klavr Are you sure you want to change the floor for resale value in a year? I don't know what area of the country you're from. I'm in the midwest and am pretty conservative with money. The real estate market has tanked here. Depending on your your house and your market, a tile floor may not increase your price. The added value may be in getting a buyer quicker, so that's worth something. But the market is unlikely to get better for quite a while. Buyers are scarce due to tightening lending standards and those able and ready to buy are looking for a bargain. We're returning to the days when people are less willing to pay a premium for an upgrade they could do themselves for less. Just something to think about.

Squirrel, thanks for the compliments! We have not progressed in the DR much other than properly framing out the archway to the LR and adding another archway to the staircase. Not typical, but it lets so much light in and also allows a view of the fireplace (formerly in the LR, now the foyer). I work at RH now, and might get one of the lanterns there but really like one from PB so that may be my next job! I do love the RH chairs though, an investment for sure. The table will be the last thing since ours works just fine and is long, just too airy for the room. I might try to deepen the maple with a get stain if we do go for the chairs. My concerns with the DR were mostly due to that rug, which I love but if you recall had really rich golds, ambers and reds. Works great with my house, but as a good friend of mine says, sometimes with these old homes you need to let them breathe, which to me means using a lighter rug like sisal or seagrass and doing the walls gray, and using window treatments sparingly. So we'll see. For now we still have the wallpaper and the rug. Heavy! I did get lots of different opinions about the tower and I'm still not sure I made the right choice, but I stuck with it full height, just made it narrower by 3 inches and made it only 6 inches deep. Considering mirrored doors if they won't (further) break the bank!

I can't say that you're getting good advice on the sink issue until you answer another question or two...do you have a "real" master bath with two sinks? And did you cap off the plumbing but leave it accessable in your daughters bath? If you answered yes to both, leave the long counter. You don't have to plan for a family that does not live in your home and two sinks in a one person bathroom is rediculous (I've had it...it's awful). IF you capped off you can advertise it's ready for two sinks when you sell if you want, but don't cut a hole without knowing if it's necessary. If you don't have a real master bath you've probably made a mistake giving it to your daughter and you should plan on making a real one when you move...but again, why do it now? It's an easy fix later. Someone mentioned whispy or gauzie for the window. IMO it's absolutely necessary. If you put in a bamboo shade you've added some texture but it's still a hard texture and your bath is far too high on hard textures and way way low on soft textures and the beach is all about softness. White for your towels and mats...keep it easy and soft (again because it's missing) go fluffy on those mats...fun and fluffy. I wish I had a pic but in my condo appt I went with a color very near your color and loved it. One thing I did to soften the big mirror was to use a bunch of picture frames on the mirror painted in a shabby chic type of white. (does that make sense?) They were all cheap picture frames, but mostly bulky frames, with the pics removed and then I velcroed (double stick velcro in white) the frames to the mirror, with a big one over the sink and the balance scattered around. You'd be amazed how the harsh lines of the wall mirror disapear in the debth of the framed pieces. I am with most in that I don't like the lights, but their placement isn't the issue, it's the harshness of the fixtures themselves...but that's an easy fix if you soften up the rest of the room with texture. Fluffy white mats, towels, white frames on the mirror, a soft breezy gauzy window covering (which could be done over a grass cloth shade if you want more privacy) and some lovely counter accessories (candles and sand, grasses etc) would really make the room sing, and fix all of your issues (IMO) I'd consider doing the gauzy covering by tacking the gauze to a whispy piece of thin beach wood for the curtain rod, and then hot glue sea shells or sand dollars or star fish every five or six inches as if they were holding up the gauze... A collection of antique perfume spritzers would be a lovely accessory to bridge your tween into teen.

Towels are also what I use in lieu of bath mats or rugs. I cycle them somewhat so that the bath towel I use to dry becomes the towel on the floor although when all my towels are clean, I will just use a clean one :-) A towel on the floor makes the floor non-slippery if that is the reason for your use. Obviously the towel itself isn't safe for walking which is why a rug would be non-skid but it is perfect for preventing slips from wet feet when coming out of the shower or tub. I discovered this hack when I had to use the "shower of death" in a place I was renting. The floor was shiny 12" x 12" marble tiles with no grip or grout but the towels worked perfectly. The beauty of the towels is that I don't have to find a place to hang a mat and I had no reason to want to cover my floors aesthetically with a mat or rug.