Tubs are pretty, but if you have one elsewhere in the house I believe you will be much happier in the long run with a big shower. I love my new big shower! It's so nice to have room to dry off. We installed a Solatube in our shower and we had never done that sort of thing before. It was very easy and it does not leak (my big fear). It looks a bit like a decapitated R2D2 on the roof from outside, so keep that in mind. It really brightens the room, even though we have a wall of windows in there already. You cannot see the sky through them, though. The lake view would be a must for me, whether it is in the bathroom or the bedroom. The bigger the windows the better! Obscured glass doors is a brilliant idea. Cutting through the slab and installing new pipes is not rocket science, it's just tedious hard work. If you hire a plumber to do any of the actual pipe work, be sure to check often that all pipes are INSIDE the walls and do not jut into the area where you will be attaching the drywall, and that the drains and toilet flanges are LEVEL. The screws for the toilet should be positioned correctly too. There are a lot of little measurements that can make your life miserable if not done correctly when the plumbing is roughed in. Good luck! Renee

Oh dear. I am feeling so undecided. I put another coat of the Polyshades on last night and it does look nice now -- dark and even. But it definitely is "mahogany" -- deep, dark red. Not the espresso color I had envisioned. But I am now hesitant to start putting on other products and other colors. I'm worried that it will look uneven, or that I will just end up with a mess. Arg -- this is what I get for being impulsive and not doing enough research up front. Anyway, I am heading out to a music festival today, so I am going to take a break from obsessing about stain and see how I feel when I get home. Maybe I will just put the new hardware in and see how I feel about it once the tile is in. The overall impression of the room is more important than the precise shade of stain on the vanity, right? Although -- I suspect that I will have a hard time finding a wall cabinet (for over the vanity) to match this stain color -- I've looked around and there is a lot of "espresso" and white (and still a bit of golden oak). Maybe a "cherry" cabinet would co-ordinate, if not match. Anyway, I need to get my mind off all this for a few hours. Have a good weekend, everyone!

Thanks everyone, looks like white towels is the way to go. @mercurygirl - I forgot to put the old blind back up (it's a simple white roller blind), but have been contemplating putting in a new blind instead. A wood blind is a nice idea, thanks @sandi125 yes the before I think is original from the 80s. The kitchen has similar cabinets and will be the next project - but I think I will wait and give myself a bit more time and planning for that one :)

I am thinkng of similar project. You will need smaller tile for the floor if you are doing floor tile. Likely for a niche too. But size is good because either wall could use whole tile, no cuts, 36 ÷ 12 and 48÷ 12