I like the color of the floor tile!

Couple of questions... who will use this bathroom? (You say it's a kid's bathroom. How many kids? How old are they?)

Is there a window? And -- will you be selling the house in the foreseeable future?

I understand you are trying to bring the bathroom around to looking like the rest of the house, but I fear the vanity you are thinking of building will look out of place in the room. It's a small room, so your eyes will take in all three features at the same time. If it were my house, I would go with a simple white vanity.

Tell us more about the kids. Gender and ages.

Having a teeny tiny jack and jill bath with 2 daughters, I can say that there are several areas that need to be addressed if you want the bath to have some semblance of presentability. And avoid losing your mind.

1-kids are not tall. Do not put storage out of their reach. They won't use it.

2-kids are not married--they don't respect each other's property and share well.
So Susie may want Crest, and Sally may want Colgate. Susie may want apple blossom shower gel, Sally may want peach blossom shower gel, etc. So frankly it's easier to have each child have their own set of everything. This also eliminates problems when Sally spends the night at Betsy's house and takes everything with her.

3-kids are not careful like adults.
They will get nail polish on your nice tabletop. So very utilitarian surfaces are required. I also suggest using a silicone hot pad under hair straighteners so the countertop isn't singed.

4-Teenage kids are Pigs. Disgusting. And old enough to clean their own bathrooms. Make them do it. Plan a place in the bathroom to store Lysol wipes, glass cleaner, toilet cleaner and brush, and paper towels. I recommend having this chore due on trash night. So at least the trash should get emptied. And any time you hear "mom, can I have a friend spend the night?" the answer is, "of course, but you have to clean your bathroom first"

So I think when designing your space, to take into account where and how these items are stored. The functional part is more important to get right the decor part.

I found that the $4 paper storage boxes with lids that are sold at Hobby Lobby (for VHS tapes and photos...that size box) are great to use to organize in the bathroom. The lids keep things dust free, and daughters can store "unmentionables" there (so they don't steal all of yours!) and they stack up easily and can be labeled.

If you have a shower curtain, there are some that have liners with about 20 pockets on them. These are good for organizing there.

And as big of a trash can as you can fit. With a plastic bag liner.

There's another thread called "Fun project, Part II" that has the other picture of the bathroom. When I posted them I forgot that they'd get separated -- Please look at that picture too, to get an idea of the whole room.

We call this the kids' bathroom, but the kids have grown up and the youngest is about to go off to college. I'm sorry to have misled you! We're not planning to sell the house in the forseeable future, so it's really just another bathroom and won't be used much. There's no window, but a good exhaust fan.

In this context my vision for the room makes more sense! I'm trying to tone down the bright white aspect of the room and make it softer, warmer, and less modern. The first thing I'd like your opinions on is whether to build a cabinet vanity or a washstand type. Storage will be elsewhere, so is not an issue. What do you think?

OK then. Sorry for the bathroom management advice....onto the decor advice.

I think the floor color is fantastic. I love your shower, and don't see any reason this all can't come together.

I think the biggest danger you have is to not get tempted into getting to MCM/Regency and to focus on the style you really want.

The marble and oval sink sound really good. I think that some non-shiny elements will be good with it. If anything, sweedish county would be a good thing to google for images.

As to the vent covering, I think it needs to be ventilated with louvered or screened areas on what covers it. You could consider a built in that incorporates the vent, and a radiator cover in one cohesive element with a bit of storage snuck in.

Haha, Julie! Thanks for sticking with this! I think you get my idea and I'm glad you're optimistic about it coming together. Yes, non-shiny elements. Swedish country, English or French country -- they're all different of course, but the general old European style appeals to me: Old, not shiny, worn and comfortable, nice muted colors. And YES, I'm psyched that you had the idea to incorporate the stove pipe and radiator, b/c I do too! I haven't worked that part out yet, but I want to put a wall hung medicine cabinet there too.

So I'm trying to decide now whether to go with a washstand or vanity sink cabinet, and whether to leave it wood (a la Swedish) or painted. And then the louvered pipe covering: should it be the same as the sink (painted or wood)?

I would use a vanity with closed storage unless you have other storage in the room. Kids have lots of stuff and closed storage always looks better.

I looked at the other link, do you have a picture of the pipe and radiator from the front? I am thinking you should make the covering of the pipe look like it belongs, i.e., louvered doors covering the pipe and radiator with storage above the radiator. I would paint both the louvered doors and vanity white.

If you want to bring in a bit of French flair...what about an old dresser, with maybe a curved front? The modern shower and floor tile will still look good, but it will give it a bit of an antique style, but fancy rather than rustic. I think a wood tone the same as your chair (or maybe just a bit lighter) would work really well! Just an idea :)