Thanks for the feedback and ideas. The varnish idea is intriguing; I think I've seen similar applications and they end up looking very shiny and not a match for the paint. This is not so terrible, but would be a bit of a different look. Are there any varnish-type products which would have a more neutral finish? Also do you think I'd need to varnish the ceiling as well to protect from condensation, or only on the walls which would be receiving direct 'splashes'? We are leaning towards keeping the tub, and retrofitting it with a shower. The idea of a hand-held European-style shower is very appealing; we're wondering if maybe a ceiling-mounted curtain ring would be sufficient to prevent splashes if the shower hardware were somehow mounted inside the curtain, maybe from a bar mounted to the ceiling? We did something similar to a clawfoot tub in our previous house - link added to show what that may look like. It would be a tricky install since the curtain ring would probably need to be mounted at the same angle as the slope of the ceiling. We would probably just leave the current tub faucet set in place and add another faucet set that operates just the shower. There's not really an economical way to create space for a separate shower, changing the footprint of the room is off-the-table for us at this point. Here is a link that might be useful: clawfoot shower system

We are almost finished renovating a house with knotty pine on the lower half of the living room walls. The previous owners had painted the top a mellow gold, we replaced it with BM Grenadier Pond, a sage green. If the link doesn't work: Go the BM site, click on Personal Color Viewer, click on the photo of the mirror, choose Living Rooms and Sitting Rooms. Scroll through the sample photos until you get to the Bold Touches photo. There's a knotty pine armoir in the photo. You can play with wall color until you get one that you like against the pine. Have fun and post pictures. Here is a link that might be useful: Wall color and knotty pine

I'm currently a big fan of Benjamin Moore Affinity "Mascarpone" as a creamy white that doesn't get too yellow or beige (so much so that I'm a broken record on the subject). The chip is AF-20, so if you liked it in your room you possibly could have it matched in SW. Slghtly yellower but also really lovely is the hideously named "Mayonnaise". Farrow an Ball's "Pointing" is a classic trim cream that you could have matched, too. Our builder usually matches BM "Cotton Balls" in SW for trim in their craftsman style homes, which I like, but I found it just a teeny bit grayer/bluer than I wanted for our house. I love Bronwynsmom's tips for seeing undertones--I will try that next time, as sometimes my eye can fool me. Something I've found helpful is to keep a chip of BM "Decorator White" handy and hold it against any other white I'm looking at. Not a perfect method, since it too has an undertone, but helpful. If you have already chosen your wall colors, hold your trim sample up to all of them--your gut will probably tell you whether the undertones compliment each other or not.

Oooooh, I love your bathroom! I can't wait to see the finished product. I really hope someone answers about putting the beadboard on those little corners. I am planning on doing beadboard in my jack and jill bathroom and I was wondering the same thing. Do they put them next to the tile on those small areas? I also like both of the wallpapers. I might like the one on the left to read something while...., well you know. LOL I also like the one on the right bc I think you could find more accessories to go with the hunting theme. I would definitely go with the white beadboard - I think the black would make it too dark. Does the wall paper have a white background or beige? Good luck and please show us pictures when your finished!