I am having similar issues in trying to pick a finish. We are going with a biscuit subway tile, gray/white/blue mosaic tile, light gray tile floor, and a Bertch vanity in Mocha color (I think). Our contractor, tile person and fixtures store all suggested brushed nickel to go with this color scheme, as the chrome looks too bright. I am still torn though because I feel like the brushed nickel looked like it had a bronze/gold undertone, which I donÂt want. I think I am envisioning more like a polished chrome, but not sure how that will look. I donÂt have the best Âvision with these things so my husband is saying to trust the experts but I still donÂt know. Anyone have any suggestions? Also I feel like I keep getting my terms confused. Chrome, Polished chrome, brushed nickelÂwhat are the differences of each?

Wooo!!! Cat, I am stuck at home because of the snow storm so wandered around here not looking at anything in particular and came upon your thread. I totally agree with you on the shower curtain choice. Regardless of whether I have the money to spare or not, keeping those suckers clean is a nuisance over time. We have a glass shower door that was installed back in 2003 and I can't tell you how much I hate cleaning it. Not that the door is all that dirty, but a shower curtain is way easier, and you can change the look/style whenever you feel like it. Can't do that with a pricey shower door. Anyway, everything looks lovely as usual, including the "prom" dress :-) Love, love those circular tiles, and the floor tiles that look like fabric. Gorgeous. What colour is that again? It looks greyish on my monitor.

This is interesting to me because in my former and beloved house, the last thing I did was redo the bathroom. We just agonized and agonized over what to do, how to make it fit the style of the home and yet not cost an arm and a leg. Nothing great would have been lost if we had gutted the whole thing! Boy was it hard to find "period" tiles, particularly something affordable. The tub was an odd size, very difficult to find a replacement that would fit in the room. Just doing a shower would have probably been best, but I wanted a tub and that was the only bathroom space for a tub. My house was built in 1929 and it was a low-end row house. The tub was all that was left, although I know that underneath the beadboard wainscoting was probably the original ceramic tile. The house had a terrible update of a plastic tub surround and plumbing work-around to install a shower. The original bathtubs had no showers, because the half tub just was not designed to have a shower or shower curtain around it. Here was our dilemma, Every plumber and contractor we talked to said just tear the whole thing out and replumb the tub so the shower was against a real wall, like on the other side where the entrance door was. But we didn't want to spend that kind of money, so we tried to go with the original logic, somewhat. The fact that my SO and I are still together after that whole fiasco is some kind of miracle! But did order some nice repro shower fixtures that I found FINALLY after searching and searching. Plumbing it was a PITA, but the hardest thing was figuring out a tile pattern design that I liked and could afford. In the end, I didn't like it, but SO (who did all the installation) said that was all I was getting of the little colored tiles! We also had to have the tub reglazed. This was what was underneath the surround. Really high quality ceramic tiles by today's standards, and not terribly ugly, but ruined. SO used up one whole diamond bit just sawing it out tiny piece by piece, including the plaster and lathe behind it. Not sure if it was worth it in the end. It was less expensive than a total overhaul, but we weren't saving anything that unique or valuable at that point. The shower support had to be bent because the side of the tub was angled. The original tub didn't have a shower so it wasn't an issue. We figured the bend was better than trying to further jimmy-rig additional plumbing fixtures on the outside of the tub, since it wasn't set up for that either. It wasn't clawfoot tub, it was just rounded and sat flat on the floor. Probably would have been best to just tear it all out, but we wanted something minimally invasive to our lives. But tearing out all that ceramic tile sure was dusty! Oh, I forgot the best part, the nooks! Those were the absolute worst geometry problem ever, due to having to be where the studs would allow. This photo is pre tub caulking.

I think there is a certain type of person for whom fixtures are white and only white. Particularly during the period this house was built. Still, some very expensive manufacturers produce only white, only chrome or polished nickel. You would think at a certain level you could get anything you want, but they are targeting a certain client, who is probably in the "there is no such thing as a short-sleeved dress shirt" category as well. It's a rather arbitrary fine line, but it exists.