I totally agree with whoever posted this: "I think the items that will be wildly unpopular with the next generation will be various forms of vessel sinks, glass mosaic tiles, and rustic stone, bronze finishes---Not because there is anything the matter with them, but simply as a reaction to the newest (fads,trends,whatever) of this era that they want to reject in the next." And I would add subway tiles and non-neutral color schemes. I find I keep seeing friends' recently remodeled bathrooms and kitchens full of subway tiles, the new glass tile, granite countertops, travertine, rustic tile and I am just sick of seeing the same thing all the time. I liked them at first but so many people are doing the same thing it's beginning to turn my stomach. So I have a cottage house at the beach and I love contemporary. I am doing quartz counters (cement color) in kitchen on one side, then in a nod to cottage style, marble on the other side (and now I'm sick of marble too since everyone is doing it). I feel I have to give a nod to cottage. I'm considering doing my 3 bathroom vanities in concrete countertops with integrated sinks. My concrete guy will put a subtle sprinkling of abalone shell into the counter since I live near the beach. But I am worried that this look too will be dated before long. I wanted hardwood floors in my bathrooms but was worried. I found wonderful tile that looks like wood, some distressed, some not that I will be using. Really, I cannot tell it isn't wood except it's colder on the feet. It comes in planks like wood. Hollie

Mine are mostly small things -- like using a glass compote to hold cotton balls in the bathroom -- or a cut glass tumbler to hold q-tips. A hinged CD holder (similar to the tissue box above but a double version) used as a spot to store extra TP. I have a dresser that is a TV stand for our exercise room and the drawers have my gift wrap rolls and ribbons. A home office armoire that was going to be my craft and gift wrap station became a china cabinet when my dad moved and I suddenly acquired another set of china and crystal and I wasn't ready to make decisions on getting rid of anything. I have an old radio cabinet that I cleaned up and planned to put a new shelf and door in the top, but the stained glass panel hasn't been made. I'm thinking about painting it and redirecting it's new life for another room now. Another one I haven't done buy we've talked about a couple of times is to put a pull out bed in a window seat to add a guest bed in our gameroom. I think the inflating mattresses are going to keep that one from happening -- take less room and are probably cheaper and more comfortable now that we no longer have a sofa with the pullout mechanism to repurpose. If a new thread is started, we should try to link this one at the top so these ideas and photos aren't lost -- st least as long as we can.

LL, I would not worry too much about making the bath dark in an effort to make it work for you and your DH. In our bath, my DH enjoys it so much, it has a luxurious feel to him as well as to me. He thinks it is absolutely PERFECT. As hide bound as some men are, they all have a softer side that needs a spot to retreat to for expression. I'm sure he can live happily with your bathroom, or your style anyway, since he more than likely adores you. What man wouldn't, I'd like to know. And my clawfoot tub is the centerpiece of the bath, with a handheld shower set. The real shower is in the other bath. Krayer is right about the really high heat in a greenhouse, depending on the exposure it has to the sun in every season. Our Teahouse has only the east side out of Lexan, and it is insulated everywhere else, but it keeps our portable heat pump going on cool this summer. And I keep it up around 82 degrees. The portable heat pumps are coming down in price quickly, and they are very popular now. I think ours puts out 12,000BTUs on heat, hope it cools that much in the summer too. We are what they call a "high humidity" area, and oh yeah, the condensation pipe drips a LOT outside, DH installed a drain, and I put a big saucer under it to collect the water for the wild birds. I won't worry about the humidity in the winter, when all the container plants come indoors. The bananas and big tropicals will love it in there, after all these years of being nearly wiped out by the cold. I cannot wait to use it this winter, the first test run in cold weather.

You can save some space with the claw foot tub by having no plumbing lines going through the tub itself, but just coming out on the wall. Then the spigot can splash its water into the tub itself. There would of course be a tub drain, and an overflow line above it, which go down through the floor, or maybe go into the wall as well. Our new 60 inch claw foot tub is by Restoria and it is I think acrylic, not cast iron. One person could pick it up and move it into the house once it is unpacked. And the finish makes it SELF CLEANING, have never had a ring around the tub. I do have a hand held "British" phone faucet set, which lets me wash my hair etc, while sitting in the tub. Such a tub is not really easy to stand in to shower, so having a separate shower stall, as you plan to do, is the way to go. Our tub is in an alcove and it has plenty of space. I did not realize the contractor could give me that much space, or I might have considered the 66 inch clawfoot tub. But with the back slope, I really love the 60 inch and find it quite long enough. Our walls are beadboard, and one of the beadboard walls is wainscoting height. That would be the one with the sink and the toilet. The tub, without a standup shower, can also be a wainscoted wall, wood like ours, or maybe a different material. But to keep an old fashioned look, the wainscoting out of boards with a painted (durable waterproofed) finish. If so, like our bath, there is no trouble with over spray. And we also got the 2" square unglazed mosaic porcelain tiles. Ours came from Lowes, Rialto Blanco, Italian, mounted on 12 x 12 mesh for easy installation. And it is non skid, and can be used on the walls, the floors, in the shower, and indoors/outdoors. Your plumbing lines can be handled from beneath the bathroom, which is one big plus for having a full basement down there. I cannot offer any ideas for positioning your fixtures, because my mind just will not wrap around where things are in your bath. So many alcoves, hard to visualize. Because you say it is 136 x 92, and that means it is 12'4" x 7'8", and I cannot even locate the door, or where the window is in that setup. I would think about having TWO medicine cabs, sunk into the wall, one over the other if possible. Does not have to be over the sink. Some bathroom walls are 4" thick, others are 6" thick, which can give you a lot of storage space. Make use of as many of these spaces as you can, and always always always, put a couple of extra GFCI plugs in. I recommend a gang of 4 plugs in one box to minimize the wires running through the walls. And remember that a single hairdryer pulls about 15 amps on high, so give yourself enough power to run a good vent fan, and maybe a little wall heater if you live where it's really cold. And, if you have the cash, think about heating the floor....that seems to be quite popular these days. Not for me down south, but where it is cold, your grandkids will love taking a bath...