We put a small wet bar in our TV room upstairs but, in truth, we've never used it. We've not yet bothered to get the under-counter fridge or the small microwave that I was planning to have there. And, after two years, I still haven't put in glassware in the cupboards there. At this point, if I were buying a house, I don't think having a wet bar in the TV room would make me more inclined to buy, and I certainly wouldn't pay any extra for it. Maybe if we had kids, I might keep popcorn and sodas up there but with just me and DH, it's easy enough for one of us to pop downstairs during a commercial break and get snacks/drinks for the both of us.

I guess I did not notice that Lori's question was last year's. Mongo, I am doing planning. We are going to be doing a gut remodel on our 1978 home's only full bathroom. It is a basic smallish bathroom, 8.5 ft x 5 ft with a bathtub alcove hanging off of this space on the back right. A long counter with 2 sinks and the toilet are on the left. A window is on the wall at the end. An adjoining bedroom closet uses up the floor space in front of the bathtub. I am changing the tub to a roll-in shower. We are going down to the studs and removing the tub due to water infiltration and rot. I have a licensed contractor who has done two kitchens and multiple other jobs with us who will do the work. I am not able to clean well because I have asthma and can't use smelly cleansers - even bleach is out. And I can't scrub due to joint issues. That is why I might need a roll-in shower some day. I have a connective tissue disorder and any of my joints can become disabled at any time for days or longer. So these two issues make me a really bad candidate for grout. My grout always gets things growing on it. I figure that I was made for a solid surface, a squeegee, and a good fan. I was thinking of using the Swanstone system, with their ADA roll-in shower pan with trench drain. (In clicky below) It is designed to replace a standard 30 x 60 tub. So that was my Bathroom Design #1. In order to make it work, I had to steal 6" of space from the adjoining bedroom next to the shower. The whole wall on that side of the bathroom has to be rebuilt in a new location for this plan to work. It did give me extra space in the back of the bedroom closet in which I designed a shallow cabinet to provide about 8" deep storage in the space preceeding the shower. That was extra nice! Then I refigured the bathroom to make one of the medicine cabinets at sitting level. I have it on the wall between the toilet and the door. It has a small fold-down shelf below it. Even today, standing on hard tile to do my hair means I am in pain before I even get to go out. In doing this change, I also put the vanity on the same side of the room as the shower. The advantage of this change is that I do not have to move the bedroom wall by the shower, I just have to steal 6 to 8 inches from the back of the bedroom's closet. I have to recess the vanity into the closet a little in order to make room for the wider room doorway. But with this change, the shower is only 52.5" wide because the vanity is longer than the original bedroom closet was. I can make the shower deeper, though, since I am now rebuilding the wet wall in the shower and I am not fighting against having a vanity on the opposite wall. I originally made it 34" deep in this model. That takes the shower to the edge of the window. However, when I went to the one website I know of to order a custom-made ADA roll-in shower to fit my space, I learned that they do not make shower floors less than 37" deep. So I changed my wet wall to 37" and it just sticks out a little more on the side of the vanity. On the opposite wall, the window is located so that a 37" deep shower runs into the window. I have still ended my corian wall at 34", where it fits nicely next to the window. There is tile on the wall under the window, so that will be waterproofed underneath. I understand that if I make the replacement window (we will be replacing it anyway) with tempered glass, I can make the window be partially inside the shower. I also understand I have the option of spending $1000 or so and purchasing an in-wall carrier and putting in a wall-mount toilet. Then I have the extra space I need to expand the shower floor out an additional 3 inches. The sink in the vanity is the Kohler Brockway with two faucets. It is my way of getting two faucets in the smaller space of a 36" sink. DH did not want to lose the "double sink" functionality of this bathroom. It is the only full bathroom in the house. I have the sink pulled out so that it sits a little proud of the vanity. It is common for the Brockway’s “belly” to be exposed in this manner when used in a vanity. People then paint the belly any number of amusing colors. Having the belly exposed like this makes the sink a bit easier to use from a wheelchair or seated walker, too. I can always remove the cabinet doors if I am in a wheelchair long-term. Another advantage of moving the vanity to the same side of the room as the shower is that when it was on the other side, my wheelchair-friendly plan was to remove the vanity altogether and hang the Brockway on the wall. It is meant to be wall-hung in a public lavatory setting. It comes in several configurations up to 6 ft long with two or three faucets. With the vanity partially recessed in the adjoining closet, I can keep the vanity if I am in a wheelchair. I considered making our half bath a roll-in wet room instead, but I cannot get a wheelchair in there because it is situated in a narrow hallway and there is no way for a wheelchair to make the turn into the bathroom. The full bath is situated in a big end of a hall where all three bedrooms and the bathroom all open into a large space. I have room to have the door open outward and there is room to maneuver a wheelchair. Michigan and my city both only require a bathtub or a shower in a home. I figure the Brockway sink is 18" front to back and the basin is 8" deep. Great for bathing babies and small pets. For toddlers you can get a plastic tub and set it in the shower. I am more interested in aging in place than in resale. To make me a handicapped shower anywhere else in the house would require so much remodeling that it is not worth staying here, but we already have an attractive ramp to the front door and a ramp going from the sunken family room to the kitchen, thousands of dollars invested in real linoleum flooring, and a remodeled kitchen and music room/library where the living room used to be. Not worth moving to me! I can fit a tiny 4' tub into the half bath, I think (can't find that book of graph paper!), so if we had to, I would do that. Oh - and we have a very nice basement, entirely unfinished, in which anybody can build whatever they want. So, what are your thoughts on the design? Here is my Sketch-Up of the final plan, with wall-hung Toto, 37 x 52 shower, and vanity in the adjoining closet. It leaves a 25" deep closet space that is 4 ft wide for the bedroom. I suppose I could lose the ledge behind the Brockway if I absolutely had to deepen the top of the adjoining closet. That would bring the mirror and lights closer to the user and give the closet at least 6 inches more space starting at the vanity top at 35 inches high. I really do NOT want to do that unless I absolutely have to, though. We need the counter space that ledge provides. Have you heard of GRIFforms shower pans? They make them of Corian or Hi-Macs. The estimate I got back from them was $1885 for basic white or beige Group A Corian, plus $305 to ship. This is for the pan only, no walls. I figured I could get them locally. GRIFforms Here is a link to them. Do you have experience or opinions on Corian pans? Any other critiques? So, what are your thoughts on the design? I tried a regular Toto toilet in this design, and I still have about 2 ft between its base and the shower drain. It is fine for walking, not sure if we need the extra room for wheelchairs. I guess we could face the prospect of putting the toilet in the wall if a wheelchair ever becomes a regular part of my life, instead of doing it now, as well. Tearing out all the tile....ahghhhh! Here is a link that might be useful: Swan ADA shower base

It's amazing how long this conversation has been going on! I thought I would add my experience. Just more food for thought for someone. We bought a 70's home and have been adding a master suite and updating. We were unable to add on to or change our kitchen and it's pretty small, so we opted to add a beverage center off the great room to get most beverages out of the kitchen. I was advised to do a dry bar by a designer who said wet bars are old news. It has an ice maker and 2 refrigerator drawers and a pull out drawer for liqueur bottles under the counter and shelves above for glassware. I have to say, now that we are using the space we really wish to have a sink. As is, it's great for water, soda, beer, and wine, but if you want to mix something with those liqueur bottles it's pretty inconvienent to not have an easy way to clean up a spill or add water to something, or blend using the ice maker that's right there. I wish I had gone with my own instinct instead of listening to a designer. We are considering adding the sink right now before the builder is totally done with our project. It's going to be more expensive now. I have a beautiful beverage center, but I wish I had researched this issue sooner. I got sidetracked by too many other decisions and just went with someone else's thoughts. We don't have room for one but a dishwasher drawer would be really cool as well.

As far as "styling" goes...I would treat it like a bar cart..I don't put pictures on my bar cart, but I would like to see a couple of pictures on the wall above the top shelf of yours...something like this.. Whatever the main color in the pictures is, carry that through with a small vase of the same color flowers... I do have flowers and decanters and a couple of "good" glasses and a cocktail shaker and a kitschy ice bucket that I picked up from the goodwill of all places. I have some vintage swizzle sticks and I picked up some little paper umbrellas from Party City. Williams Sonoma has some really cute barware...