I do think the dispersal of counter around the sink will be a LOT better for the clean-up use, and I agree with you that it looks nice visually. The counter dispersal was the main reason I suggested this. I really think only 15" or even 18" between the sink and the wall is going to be awkward and annoying. However, setting the issue of the counter aside, the dishwasher placement -- middle, left, or right -- is more of a judgement call for you. In the middle, it impedes both doorways. I agree it's not a full blockage of both doorways, but for me (a clumsy person), impeding is worse than blocking. Because if I can squeeze by the dishwasher door, I will try, fail, and bash my shins. And if I tried to do it fast enough, probably bash my shins, trip, and kill myself. If dishwasher door were just flat-out blocking my way entirely (as opposed to merely impeding), I'd either have to enter the room at another time or close the dishwasher so my way is completely open to enter. The fact that I am totally uncoordinated would never come into play. If placed to the left, the dishwasher blocks the dining room door, but is out of the way of everything else. This means you can easily and freely use the entire kitchen and go in and out of the pantry while the dishwasher is open. To the right, the dishwasher blocks the pantry door, but is out of the way of everything else. This means you can easily and freely use the entire kitchen (one of the fridge doors couldn't open quite all the way, but you could still use the fridge) and go in and out of the dining room while the dishwasher is open. So, if you were only considering the dishwasher placement, you'd just have to decide between those three options (middle, left, or right) which works best for you. As I said, this is more of a judgement call. Is it better for you to keep the use of of all doors and walkways at all times, even if it makes some agility/grace necessary to use them, or is it better for you keep only one walkway open, but having it be wide open and easy to use. And if you pick the latter, then is it better to have the pantry door always open or the dining room door always open? This decision would be easy if you go in and out of the pantry 10% of the time and in and out of the dining room 90% of the time or vice versa. So deciding to block a door and which door to block would be a no-brainer. But if both doors are in constant use, that makes keeping the dishwasher in the center more attractive. However, I think the counter space weirdness caused by having the dishwasher in the center makes that option so unattractive that I would be looking exclusively at which door I want to block. If you are thinking that it makes more sense to have the dishwasher block the pantry, you could have both doors -- pantry and exterior -- swing out. Or you could make the pantry door a glass door so someone coming in can see if the dishwasher is open rather than discovering that upon opening the door into it. Or you could just not have a door to the pantry -- it could be a doorway only. (As an aside, I'd personally rather a bigger sink. There is a difference between the space you need in a sink to simply physically fit your largest pan and the space you need to manipulate it easily as you flip it around washing it. The latter is quite a bit larger.)

Wow, here I am almost 8 months later and there is very little progress toward our bathroom! No word at all from Jim, the contractor. I wonder if he is still doing the commercial job or if he even wants our work. Plus, Toby, our dog, is even older now - 16 - and on prednisone, so he is peeing a lot. He has doggy dementia, too. He is not terribly confused, not enough to put him down, but there is no way I want new, clean grout on that floor. The bathroom is on hold until he decides to take a trip over the rainbow bridge. I have just contracted to replace the last four windows in the house. The aluminum sliders will be gone in 6 weeks or less! We are getting an awning window for the bathroom with a blind in the glass that can be raised and lowered. It is our sunniest room, and light from that window lights up the whole end of the hallway. I wanted the option to raise the blinds up. The three bedrooms are getting double casement windows with blinds in the glass. Hey - I don't clean, so the blinds are a major, major plus for us! Now I have to get windowsills for all three bedrooms. And for the bathroom, the need for a windowsill is forcing me to decide on the counter top for the vanity. It seems to me that they should be the same material. Tomorrow I am going to try to find the Cambria Quartz source for the area. I want the place where I can get a leftover piece of someone else's slab, since I need such a small piece. My vanity is only 18" x 46". I am hoping for the color called Parys. [houzz=https://www.houzz.com/photos/cambria-countertop-2010-traditional-kitchen-phvw-vp~2704735] Since I still have not chosen the color for the wall tiles in the bathroom, the color for the vanity top is going to determine what direction we go, since it is the next critical decision that I have to make. I like Parys because it is dark and will contrast with the white sink. It will also contrast with all the different wall tiles I have considered. I especially love the glowing blue bits in it. It reminds me of my favorite stone I use when making jewelry, Labradorite! It has that chatoyancy, that glow when it catches the light just right. Opal also does that. Parys just glows in any light. Other things I have made progress on have to do with the vanity. I have sanded it and have decided to replace the original drawer pulls. No way will we enjoy finding the little bail that recedes into a groove on those babies. I am going to fill the holes and then drill one center hole and use a glass knob with chrome in the center. I had already purchased three of them to use on the new cupboards that I was adding into the wall across from the vanity. I have also removed the metal floor protectors on the bottom of the 8 vanity legs and discovered that the small feet that can be leveled that I purchased will fit into the ends of the legs. Holes have to be drilled for them. Because the floor will be made waterproof, and sloped toward a drain, if I did not put levelers into the feet of the vanity, the whole thing would be unlevel and the sink would not drain properly. A and C below make up my leg levelers. Yes, I do try to think of everything. When you have THREE YEARS to do nothing but plan, you do a lot of planning! I have also purchased the shower plumbing - the rainhead, the shower temperature balancing valve, and three volume controls, one for the rain head, one for the shower head, and one for the hand-held, and the controls will each have those labels on them! I already had the shower head. I still have to decide on the hand-held system. I also purchased a really cute hand towel holder. I don't like the rings because the towel gets bunched and does not dry well. This one is from Ginger and it has two bars that move on a swivel, independently of each other. The bars are 12 inches long and the holder holds them a good 2" away from the wall. Plus, since they swivel the whole way around, if one is particularly wet, you can pull it away from the wall and it will hang perpendicular to the wall as you wait until it is dry. In this picture, they show the arms out away from the wall. Normally, they will hang closer to the wall that the thing is mounted on, I would think. For instance, I plan to hang it on the wall to the side of the vanity. The arms would be folded up close to the wall most of the time. I suppose you could install it on the wall next to the medicine cabinet and have the towels hang over the vanity area, if you liked.

Help! I am starting a bathe remodel and having the vanity custom done because I want a 44” vanity with a sink set off to the left. The reason for this is because the bathroom is a small 5x8 and I felt when you walked in the bathroom it would nice to have a little more space from the doorway. Hope that makes sense. It’s the main bathroom and with grandkids there could be 3 people in this small space at any given time and if someon is at the sink it gives a little more room if it’s offset to the left. Now comes the dilemma about the mirror and lighting. I love scones BUT not sure about mirror shape, round or rectangle or where it’s centered or if over the mirror lighting would be better. I have drawn in the walls and taped the space but honestly I still have no idea what to do. The vanity is being custome made so I can always change it to have the sink centered but I really like the idea of the offset sink. I am just at a loss as to what to do about the mirror and lighting. Can you help?

I have an update and would love to get some feedback before I order the final accessories. (Demo begins one week from today!) I got a quote for replacing the vanity with white cabinetry complete with a sitting area, plus hardwiring of sconces. The costs all added up to too much for me, so I'm sticking with my vanity and overhead lighting location. I feel great about my choices for tile, bath tub, paint, and fixtures. My worry is that all the little accessory details won't quite work together, diminishing the beauty of the bathroom as a whole. I need to buy the accessories soon; here's what I have in mind. With overhead lighting instead of sconces, I prefer one large mirror. The mirror is by Pottery Barn, a wooden frame with gold gilt, 72" x 36". Perfect size for the space, very very very hard to find. This is technically a floor-length mirror, so I hope it can be mounted horizontally! PB customer service was useless when asked. The lights are also PB, polished nickel. For practical reasons, I ruled out any overhead lights that take type B bulbs (too dim) and have fabric shades (too hard to clean). As a big plus, these are on sale for $170 each. Do they go with the mirror and the rest of the room? Chandelier is PB, 18" diameter, antique brass, UL-listed. This will be over the tub on a dimmer. It was hard to find a chandy that's not too big, ornate, and/or expensive. Knobs and pulls are glass and polished nickel from Restoration Hardware. Towel ring, TP roll, and hook are Ballard Design in polished nickel. Fabric for the roman shade is gray on cream linen. Shower bench is Signature Hardware in teak. I hope this will help tie in the wood of the vanity with the other side of the room. Towel warmer is polished stainless steel (no nickel option) from Signature Hardware. If anything doesn't quite mesh or looks wrong, I would love to hear, as well as any suggestions for alternatives!