hi - i am in the middle of a bathroom remodel (see my blog page below if you're interested) and we are ready to prime/paint. we have new drywall on about half of the walls & ceiling, and i assume builder's white on the other walls & ceiling. our new "ceiling" is really a big soffit of sorts, over our tub and a skinny "beam" where the 2 rooms used to be divided. we did it this way so that we wouldn't have to match the texture on the original ceiling... plus it adds some character. this new ceiling is flat new drywall. the original ceiling is textured - not popcorn/cottage cheese, but more like they put wet drywall mud up there & smooshed it with something round, then pulled the round thing off & left some peaks & valleys. not sure what that's called... but we figure it should be repainted to look cohesive, but i don't know if that needs to be sprayed, if i can do it cleanly diy or if a pro should do it. i am having a pro do my living room/hall/kitchen walls because of all the different cutting in & heights it requires, so i'll have him in the house anyway. ceilings & "beam" will be some kind of white; walls will be dark blue. so that was another question... i bought the zinsser bulls eye primer, at least for the first coat. should i get a tinted primer & do a second coat of primer since it's new drywall? or just the zinsser? i found my blue at lowes, so i thought i'd go ahead & use valspar... do i just ask for mildew-cide in it? thanks! lisa here's a glimpse of the new & old ceilings Here is a link that might be useful: my bathrooms forum blog

Thanks priairiemom. I picked up a sample of the Repose Gray & am anxious to try it on the walls. It is a very pretty color! Oh Wow! Thanks Tibbs! It's great to see a mockup. Wish I was that talented. It has me quite torn. But I'll start with trying the light shade first. Thank you to everyone for suggestions! :) I think maybe I should loose the valance? I looked at Lowes tonight to see if they carried the Delta champagne gold color so I could see if it could work with the polished brass on the shower door handles but they didn't have it (: Is there any other finishes you think could work with the polished brass?

I had the exact same problem. I picked out the vanity I wanted but did not think about the fact that it wasn't made to sit flush against the wall. I spent a month looking for something else, but in the end we decided to go with something shorter and have it not be against the wall. But we were going from 72" to 60" which is probably not workable in your mom's situation. I did find a lot of vanities that did have flat sides and could work in a corner, if you are willing to have the countertop fabricated. They just need to not have any trim detail on the top or bottom like the one you picked out does. I would just look at the ones without the pre-made tops. Because the pre-made top will still leave you with a slight gap because of the countertop overhang. This is an example: Avanity Modero which is sold everywhere, not just at Lowe's. The cabinet we ended up buying is an Avanity Madison which won't work for you, but I assume it is of similar quality. We are pretty happy with it. The drawers and doors have soft close but I do feel like the glides in my Ikea kitchen drawers are better quality. It is very pretty and I wanted a stained wood so I am really happy with our choice. If I had been willing to go with a painted finish, I think we might have stuck with the 72" Modero.

Here are a few quick tips to find out how "correct" the install is (or isn't). Correct meaning 'will not fail' vs. looks pretty. Looking pretty and being correctly installed are two different animals. 1. Caulking is used at EVERY change of plane (ahem...corners). Grout is NOT allowed when tile goes around a corner or goes from flooring tile to wall tile. To check for caulking just poke your finger nail in there and push. If it feels rubbery = caulking. If it feels like hardened sand/stone = grout. **Hint** Look at the GROUT that is sitting all around the wall cubby and the grout that is running down the corner...check the marble floor/tile wall connection. Do you see more grout? 2. Did they use wood (raw wood) at the shower threshold? If you remember seeing a plank of timber being 'tiled' you have issues. 3. Water Draining out of the shower should be even. The shower floor should not have areas that are left 'wet looking' (ie. darker...marble is AWESOME at showing this...which means you can test this very easily for yourself) for hours while other areas look 'dry' very quickly. An uneven drying time tell us water is SITTING (ie. not draining) under the marble. Issues like a mentioned above can be a perfect storm waiting to come crashing down (through the ceiling? below?) around your head. They are also issues that point to a REDO (especially the shower floor stuff). The uneven wall tiles = uneven wall. They needed to shim the walls (when the studs were exposed) and/or float the tile (very difficult and expensive and requires an OLD FASHIONED Tile Pro to get it done properly). You didn't get either. In other words your General Contractor used 'guys' to lay the tile and not the EXPENSIVE Tile setters (ahem...GCs HATE using expensive pros...it messes up their bottom line/quotes).