Bluekitobsessed, Na_praha, Lauren, and KGW -- Many thanks! Trust me, not every detail is perfect and it took me some time to deal with letting go. [Which I've yet to master, actually.] Lauren -- I do love that shelf AND its price but we don't have much room between tile and mirror, so I will probably file that away for Upstairs Bath. We have the 20w x 10h x 6d cubby to the right of the sink, so *so far* we've been ok. Na_praha -- With single pane windows in the house I always have leaded glass window/door/sidelight envy. Hence my taking liberties with this bath since it wasn't a purist reno anyway! And thanks re the paint color. Since I didn't want a THIRD aqua-in-some-variation room, I swear I tried a zillion colors. But I realized I wanted a shade that blended with the unlighted sconce shade color, so I mixed something up and had Miller recreate. BTW, know what you mean about greys -- thought long and hard before doing a stairwell/upper hall in a cool grey, but skylight + window + fir = not too grim, so: MS KGW! Have missed seeing you around and was gonna send you a personal update, truly. Do NOT know how you got through a problematic reno being increasingly pregnant as I was losing it, esp over the [string of expletives deleted, ha] stuff that went wrong with terrazzo base and windows. I think you get a pass for lack of progress given what you endured PLUS given that you and your DH are new parents! And as much as the soapstone sounds delightful, if you can shrug your shoulders and learn to love the black granite it may be a much better use of your time and energy. Keep us posted!

StoneTech: Thanks for confirming what DH suspected....that the running bond is easier to line up than stacked tile. DH already had the first course centered on the back wall of the tub surround when I arrived yesterday. Your suggestion to "use any corner cuts to 'wrap' the side walls" is, no doubt the preferred way to lay it out. But I calculated that 17 full tile, with grout, will finish off the side wall and wainscote to the end of the wall, without needing any cut tile at the end.... that's if my calculations are correct! :-)

I haven't yet done a brick/running bond, but have done a few patterned floors. Here are some photos to get your creative juices going. Same pattern as above, but in a smaller room:

Thanks for all the nice words. Generally, I have second guessed everything I have done and feel sick to my stomach most of the time, so to have people say they like stuff makes me feel much better. I kind of like the diagonal idea too. Thanks, circuspeanut, for the picture. I don't think that detracts either. I will be doing a tile fireplace in the family room next door (not an open plan, but a large cased opening between kitchen and family room). It will be tiled in white Sonoma tiles on the diagonal with little 2x2 insets. We will also have a diagonal black/white tile floor in the front hall, so maybe diagonal is a theme. Now that i think about, the powder room paper will also have sort of a diamond pattern and will have lattice doors. I think I may go with diagonal. I really appreciate all the input. I will share more pictures of the kitchen when the drawers go in. There are more pictures on my thread about knobs--if that interests you.