Um, that's a 39 x 39 neoangle. Sorry for the typo.

And to be specific, the walnut is black walnut, so it's darker than some of the American walnuts.

Flyleft, your plans sound marvelous! If you're worried about it being too dark, could you address your lighting differently? Maybe too, the metals you use could add some gleam and brightness. If you are in love with all the elements, I think that's what's important. What may seem "cave-like," to some, is intimate, cozy and inviting to others!

If it helps, the deepest paint color I used in my house is also in the smallest interior space and I love it.

If you're unsure though, it is always nice when the flooring and the counter are of similar color.

Labrodorite is Gor-Geous!!!

I would go with a dark floor and golden walls BUT if I loved the wall paint color as much as you I'd do that option. I made a paint for my private bath too and I've never regretted using it. I love it.

I think a golden floor with deep walls in the color you love sounds wonderful! The floor will glow. When you are lighting a bathroom, remember that you should focus the light in such a way that people can see what they need to see, which is how everything works, where the essential supplies are, and their faces when standing at the sink. The fact that the walls are dark won't affect that if the light is good.

And it sounds like that bath is hollering for a big gold-framed mirror over the vanity (elaborate molding if that's your style, streamlined if it isn't), skinny enough to accommodate a pair of narrow sconces on either side, a recessed light over the john, and a moisture-rated one in the shower on a separate switch. And if you really want to go for atmosphere, a strip of light behind a fascia under the toe-kick.

Ah, thanks, bronwynsmom, yaya, annie & stinky! I kept checking yesterday but no one replied so I figured it was a dumb question : ) I should have been more patient. Sounds like there is one vote for the gold walls (I had a thought that if I do that, they have to be seriously gold, not a gold-yellow paint...gold paint is too closely associated with 'tuscan' for me at this point--all the other colors in our house are nuanced and airy) and there are two votes for keeping the gold color on the floor and having the b/g/g on the walls, even though the labradorite will be up against it...

I had a thought about the labradorite up against the wall -- what about a gold-toned-in-some-way (matte metallic gold tiles, or gold-back-painted tiles or something) against the wall so that the labradorite wouldn't blend into the walls, AND the floor would have something to talk to? b's mom, I think you were getting at that -- shouldn't leave the gold out to hang by itself. I've got a gorgeous heavy chrome and crystal, simple, vanity light (three lights), which I love and want to keep. Don't think I could do that with the gold-framed mirror, could I? We don't have any gold/gilded anything (except for some vintage brass perforated light fixtures, which isn't the same) in the house, so I'm trying to keep it somewhat related to the house...but I have loads of sources for interesting surfaces in my town, e.g. Pratt & Larson, ReBuilding Center, Habitat ReStore, even remnant 3form at insanely low prices...maybe I will look at what those guys have (they're a commercial construction co. with very cool values and tastes) and find a 3form backsplash to speak with the gold-toned floors? I've got a fabulous piece of 3form to be used in the entrance to my study -- gold with ginkgo leaves embedded...oh yeah : )

Thank you all so much for your great thoughts. They've helped me really think this through and know what my next steps will be. I'm off to search for an unobtrusive but definitely gold-toned backsplash, and the rest of the lights...I'll post it when it's done, along with my study and our really WONDERFUL pantry my DH is building me : ) (which includes some marmoleum I've custom-tinted for counters)

If you don't use gold in your picture frames or light fixtures, you could look for a mirror that is a combination of gold and silver leaf. It's much cooler and sleeker than gold, and much warmer and more elegant than chrome, or even nickel.

You might have one made to your specifications at your best picture frame shop - they often have exactly the right kind of moldings for whatever you're trying to do, and you can get exactly the dimensions you need, since long and skinny is harder to find.

And my last question is, why do you need a backsplash? I never put them in bathrooms. A good silicone sealer, and you can dispense with it altogether. I think it looks much prettier to have the wall color come right down to the sink surface.

go with the scenario that makes your heart sing, for sure...plus, keeping the floors uniform on one floor is something I really like and wish I had!

Your light fixtures sound beautiful too, Flyleft! I love Bronwynsmom's suggestions for using lighting and for the mirror, too.

You have such creative decor strategies, Fly. Everything sounds so opulent, unique and wonderful. I can't wait to see the finished bath, study and pantry!

ha, b's mom -- I think of a backsplash because I am a hopeless *mosaic and tile addict*! : ) Guess you haven't seen my daughter's bathroom LOL. It's a riotous yet controlled explosion of Pratt & Larson seconds/overruns that I facemounted on mosaicmount and worked into the design of the entire room. I only have in-process photos, no current photos of it because my daughter is 14 and we don't have a housekeeper, iykwim.

Anywhere I can tile I generally try to,and if I find some nice tile at a salvage, I have a tendency to buy it and then figure out where to use it somewhere down the road. It's even happened one or two times : ). I was actually thinking of wainscoting in the room, but I want to find a tile that is the same color as the paint. We actually have some two-or-three-fist-sized rocks of labradorite that we will have cut to make slices to work in somewhere, probably in the shower. I can't cut it because it fractures too easily. I may try to get the fabricator who has sold us the countertop piece to see if he can cut these rocks.

I'll try to imagine the room without a backsplash...honestly, I've had bathrooms in other houses without a backsplash and it can work...I'll keep an open mind. I love the mirror frame idea to have that be the reference to the gold floor -- a combination picking up the chrome tone would be cool. Thanks! You know, I could probably even do it myself, I imagine, with a couple of shades of rub-n-buff? After a little observation and practice?

And thanks, kp -- I appreciate your vote. I'll find a way to highlight the counter so it doesn't disappear into the wall color. Glad to know that someone else besides me notices through-composed floors! : )

And stinky, I do think the lighting fixture is beautiful, as you say -- once again, found at salvage, but I then searched online and found it at retail back in 2007 for about $200...the shades look like large crystal block ice cubes.

The pantry is a combination of Ikea metal-mesh shelving (I like it because it's see-through but much tougher than that plastic-coated'ventilated' shelving with the ridges which I despise (it's just me -- other people may love it but it's like fingernails on a blackboard to me) -- we tried both, solid wood and the metal mesh, and I vastly preferred the metal because I could actually see what was on the higher shelves) and wood* on one wall because we couldn't get the metal in sizes we wanted, and the marmoleum counter. There will also be a mahogany (to match the Ikea Hallarum) sink cabinet and mahogany countertop edging (vintage floor moulding I've stripped and stained to match the Hallarum) as well. I'm completely in love with the marmoleum -- a kind g'webber pointed me in the direction of great wood tints and I've warmed up a light blue (again, salvage) to a joyous spring blue-green. I think if I could live my entire life in the nexus of brown, gray, gold, blue and green I'd be happy : )

*Yes, the wood is a salvage find too, an extremely high grade *new* plywood that we bought scads of random offcuts of...it's a very light off-white maple (I think) plywood, and we had no idea how it got to the salvage but one day we went to the Museum of Contemporary Craft here in Portland and saw the current exhibit on one of my idols, Betty Feves, and lo and behold, all the display stands for her pottery/ceramics were made of *exactly* the same wood! There's no mistaking it! So I'm one degree closer to Betty Feves now! I was thinking just to paint the plywood, but not after we discovered its noble provenance : ) Well, maybe after the vicarious thrill wears off and I want more uniformity in the room...but not now.

o.k., just for the fun of it I'll link to the exhibit, just have to spread the Feves gospel wherever I can : )

Here is a link that might be useful: visceral, glorious Betty Feves

Well, that's the best argument for a backsplash I ever heard!
But I like the idea of wainscot even more. Didn't remember that you are mosaic-dependent - I envy you your skill!

I googled "gold and silver leaf frames" and got these images, just to give you an idea of the variety of ways they can look. I have a big one in my living room over the fireplace, and I love the look of the combined leafing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Images of gold & silver leaf frames

I really do think you've hit on something, b's mom. I'm going to do a mockup on some scrap wood and see what we think of it. Esp. with the inclusions in the labradorite, I think the idea of multidimensional metallic that changes as you move around it, kind of, makes lots of sense. I can connect the chrome tones *and* the golden floor, if it works out.

*sigh* Guess I have to go to Michael's again : )