We did our shower floor-to-ceiling, and then the one shower wall that's not glass is also floor to ceiling tile. It's one wall of the toilet alcove. Then we ran the same tile (from the other side of the shower) around about a strong 1/3 of the way up the wall, to be a backsplash for the vanity, and a surround for the soaking tub. That covers MOST of the wall area. The little that's left has regular baseboard. We were going for a modern look but within a traditional cottage-y home, so this worked for us. To my eye, it looks contemporary and high end. The one monolithic wall of tile to the ceiling (with no art or anything to break it up) looks really cool :) I'll try to get some more photos up today... some progress photos can be seen on GW on other threads.

I just replaced 9 tiles in a kitchen with hairline cracks and no guarantee. There was a concrete control joint below the cracked tile. Bounce a golf ball on your tile. You should hear "snick" not "thunk". If you've got over 15% "thunk", tear it out. I saw a Youtube video where a guy mixed paint and filled his tile cracks. It was major hillbilly, but it may fool a home inspector.

I know you did not ask for any thoughts on the plan, but I had an idea. Overall I think it is well laid out. The thought you mention above about adding a door from the master closet to the laundry room is great. Also, the current dining room will make a great study since it is out of the way. What if you swapped the location of the living room and kitchen? adkbml, my guess is that because this is a tract development with all homes basically the same layout, if the OP asked for that it would be a huge uncharge, if it could even be done. It would not be worth it for resale in the future. One other thought. Are you sure you want to build vs buying something already built? I ask because if they're continuing to build in the area, and there's lots more land available as it looks like there is from the google maps, then the minute you build, the price of your home goes down in value, not up. Fine if you're planning on living there for a long time, but if this is a "first" home, you might be better off with a house in a more established neighborhood because you know what the values are, what the schools are like and what the neighborhood is like. For example in my neck of the woods, we are buying a lot downtown. It is one of 18 lots available for houses. Anything else being built downtown is condos. There is almost no more land available in our zip code to build a single family house which makes our build very desirable because many people want to live walking distance to downtown but not in a condo. If I went 10-15 minutes east of where I am, I could buy a lot that is 1 acre and build a mansion if I wanted in a planned community of other expensive homes for the same price my small lot downtown is going for. However because land out there is "plentiful", once the houses in that development are finished, they will start another development of large houses on large plots. The problem is anyone who built early on and now wants to sell out east, is having to sell at a loss because more people want new and with all the available land, they can build new. Yet in the area where I'm building, both new and older homes in excellent condition are selling for the same prices because land downtown is at a premium.

It would be very helpful if you also answered CT's question about progress of tile job, and my question about what the scope of the floor installation. On this GW forum, it is more than just about color suggestion. We also look at the construction and specs of an appropriate tile installation. CT is a pro at this stuff. I am a DIYer. We don't want your project to fail. Sometimes us GW'ers are pretty specific and can be viewed as critical to a project. We each have our way of communicating. But if you stay with us, and don't shut down the conversation, you will come to a great solution that is right for you. A lot of the time the treads can deviate from the original post. This can be disconcerting to the OP. Within these deviations comes surprise and wisdom, lol. We really do want the best in these projects and the posters work hard at giving feedback. Thanks for listening.