Patrick, even though our shower is of a decent size, I wanted the ability to completely remove/flip up which ever seat I finally chose, both for cleaning, and for space, should you not want to bang our knees on said corner bench if we became physically less adept. The bench I chose has stood up well, is warm when wet, not slippery, and is sturdy enough to use to stand on to change lightbulbs in the bathroom ceiling! I will say that originally I wanted a teak flip up bench/seat, but the costs were astronomical for the interior wall bracing, brackets, and teak seat. I'm of a heavier weight, and didn't want to pull the darn thing out of the wall, hence the extra bracing I refer to. The seat and brackets (stainless, and hinged brackets were what I was considering) were only going to be available to me from a boat building/marine grade store, and they saw me coming with my wallet open! As you've read, I finally just purchased a really nice, sturdy bench, which is perfect height for washing dogs, shaving human legs, and just sitting to towel dry hair etc after showering. Take your time, give this some thought, and realize that propping one's butt up on a slippery bit of granite should you choose it, gets old as you get old! :) I did use a cardboard box to generally get the idea of size and height I wanted for my bench...give it a try! Good luck with your project! You'll love the new shower, regardless of seating!

Snowyshasta, I just re-read your first post, and noticed you had talked about a rain showerhead, but then said later you probably wouldn't get one. I have to tell you, we have one, and my husband loves that more than anything else in that shower. Our grumpy plumber tried to talk us out of it, and said we wouldn't have enough water pressure in our 100-plus year old house. We didn't listen to him, and it turns out he was completely wrong. We love the rain head shower, and it has plenty of pressure, even when two of the showers are on at one time. My husband says it's because a lot of the pipes leading to that bathroom are new. I have no idea. It makes the bath feel very spa-like. You also mentioned a tub. Here is our kids' bath with a tub and handheld shower. We just bought a tub/shower combination fixture (Kohler), which are pretty common, and replaced the regular shower head with a hand held (same model as in our master bath). I guess if you wanted to add a third shower head, you would then also need a diverter.

>I have another full bath on the main floor with a wooden pedestal tub... That's a beautiful tub. It's also the most dangerous-looking thing I've ever seen in a bathroom. A two-step loose stool with no handrail, with a very high step over the side of the tub and down to the bottom of the tub, which appears to be quite a bit lower than the top step where you are standing. That is always a very awkward action. Then repeat in reverse with wet (slippery) feet. If there are two guests, then the second guest to bathe has to negotiate a wet, slippery, loose stool with no handrail....Hopefully no guest will want to bathe after having wine at dinner. Or be elderly. Or have any stability or balance problems. This tub looks like a serious injury and a lawsuit waiting to happen. But it sure is pretty. 8^) bws

suzatwork: i have to say your floors have very much the same grain and variation in tone as my highly-coveted black walnut. they're stunning! i'm wondering how they take stain, since i'd like darker floors? my plan is to go with the walnut but i'll have to get some samples and check the amendoim out. i'll have to look it up, but also assuming this species would be harder than walnut... hmmm... GREAT! more for me to think about! thanks for posting your gorgeous floors.