thanks to all who have posted so far, especially Eric. We can probably save/budget down the road for a kitchen redo, or do part of it ourselves. Additions would be a little harder for us except finish work (floors, tile, etc. Can do drywall even but would need to find time to do it). What that kitchen has is a U shaped layout, not too bad except there are overhanging cabinets between a small dining/family space and the kitchen. It's a counter/pass through kind of setup where someone can sit at stools and talk with the person in the kitchen....except the cabinets hang down so the person in the kitchen has to look under them. We would likely tear those out and relocate the stovetop to the perimeter wall and make that pass through an island. Then that entire space could become kitchen/dining. It is possible we could still move out a wall on that (kitchen) side of the house down the road too, we are in Hawaii so all the construction costs are much, much higher than mainland. So jealous of all the posters here who can put on a large extension for less than 50K. Plan A or Plan B will cost us about the same. We don't plan to sell and move anytime soon, but should we need to we're leaning toward sq. footage instead of just extending current bath and upgrading the kitchen. Our neighborhood is about 20 years old so people are beginning to redo those rooms as the fixtures and appliances are ageing. We redid all the appliances about three years ago with stainless finishes, new faucet/sink, and redid the countertop Corian, so the kitchen is livable - just need to clear out some clutter and make smarter usage on available storage space. We could paint or restain the cabinet doors to freshen it up. A few neighbors are creating the "big bang" kitchen now but I'm not certain a 70K upgrade will improve the value that much as a new neighborhood is planned about 5 miles away within the next couple of years. Would we love to live in a "WOW" kitchen, of course. But as with most people we have to make a decision on where it is best to spend the money for now. We could feasibly also add on a 2nd story in future years, but we prefer the single story and if we age-in-place as planned, the new bath will include wide accesses and no-curb shower.

thanks all! our house is a multilevel (about 2000 sq ft altogether) - the 3 bedrooms and 1 bath (to be tiled) is on the top floor, then the main entry (already have beige tile) and kitchen (same beige tile) and living room (beige carpet, same as bedrooms) are on the next level. One level down is the other bathroom, hallway to garage/mudroom. Then the lowest level is the basement (carpet). So 1 bathroom pretty much sits on top of the other one. And no tiles will be adjust to another... one time i'm considering for the upstairs bathroom is the one shown on the bathroom thread (see http://www.tileliquidators.biz/jadesage.html and also see the link posted below in a real life bathroom which looks very pretty, but will only using 13x13). The other tiles i'm considering for the downstairs bathroom will be in a random pattern of squares/rectangles: http://www.tileliquidators.biz/canyonsagerandom.html or this color http://www.tileliquidators.biz/canyonmuskrandom.html (the pictures shown aren't very good - the lighting was bad and didn't show the true tile colors - yes I'd seen all 3 tiles in real life). So they are different tiles, but have some similarities (tiles had variation of colors like slate). The downtown hallway is kinda choppy so the tile person thinks it'd work better with the random pattern. Thanks again for sharing your experience :) Here is a link that might be useful: jade sage tiles in a

Angie, I don't understand how they can install a ceramic floor without a subfloor underneath (unless it is on a slab). I hope you will provide more info on this topic as the mystery is uncovered. We are using the orange Schluter product too in our shower, but still need a subfloor. If you look around on your link above you will see pictures of them applying thinset type product over a subfloor. If he is thinking of laying a thinner subfloor, ask him how thick it will be. You don't want too thin of a subfloor or it will bounce and crack. As per your original question -- if it can be done to avoid a big threshold, I would definitely go for it. Carol

I've seen a large sample board of 12 x 24 LVT with several tiles grouted and it's a nice, modern look. It was a similar quiet pattern as Silver Shimmer but a darker color. As with all tile, you'd have to buy a box and there'd be a lot left over for your tiny bath. In our larger bathroom, we had five of the 16" tiles left over. Bac, I just posted about my vanity in this thread. I remember your vanity hunt. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3999160/small-bathrooms-full-vanity-light-or-dark?n=12