Wooo!!! Cat, I am stuck at home because of the snow storm so wandered around here not looking at anything in particular and came upon your thread. I totally agree with you on the shower curtain choice. Regardless of whether I have the money to spare or not, keeping those suckers clean is a nuisance over time. We have a glass shower door that was installed back in 2003 and I can't tell you how much I hate cleaning it. Not that the door is all that dirty, but a shower curtain is way easier, and you can change the look/style whenever you feel like it. Can't do that with a pricey shower door. Anyway, everything looks lovely as usual, including the "prom" dress :-) Love, love those circular tiles, and the floor tiles that look like fabric. Gorgeous. What colour is that again? It looks greyish on my monitor.

Thanks for your thoughts, folks! flyleft.. I'm laughing at your posts :) Regarding the leaking issue.. I don't think that the angle will affect our set-up. in either case, the door is hinged on the wall, and the door clese against a piece of glass it's not in plane with. We have the option of installing a silicone flange along the long open side of the door if need be, but we're going to try it without the flange first, because I want a cleaner look. In either case, the showerhead is facing away from the door, so we're *hoping* it won't be a problem. I'll check with the fabricator though and see what he thinks. I also emailed this question to my brother, who is an architect in Norway (currently working on a new courthouse for Mecca!!) and he said, angle the shower door, no question. So now I am pretty well convinced!! Thank you!

Thanks so much for all your ideas! We DID consider a doorless shower... but we live in Maine where winters are long and cold, and we were concerned about not having the enclosure to jeep the warm steam inside. Plus, now that the DWV plumbing's roughed in and things can't change, I don't think we could retrofit even if you guys did persuade me... here's why: the room is not wide enough (at 6' 4") to fit a decent toilet zone (currently 34"), then a door to the shower (24" minimum, right?), then the vanity (20"). The opening/door to the shower HAS to be in one of the configurations drawn above (angled or next to the toilet.) ---believe me, I agonizied over the various fixture locations for months with consult from two architects, and this was the best compromise to fit everything I wanted in-- The shower plumbing also has to be on a new-framed wall next to the toilet, because all the other walls are exterior walls. The whole reason we're having to do this bathroom reno now is because the plumbing (which was in the exterior walls) froze last winter (our first winter in the house) and leaked and caused a huge mold problem that necessitated gutting the bath. So, there's no way we are running supply plumbing in the exterior walls again! We rerouted it all... Lastly, isn't 36" x 58" a little bit small to NOT have a door, just re: splashing from someone showering? If you can still see a way to make the doorless shower work, I would love to hear it! Thanks again, Stacey

I'm glad you asked this question because I'm planning to redo our master bathroom and like you I want to do it thoughtfully to avoid problems of upkeep. I definitely will second that suggestion - no bar soap, only liquid - both hand and shower gels. I too would love a clawfoot tub but not in this bathroom. My tub area is a defined area sandwiched between three walls - no way to get access easily around the tub to clean from different angles. Beautiful but not practical. I can't wait to rip out that horrible whirlpool brand whirlpool tub which not only is a disgusting mess to clean the jets, but also turned yellow instead of remaining white. I haven't had any problems with my glass doors/wall in my shower and I suspect it's because the shower is large enough that the water normally doesn't hit the glass during a shower - I only have to deal with some mild steam condensation which is easy to wipe down. I often wonder about those with bathrooms where the shower has no door - what do you do about the steam - that steam carries fine particles of soap and shower debris and deposits them on the walls - at least if you have some closure on the shower itself, most of that gets deposited inside the shower which is a pain to clean - but much easier to clean a small shower area than all the walls of the bathroom? I love the look of the vessel sinks plunked down on top of the vanity top, but I think they are more difficult to keep clean than an undermount sink - I have no experience, just my guess. I hope maybe others with experience can comment. I will be looked to minimize sharp angles - so I'll opt for an oval rounded sink etc. I'm also looking to minimize nooks and crannies in places where I wipe often - so simple straight lines on faucets is a plus.