I see your point, writersblock. My shower and toilet are in a separate room from the vanity, although there is visibility between the 2 areas when the pocket door is open. The vanity area would have the counter and ledge in Azul Macaubas and the plain gray field tile on the floor. I wanted to bring a little bit of blue accent into the shower so that that room is not just solid gray floor and walls. I need a small tile for the shower floor, and the Via Tornabuoni does not come in small sizes. I was thinking of doing the shower floor like this, with Via Tornabuoni field tiles making up the outside border and mosaic in the middle. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/from-mid-century-to-contemporary-master-bathroom-midcentury-bathroom-seattle-phvw-vp~540585) [Contemporary Bathroom design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Seattle Interior Designer ID by Gwen

Thanks kulagal, The granite is called Colonial Cream, but I've been told by another poster that that quarry is now closed so I don't know how available it is. I had seen bundles of Colonial Gold and Antique Gold with similar coloring. The tiles are all by Daltile. The 3x6 subways are in their Rittenhouse line, as are the 2x4 subways that are over the rangetop. I used 4x4 tiles with 2x2 cut-outs from their Fashion Accent line, and the 2x2 bubbly glass tiles are also FA. Truthfully if I had to do it over, I think I would have picked a lighter glass tile because when you surround the glass, it cuts off so much light and they appear darker than I had envisioned. But luckily the granite has several colors of brown and our island is darker than our cabinets so it looks fine--just not what I had anticipated. raehelen, That would have been hilarious. I wish I had thought of it. I was just biting my tongue to not say something sarcastic or insulting. Here is a link that might be useful: daltile

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments! Jen, from an accessibility standpoint, having the front planter on the right makes perfect sense, but for some reason, I think I’ll feel more ”sheltered” with it on the left... Must be some deep-rooted psychological reason. Weird, huh? Also, I like the idea of having the planters obscure the cars in the driveway— and the driveway itself— while we lounge out front. With the seating area on the left, I feel like the driveway will be too prominent a view, whereas with it on the right, I’d be looking out at lawn and eventually a garden. I also like the idea of a ”green-lined procession” as you walk from the driveway toward the house before the house is eventually “revealed” once you clear the hedges on your left. Having the planter on the right removes the buildup, if that makes sense... I don’t like the idea of seeing steps, porch and potential loungers right as you exit your car. Having said all that, considering shading and sun exposure is something I did not do! So I totally agree, Embothrium, that it is an important factor to keep in mind! Thank you for the heads up. And thank you for the suggestion of keeping a paved path to the driveway and side of the house, as well as to the street. I really like the geometric interest it gives the otherwise expansive and boring front yard, whilst still leaving plenty of room for colorful landscaping in the future. Onto colors and materials: Tartanmeup, I gave natural brick a try on my model (per your suggestion), and I really like it, especially once seen in concert with the other updates made throughout. HOWEVER, I think the model is giving me a misleading read. Some of the brick, along the bottom, is already painted battleship grey. Having removed paint from brick before, I think it’ll be a maddening exercise to get rid of it. Also, our home inspector mentioned that people sometimes paint the bottom portion of their brick façade if water damage has caused calcium deposits on the brick, giving it a hazy look. The texture I applied to the model, while close in color to the house brick IRL, is a bit clinical and “perfect”. So it does not give me a real-world representation of what I’ll actually end up with. I’l post those mock-ups once I‘m at my laptop (currently on iPad). I do, however, LOVE your RomaBio suggestion! It gives me the best of both worlds— I get a refreshed façade and I retain the character and gravitas of the brick. My wife and I both really like the look of distressed/whitewashed brick and never knew how people achieved it. We though that maybe they just let the paint patina over time. Knowing that we can get that look from day one is awesome. Thanks! SketchUp, by the way, is not difficult to learn, at all. It’s got a very intuitive interface and real-world logic to it, so you don’t have to contend with learning the software’s “philosophy” while also learning how to use it, if that makes any sense at all. Becoming proficient at it, as with all things, will take a bit of time, but with intentional practice (aided by watching some YouTube videos), you’ll have the skills to model your home inside of two weeks. It’s biggest asset is that it has a HUGE (open source) library of readymade models, so you can populate your model with furniture, materials, and other components that others have taken the time to model and share. That is big. Olychick— thank you for the architectural style ID. Upon cursory google image search, I see that it’s quite possibly what they were going for, but boy did they miss the mark!

"Modern Farmhouse" is a marketing term, not at architectural class. It's supposed to evoke nostalgia for a "simpler time". So, if this plan does that for you, it's a modern farmhouse. With regards to colours and finishes, yes some combination of those colours would likely be fine for that house. And yes, fewer finishes are generally speaking a better choice than multiple finishes. Simple is beautiful. But more important than "the pretty" is the function. Does this house work for you? Have you tried adding furniture to the plan diagram? Did you think about where you would walk and what you'd need to go around to bring groceries in and put them away? Or do laundry? Or make dinner without swearing? If your home is truly functional, it will be easy to make beautiful. If it's not functional, all the pretty finishes won't make you like living there.