Thank you everyone for all of your replies! Sorry for the absence...I have no internet here at the house yet. In response to questions/comments: kudzu9: There are areas of the grout that are missing, and the remainder has turned yellow. I would like to replace the missing grout and whiten the yellowed. We hope to rent out the home, so I don't trust tenants to wipe down painted walls. I'm hoping to find a complementary alternative. benjesbride: Unfortunately, the reason I have little budget now is that most of the original plumbing has to be redone. The drains are all old cast iron, and have degraded...there are lead pipes too. So, since they are replacing them, I figure that now would be the time to relocate. Thank you for your advice on "embracing the retro" and your link! nosoccermom: I cant really remove the shower head, as its the only bath in the home. I LOVE your idea of glass, and will research it. Have to figure out how to seal it from moisture and how to make area where it meets tile waterproof. Fori is not pleased: LOL!!!! I'm not pleased either! Thanks for the laugh and suggestion. I will def head over there once I have internet at the house, and am ready to make all the decorating decisions.polly929: I had considered having a company reglaze the tub & tile white, but the many opinions of keeping the original intact have made me reconsider. I am keeping the home, but am trying to fix it up to rent out for now. bpathome: Thanks for sharing your experience. I was considering adding 4x4 tile above the existing, but someone else said it wouldn't look good and hearing your experience too really gives me pause. I agree that the glass sounds like a cool possibility, but I need to research the installation issues. Would wallpaper hold up in a shower??? Yes, I absolutely need to redo the floor. Its a pier and beam home, so I am avoiding any real tile. However, I have looked at black & white LVT alternatives in both the hex and penny. jesshs: That is amazing! I cannot believe someone on here has actually had this tile! And its funny you mentioned grey....that is exactly the color I was thinking of going with on the walls! As far as paint on the shower walls, as I said above to kudzu9, we are planning to rent the home out and I worry about tenants taking the time to do that sort of maintenance. I want to go with something I don't have to worry about them taking care of. cpartist: Another retro vote! I'm coming around :) The grout is yellowed, and missing in a few areas. I'm hoping there is a way to bring it back to white. I agree with you, and everyone else, about the grab bars, as well as the shower head. And so glad to get another grey vote! I am absolutely redoing the floor. Just haven't decided what would go best. Again, THANK YOU everyone for your opinions and suggestions. Please, keep the ideas coming!

Current Resident - Very true on the stains...I considered sanding (sanding, and some more sanding) then trying a liming wax over the pine to tone down the orange a bit while still keeping the wood features. I didn't even consider that Sherwin Williams could match a stain to the steely blue I was thinking of for the lower cabinets. I will chat with them this weekend about that process, so thank you! Maybe it would be best to just have my contractor do the floor, butcher block counters, etc. and leave the cabinets until all possibilities have been considered. And the house has a mix of original finishes and updates. When my grandfather started to decline in mobility, the 1970s upstairs bathroom was completely renovated (we're talking white with gold vein floor tiles, yellow and green flower wallpaper, his custom built cabinets, etc.) were torn out for an accessible roll in shower to make it easier for us to bathe him. So that update is more modern (black granite, mosaic and subway tiles). The downstairs bathroom was renovated by my grandfather in the 70s, and has the harvest gold toilet, sink, ceramic tiles, etc. all still intact. It had pink and black tiles from the 50s before that. The den still has pine walls, cream and brown checkered tiles, a huge brick fireplace, and a wall of built in bookcases and cabinets. The entire upstairs (sans kitchen and bathroom) are oak floors with early american stain from the 70s, and the entire downstairs was some version of bright blue, orange or green shag carpets over checkered tiles in concrete. All the tiles have been covered with carpet - we have a split level ranch so the downstairs is rather chilly without carpet. The dining room is going strong with the Pickwick pine panels still... The four bedrooms have all been updated - one had panels and had been painted, the other three are plaster walls with swirls and have just been painted in neutral colors. Stairwells have pine all over and an orange and yellow glass pendant in the main one! So it's a mix!

I read quite a few different DIY blogs where they used drywall compound. I used the spackling to go over a some of the grout lines where they was a little cracking when the compound dried and shrunk. On those blogs they used a white wash to seal it. I’m looking to go with a clear seal because I don’t want to add any more white. As for durability and longevity, only time will tell at this point.

Your next step is to get samples of the colors and paint big board of them, and look at them at different times of day and in different spots. Please don't skip this important step - colors look soooo different outdoors, and in large areas, and beside other colors, as many disappointed Houzzers have found out. Many years ago I painted my master bedroom a warm beige, but because it was contrasting with a gold carpet, the pink stood out and I had a pink bedroom. Your colors will look different against your brick than they would if they were standing alone.