Oh yeah, I did a bathroom like that a year ago. Brown 4x4 tiles, brown toilet and sink, with a view of the 50 yr old toilet up the stairs from the front door. Lovely.

I first decided to swap the position of the toilet and the vanity, so that as you walk in the front door and gaze up the stairs, you would see the vanity. We wanted a "dressy" look, since it's the full bath that all guests use and the 2nd guest bath when the powder room was occupied.

We first decided on a color scheme and tile combo and built from there. We chose onyx accents and travertine field tiles. We used a combo of polished onyx on the floor with honed travertine in a basketweave pattern. Polished travertine field tiles (12x18s) up the wall and a very thick, high border of onys 2x4s and 1x1 mosaics, topped with a travertine honed chair rail.

Based on the tile samples, we then chose the faucet (watermark in polished nickel), vanity (vanico and I forget the color), sink (kohler devonshire) and kohler memoirs tub. Hans grohe hand shower and ginger baskets. Husdon valley sconces - all in polished nickel then splurged on an onyx countertop. We love it.

This is a long-winded way of saying - pick something first then build around it. Choose a color scheme and style - classic, contemp, zen, whatever and that will narrow it down for all of the choices.

Go spend an afternoon looking at stuff. Go to Lowes, HD, a bathroom design showroom, etc. See what's available to you and get a sense of prices. If you come across something you love, work around that. If not, try the local granite yard, you might fall in love with a remnant (saving $) and can build around it. I found it easiest once I picked something to start with to return to the place with the best selection of things I liked and play around for an afternoon.

I picked my vanity first, the only one I really liked that was standard stock and in a color I loved. Then I spent hours running down to the tile isle and carting tiles back and forth. Then gazing at the stock countertops with white sinks since I knew I wanted white sink, toilet, and tub. Then carting tiles to the counter area. Then when I settled on a floor tile and counter, I went to find paint chips. Then I took the top choices back and put them on the vanity. And the tile. And the counter. Over the course of a few days I had a bathroom!

I think a matte floor and polished wall would be fine, but I am definitely not an expert in this stuff. As for the colors, at least for me, once I started putting things together to try them out it was clear which things flat out didn't work.

I ended up spending about $1500 on matrials including the vanity, counter/sink, paint, toilet, tile, and accessories (shower rod, shower curtain, window treatments, vanity accessories, and sink/tub fixtures). The tub and surround were purchased by my GC, but the labor was definitely the bulk of the cost.

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