bedrooms are upstairs, then that's where I bathe them. No slipping of wet feet going upstairs, no water tracked through the house to their bedrooms. However, my caveat to this is your house wouldn't be on my buyer's radar because I need a kid's bathroom with a tub upstairs, and if I could find a house in your price range where I didn't have to bathe my kids in the master bathroom, I'd take it every time.

Right now my vanity is clutter central. I have drawers, however they're too shallow to fit my hair dryer so it just stays out. I also have my hair straightener, toothpaste, face lotion, hand lotion, hairspray, body spray, box of qtips, hand wash, and my toothbrush carousel out. Obviously this is my master and I am the only person that sees it. I do have 2 floating shelves that I will be mounting above the toilet. Then I'll get some baskets and hide everything in there. I also plan on mounting a hook on the inside of my lower cabinet to hang my hairdryer on. In the bathroom that my guests use I have only a small box of tissue and my soap dispenser. I have a towel ring on the wall where I keep the hand towel for guests. In there I do have my floating shelves as well. I keep stacked towels and some decorations. I have since moved my plunger elsewhere, because I hate having it visable.