In my last house we used glass block to fill a windwow that would have been in the shower..it let in sunlight, and was watertight.. On the current remodel we are doing now, we passed on the body jets,or should i say I passed on them, my DW wanted them..I felt they were a novelty that would wear off quickly.We removed the jetted tub, and are replacing it with a deep soaking tub.Using a Grohe retro rainshower head ona 12" extension from the wall, with a handshower on a seperate valve.I wish we could have come from the ceiling, but the room has a cathedral ceiling which prevents that..in the space you describe,i'd put the rainshower from the ceiling,perhaps a regular head on 1 wall with a handshower nearby, and use the other wall for 3 body sprays

Am heading to town this morning to check out the place that sells H&M furniture and, hopefully, a few other brands as well. Robin, thanks for the info on Vanguard. It's good yo know that it held up so well for you. I've put it on my list of brands to try and check out today. Beachlily, wish you already had that new furniture, but I'm glad you chimed in to tell us that you thought enough of H&M to go with them. Please start a new thread and show us pics when everything arrives, will you? I'm already anxious to see it! Last night at dinner I read DH all your comments and opinions. I've printed out everything to refer back to, including the comparison tables that WalnutCreek linked me to (thank you!!). Keep your fingers crossed that we find the best sofa for us and get it ordered this weekend.The old one is self-destructing right before my eyes here! Lynn

Tibbrix and all, Thank you for your help and for sharing your knowledge. To answer your second question first, I would like my fireplace to be transitional leaning a bit to traditional. The back of the fireplace is brick (no black mirror for me) and we want a hearth. We had originally thought to put stone around the surround, but we are re-evaluating that decision as we don't want a bossy feature that future buyers might not like (so it should be neutral enough). I love the idea of soapstone, but the stone available around her seems too blue to be in the neutral camp (I believe some soapstone is more grey/black than what is currently available here which would be more neutral and appealing). I wiould be open to another material aside from stone as long as it is classic and neutral and looks good with what we will have in the room. I don't like having just wood around a fireplace. I would like a wood mantel. As per colours for the great room walls, I will explore those C2 paints. I just looked and their is a retail outfit around 40 minute drive from here so it is doable. The reason, I tend to talk SW colours is I purchased a book from a decorator that describes her top tried and tested colours all from SW. I am sticking to only her colours from SW and not getting bogged down by thousands of choices. However, they are not full spectrum colours like C2! I will see if the decorator I meet with early next week is knowledgeable about C2. I like the second colour you posted better than the grey as I feel I have enough grey elsewhere in the house and in the kitchen. The one thing that is hard for me to understand is the rule you stated about sticking to cool or warm colours. I thought they can be combined (but what do I know). For example in my planned kitchen the brown stained island, and hardwood floors are warm, but the stainless appliances, island hood and wall colours are cool. The cabinets are planned to be Pure White by SW which I believe is a warm white as it does not appear to be a grey white. The back splash will be a simple subway that matches Pure White SW and picks up the same white which is present as one colour in the quartz we have chosen. Do other people have info on combining cool and warm colours. Is it a complete no go? I have been trying to learn the art of reading undertones after reading the book by Maria Killam (who is a well known colour expert here from Canada). However, I don't have natural talent with seeing colours as some people do. I have no idea how to pick out a brown that has blue undertones for example as you suggested. In fact, I would have assumed all browns would be warm colours (some would be warmer than others and comparison is key I realize). Good news is the decorator we have hired has completed the colour expert training by Maria Killam, so hopefully she will be gifted at reading undertones. In the meantime, I will continue to try to get ready for my meeting with her, by narrowing down best I can what I want. @ Sheilaaus122: Glad to hear from a fellow blue fan and to get your vote. I need to work out some patterns for sure or otherwise the room will be blah for sure. I too am puzzled by the colour of the chairs (looks silver to me in real life, more gold tones on the fabric swatch -- perhaps it is a chameleon colour?). I am growing less fond of the chair fabric each time I look at it. I will pay a visit to the furniture store to see if there are any more grey options. Carol

That wood chair is a classic. It's style matches the other two pieces and it references the colors in the carpet and wheat/grass around the barn in the picture, and even plays nicely with the wood flooring. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Unless there is something not functioning well for you, keep it as is, even the table, because an ottoman table blocks a lot of that great carpet. I put my feet up on my coffee table, (gauche, I know). :) If you want to fuss with an area of your house, fuss with that desk area to better highlight that uber cool window! Seems like that corner might be troublesome as it is a traffic area too.