I like the larger tile in the rectangle shape. I think it will make the tub area if not the whole bathroom look and feel more open & airy. DS1&2's baths have 9x18 tiles in a brick pattern and they look really nice. To add onto treasure's equation above...less grout lines = less potential for mildew/mold = less/easier cleaning.

So here's the bathroom. We're working mostly with the layout we had, however the bathtub room entrance used to literally be in the bedroom with no separate door to the bathroom, so we've closed that off and made a new opening near the shower entrance, and rotated the tub around to face the rest of the bathroom. I've included pics of the crazy bathtub room and its ceiling, as well as the view from the shower, and the area where the vanity will go. My arched windows already had cut frames (shame, I know), so we're doing a windowsill, and I'd like to see some painted wall between them and the tub backsplash (since the tub isn't centered with the windows, I want them to fade into the wall). I hope this all makes sense. Still wondering. Do I do the shower in all mosaic one inch? Or just floor and ceiling with more 16' on the walls? Do I use mosaic on the tub backspash (I also fear this might draw attention to my un-centered windows. My designer friend says as long as I put a great piece of art or mirror on the focal wall, it'll work). I hope this all makes sense! it's a weird but magnificent room. Oh one more thing. We're returning a beautiful leaded glass window to the wall on the tub room that faces the closet doors AND the wall separating shower from tub room. It WILL BE properly encased in tempered glass for the shower. Note the vanity area is much wider than it looks - the ceilings are rather high.

Weighing in a little late in the game here, but cutting those 40sq ft out will not drop the price of the house $8K. To reduce by a true $200sqft, you'd have to look at cutting out things like entire bathrooms or cutting the kitchen & laundry cabinetry/countertops in the plan in 1/2 to save a nice chunk of change more in line with $200 sqft. Could you pull the kitchen in a little and delete/modify the peninsula? The large hallway there at the end of the kitchen is wasted square footage that could be used more efficiently possibly alowing for a reduction in square footage. Even changing the roofline on the left to a straight line vs a curved line would save a good chunk of change (although I admit that would be a no go for me). Bathrooms & kitchens make up a huge part of that $200sqft price because of all the extra things that go in them that is not included in bedrooms, family rooms, etc--rough & finish plumbing, electrical (additional outlets, lighting fixtures & GFCIs), cabinetry, countertops. tile, waterproofing, appliances. Because of this, 'price per square foot' is not an exact representation of the cost to build a house--its just the average when you figure in all the components of the plan, specced building materials, specced finishes and site prep. Depending on what finishes you spec, you may be able to reduce the cost of the house such that you don't need to cut square footage. Additionally, by the time you pay the architect to make the changes to the plan, you may have forked out a good portion of the funds you'll save on square footage to him. Just some things to consider. Overall, I really like what you've posted of your plan. I love the front elevation! Looking at it, I think you could easily pull the front of the two story wing back so its even with the front edge of the porch, leave the other 2 wings as is and not lose too much architecturally. That would save you ~26 sqft. I like your thoughts on the exterior materials. Those changes from what is specced by the architect will help save some $$. Stucco is quite expensive so reducing it as much as possible will be a good thing money wise. Painting the brick adds an additional expense. One thought is to not paint the brick right now to reduce the initial cost to build. After you're in the house and you've saved up for it, have the brick painted then. Just my $0.02. Hope this helps! This post was edited by mydreamhome on Tue, Jun 18, 13 at 21:40

Arm wrestle? I can't tell you how you make the decision, but I can tell you that we did 20x20 tiles set on the diagonal in our small (200 sq. foot) eat-in kitchen (plus entryway all in one). I do feel that the diagonal helps the room look larger and I think it's just more interesting than a straight layout. But tile layouts are definitely one of those things that just come down to personal preference. I will say that you will need more tile if you set it on the diagonal because there are more cuts but when you're doing a whole room I think the difference is so little it's a moot point.