I think the pro's out way any con's if the con's do exist. I never read the don't sit on it statement but I am sure we have. I love the the soft close cover because more times then not the seat cover is down. I too have been to other locations and found out the hard way that their toilet seat is NOT a soft close! Opps! When cleaning the toilet I have always forced the cover down not real fast but I have pushed on it and it still works beautifully. I think those statements are there to protect the manufacturer from claims. I say go for it, you will be very happy with the soft close seat.

My garage is on the lee side of my house but the wind does come around and swirl right in front of it so I can understand getting all that dust and grit in there. No matter how often we clean it there is always grime that walks into the house with us. I second the wall mount toilet. I never thought of them when I was replacing my toilets within the past two years but if ever again, that is the route I would take under any circumstances. The idea of just mopping underneath rather than the contortions needed to get around and behind floor mounted toilets sounds wonderful. I love my Toto's but I too am unimpressed with the sani-gloss. I think it might work well if the toilet got constant use but with only 2 of us in the house the surface dries out between flushes.

Thanks Kirsten. The shower dimensions are currently in play while I seesaw between a standard 60" bath, a 54" small tub or a 30" plastic, inflatable kiddie pool. Ha! But more than likely the shower will be around 36"x38" or so. Not big, unless I can find the perfect kiddie pool...then I'll have more room for the shower. :) As for that vanity, we were actually going to do a much smaller vanity, around 65" to leave plenty of open space for that exterior door on the far left. That was before I realized it might be possible to do a skinny/shallow vanity ("might" being the operative word). Meeting with my local cabinet guy tomorrow to try to come to some solution. (In the meantime, I figure Plan B--or C?--will be an IKEA Godmorgon somewhere in the middle...)

We have these on all 3 of our toilets which are Toto drakes elongated. They stay tight and are simple to remove. There’s a button on the back that you push and the whole seat comes right off. They fit the toilet perfectly and they don’t have those nasty plastic screws. https://www.amazon.com/Bath-Royale-Elongated-Slow-Close-Quick-Release/dp/B00NAIO6CM/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Toilet+Seat+Elongated+BATH+ROYALE+BR606-00+White+Premium+Elongated+Toilet+Seat+Slow+Close%2C&qid=1603508366&s=hi&sr=1-1