Mark - thanks for the link. I loved loving at your bathrooms with all their different decorating styles and choices. My original search was for shower niches, thanks trudymom. I don't really like the shower niche you show, but I love having the opportunity to consider it as well as the other specifics of your bathrooms. Just so you can tell what a person in the planning stages might be interested in seeing: Kohler shower bases vs. small grouted tile bold vs. bland countertops various tiling patterns and color use windows in the shower area tile vs. paint in the non-shower portions of the room

Woven wooden shades would add a really nice texture to your room. You're right, I have a pair of double hung windows behind my tub. I've just ordered cordless cellular shades that will be 2 on 1 headrail and have the top down/bottom up feature for privacy and a view of the trees outside. I literally have to climb in my tub to adjust the windows or shades so they probably won't be moved very often. I'm planning to accent with purple so I'm hoping to find fabric for a valance to tie it all together and bring a softer texture into the room. You must be so anxious to be in your new home. I've never built a house before but I'm sure it would be both exciting and overwhelming.

Hi, hobokenkitchen Guidelines are just guidelines, and my husband and I never have felt crowded with the aisle and dimensions that we have in our kitchen -- true we each have a body mass index under 25! But things feel efficient in there: we can easily turn from one line of counters or from the range to the island without taking more than a couple of steps, and the 24" square island utility sink is easily accessible from both sides of the narrow island, from the prep counter against the windows and from the range on the interior wall. The refrigerator/freezer doors are not 36" wide, either, so it doesn't swing too much into the space, and even when the dishwasher door is fully open (on the window side, to the left of the island utility sink) it is possible to sidle around it. I think my only concern having lived with this arrangement for over a year is: it will be interesting to see how well the cork floor holds up over the years, because we really do cover the same territory on that floor over and over. So far no sign of extra wear. But I have extra cork tiles saved! Good luck to you, and thanks to CoCo for supplying those links. lynn

Photos a little washed out. This is colonial Dream, not Cream. Installed beginning of Feb and no real staining but we are careful. I did wake up one morning to see that someone had probably not seen that a drip from a juice bottle fell onto the counter and when I removed it there was a slight stain but now I can't even find it. In my house, the stone takes on an oatmeal background with grey-black and brown veining and raisin splotches here and there. The big deal for me are the icy highlights that show up in our kitchen's low light.