If your inner voice is still this uneasy/unsettled, listen to it and slow down. Think of it as a form of ”measure twice, cut once”. Your guests will understand. (And if they don’t, we do - lol)

Sarah,
Sympathies...  I'm a hard-charger too. I know the feeling of smacking into a brick wall full-force. And I often find that sleeping on it is helpful. And it might take a day or two to find the right Plan B. 

Who your company is to you, and how long they are staying, will help determine what to do. If you planned to stay at their place, and this happened, what would you want as their guest? I'm sure you would be impressed at how hard they worked to make your visit special. And you would be sympathetic towards them because of the disappointment they feel. This guest or these guests are obviously very important to you. This has the potential to draw you all even closer together.

Instead of hating this bathroom every time you see it, remember your love for your guest(s). Remember your loving husband who is helping you in this journey. Remember all of us who feel like we journeyed with you...new friends! Remember you tried to perform a miracle during very difficult times (delayed deliveries in everything). And be impressed with yourself as I am!

Now for logistics: Get the chrome for now, so the bathroom is functional. Go as far as possible on finishing the bathroom surfaces as you can. If the toilet works and the shower works, and the tile is all in, those are the keys things. Plus you have the mirror and lights already, right? As a temporary vanity, remember what our grandmother's had in their bedrooms. Get a small table, a pitcher, a glass, and a bowl. Plastic will be lightweight and easier to handle, and won't break if dropped. You may have them in your home already. Put the table where the vanity will go, and the pitcher, glass, and bowl on the table. Your guest's can fill the pitcher from the shower, pour it into the bowl, use the pitcher and bowl for swishing etc, and empty the bowl in the toilet and rinse it in the shower. It will function, so they can stay with you, and you all can enjoy those quiet early morning  and sunset chats.  They will never forget your gargantuan ingenuity and effort. And you can let them provide ideas for decorating during the last stage when all the hard-scaping is in place.

You can do anything with friends!

I look forward to hearing you are ok. I look forward to hearing about your guest's visit with regard to the bathroom adventure. I look forward to the rest of the journey with this bathroom. And I look forward to the journey we will take on your master bathroom.

My dad often said, "It'll all work out, maybe not the way you thought, but it'll all work out." I ran into brick walls a lot. What I've learned over time is to get better and faster at accepting the wall I just hit and deciding where to go from there. Focusing on the goal helps. In this case, your goal is your guest's.

Hugs!

If your brain is saying you don’t want to settle and need more time, have everyone share the one bathroom. Anyone you’re inviting to stay at your house will be enough of a close friend/relative to understand. My nephew, his wife and then 3 year old visited us mid renovation of our kitchen. I had fired my contractor and was waiting for the next one to show up. No one cared. Being together is what mattered and maybe whoever is visiting will be supportive and make you feel better about this difficult renovation.
Anyone tackling a bathroom, kitchen, new addition, whatever during this crazy time needs way more patience than usual. Please don’t plow ahead and then hate your bathroom. Wait for the features you REALLY want and you will love it more.
When I was doing a huge renovation of a previous home, one of the pedestal sinks was wrong when the contractor was ready to install. I planned for a wide spread faucet and the sink that arrived required a different faucet. I ran to a plumbing place and bought the first thing that would fit. Hated it till we sold that house.

Don’t rush. Please.

Maybe go out to dinner with guests and splurge toasting the reno that will be and have a laugh - do something for yourselves. And if you like floor tiles and they are down hook up the toilet and leave a pitcher of water, towels and soap on a table. Don’t do the shower until you are certain and put a shower curtain across that wall. A toilet in the middle if the night is the most important!

All,
Went tile shopping again today. My biggest hang up with my tile choices was the color gray in my patterned tile floor and giving up any wood color look completely from my tile choices. I ended up with a penny mosaic that has wood tones in it as well as matching the back shower wall color still. Shower tiles have stayed the same. I have agreed to all chrome fixtures with my husband(sorry everyone) and they are on time for delivery. The vanity might be the only thing not here in time for guest. I'll take your advice or give them one of the sinks in the master.

Looking forward to seeing your photos. I am glad you got the wood vision you are looking for. i too like that look so am keen to see what yours looks like.

Sarah,
That sounds nice. I couldn't scroll back to your pictures of your three tiles so I could look at the two again, but I think I can imagine. I looked online for penny tiles with some with wood look. Very creative way to pull the vanity and other tiles together.

I'm glad you were able to get back out there!

Penny tiles are difficult to lay properly without getting square look from larger grout joints. So get hubby to make sure if he hasn’t used these before to take a look at a few videos showing techniques for successful penny tile installation.

Post a photo of the new tiles when you can. I am a fan of penny tiles so I hope they work for you. If you thought you weren’t going to love the light gray in the other tiles, glad you made the change.

Are the penny tiles glazed or matte finish?

I have tried to post the tile pic twice, sorry
I'm trying again
It's matte

These are really nice. Flo, i hope you will offer ideas when i send out my SOS on Houzz - you are very knowledgeable! i wouldn’t use them in my ensuite because i wouldn’t keep the grout clean and that would bug me but i love them for your place!

Charmingcottager,
This has been a journey for me and I originally wanted large tiles on the floor for two reasons, make a small room look bigger and less grout. I have read that small tiles can also make the room feel larger.... we'll see won't we. I was okay with the busy penny tile because there will be so many grout lines amongst different colored penny's that maybe you won't notice if some grout gets dirtier than other areas, crossing fingers.

Thanks charmingcottager! If you enter my name, I get notification. So I can run over! Sarah, yes, Houzz has been a PITA with posting and slower than molasses! OK. Matte finish is best for non-slip purposes. Not sure about “ceramic” for floor. They tend to crack easier. The other good thing is the sheets interlock. This is very important for seamless look. I would try to get grout that matches the lightest tone in your tiles. With the wider spacing of penny tiles you probably need “sanded” grout. I think it will look fine. My heart just hurts at you taking second best. My brain hurts that you are doing chrome. Please get hubby to give on this. Now more than ever you need black. Sure hoping for that. All these finishes are easy to clean if he is cleaning this bathroom? 🥰

Sarah,
Thanks for posting pictures of your tile. It's pretty. I look forward to seeing more pictures of the bathroom progress, especially in how the three tiles and their grouts coordinate.
I prefer to think that some choices could make a room look smaller by dividing off areas. Making the shower floor and the rest of the floor a different tile would make the room look smaller, but you chose the same. Making the back and sides of the shower the same tile would make the room smaller. But you chose a slightly darker color for the back wall and tiles for the side walls the same as the rest of your walls, hopefully blurring the shower section division line. You did all you could to prevent your room from shrinking. That's good enough. I think it will look great.

K L,
I need to clarify something. The shower base is just white. I did that for two reasons, easy to clean and less tile work for my husband. Because of this is why my side shower walls are white(mostly, has a faint gray and brown veining) and then the back wall different to draw your eyes in and up hopefully.

I would consider doing the niche area in the penny tile too for coordination. Does anyone agree with me? or will it look too busy with 2 other tiles in shower and plain floor?

@Charmingcottager - I agree with you! That is a PERFECT place for penny tiles!
I really, really like these @sarah jones. The bit of wood in these tiles will go well with your wood accent wall, and will be adorable in your shower niche.
BTW - I agree with a solid floor in a shower. It is absolutely easier to take care of and while it’s not the aesthetic some people require, going practical isn’t a crime! I used tiles in my more-rarely-used guest room but a shower pan in my master bath in my previous house.

​Sarah,

Any pictures? Also, I recently found this article:

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/5-ways-with-a-5-by-8-foot-bathroom-stsetivw-vs~59123771

Probably too late for it, but you never know.

Hi everyone, 
Don't be mad I didn't do herringbone. 
Here is a pic so far, coming along

It's great to see so much progress, Sarah! That tile layout is the in thing now. And these pictures show it still gives the effect of height...more so than other pictures I've seen with this pattern. I didn't think to ask which direction the tile would be on the sidewalks. The one you chose adds width. Great tile job! 

So it looks like the tile goes in first, then the shower base goes in... I'm really curious about the stages, so I hope you can tell us what goes in next. Does the floor tile go in next, or does it wait until after the painting is done? Pictures at steps would be cool if you have time.

Have you chosen a paint color? I hope in all this excitement you already picked up a shower curtain and rod for temporary use. I suppose you'll have the people out for the glass door after your guests leave.

I hope you and hubby aren't too exhausted to enjoy your company. My mom always liked to give guests a quiet day after their travels. I'll bet you can use a quiet first day too.

KL,
Thanks, 
The shower base goes in before tile. Ours is already installed but just covered in cardboard and plastic and tape to protect it while we make a mess. I have to throw some white paint on the walls to protect the sheet rock when guest shower. I'll design paint/ wallpaper etc after guest leave.

​Just finished laying floor. Will grout tomorrow. Also installing shower faucets, light and medicine cabinet after I paint tomorrow. I'm just throwing a white paint on  everything so that guest can shower and then I'll choose color and decor after guest leave. Thursday will install toilet and vanity, yes it was deviled today. They will have a functioning bathroom just not all pretty and complete.

Looks great!

looks good. the tile all works perfectly together.

A natural white oak vanity w/gold fixtures and lighting would look amazing.

​Thanks but this is the lighter of the two vanities I ordered and this one came first so it's going in. It is darker than I'd hoped but I might not have to paint my wood door white on the inside now bc I think this will match it…..I have chrome fixtures already.  I want to add black or gold metal in the bath as well but I will decide that later.

Hi Sarah,
I really love the penny tile. It makes me want to use small tiles, mosaics or similar, on my bathroom floors. It looks inviting to walk on barefoot, not fearing a slip. And it makes a natural subtle pattern just as cheery as the patterned tiles you were looking at. I hope you love it too.

And I like your vanity too. It's a nice wood. Bonus that it matches the door so you don't have to paint. I'm so glad it arrived in time!

Thank for explaining the order of things. I'm nervous about planning my future bathroom, and being able to better imagine the process really helps.

I actually like the direction of the wall tile this way. It feels really modern and the contrast with the penny tile floor is perfect. I love how all the tiles worked out in the end! And the vanity will be fine. If it arrived and is in perfect condition, use it. After your guests leave, we can have fun with wall color but right now you have a guest bath! Hooray!

Sarah- looks like you and your hubby have pulled off a bit of a miracle. Very happy for you. It is different than your original vision, but still a chic, updated look! Congratulations!!

Thanks Flo, 
Pretty different from where I started for sure! I guess these things are a process. I have learned a lot and will be better prepared for the master bath project

Looking forward to seeing how you tie it all in with paint and towels ... something you and your guests can keep an eye out for. I've more or less picked my tiles, and have chosen Buxton Blue by Benjamin Moore for my paint colour. Going at things a bit backward, as I still need a contractor but I wanted to make sure my design ideas were solid before having to go through a rushed deadline like you are experiencing. Congratulations!!! October Mist is the Benjamin Moore colour for 2022 and I wonder if it would look good in your washroom? I can see it with the tiles and the vanity, but not sure about how it would tie in with the shower. It's not for me, I'm more of a blue person but when I saw your vanity I immediately thought "sage" would go good with this.

Have a lot of fun with your guests and thanks for including us in the process.

PS I'm a colour person ... the more modern people on this discussion may suggest you go for white! Listen to them ... (lol)

I absolutely love your tile choices, it looks great together. Just one bit of food for thought, consider matte black fixtures or a champagne gold instead of chrome. I’ve had a 20 month delayed kitchen/laundry/powder room renovation and ended up replacing a few early purchases due to Houzz advice. Although I didn’t like the overspend I have no regrets. We also decided to donate the new but unused items along with several other things in good shape toHabitat for Humanity ReStore so others can benefit. Good luck, it looks great, please post finished pics!

​​1000.00 on chrome fixtures and they are already installed, so chrome it is. I actually think it fits well. Iam going to add a gold or black metal when I decorate…. just not sure what I'll find in lights and towel bars, shelves, etc.

Stayed up all night to clean the construction zone after grouting floor and guest arrive this afternoon. 

My son is home setting the vanity and toilet today

It looks fabulous! i am so glad you went with the penny tile floor!! very eye catching!

Guest are here and we're having wine by the fire talking about what to decorate the bathroom with. So glad to have a relaxing night. My sun did a good job installing vanity and toilet today!

Guest are here and we're having wine by the fire talking about what to decorate the bathroom with. So glad to have a relaxing night. My sun did a good job installing vanity and toilet today!

@Sarah Jones - wow! It looks terrific! And you got it done in record time. The chrome fixtures look good, the vanity works with the floor and the wall tiles are modern and fresh. Despite the fact that this was NOT your vision, it’s a great looking bathroom.
It’ll be a breeze doing the master now! Congratulations on your renovation miracle. 😊

It really is very nice, Sarah! Well done all of you!

Sarah, I hope your visitors enjoyed the bathroom. Have you got any updated with the shower door installed and any more finishing touches? Your floor turned out so pretty I am heading that direction myself.

Your bathroom looks fabulous! We did a penny tile floor in our hall bath several years ago and still love it to this day, you will too. Congrats on all that you’ve done.

KL
I really wish I could say bathroom is done but it's still the same as I last posted. We were really exhausted after the work we did plus we had a brothers wedding and Thanksgiving. I hope to get it done before December 20th when more house guest come and I will make sure to post pics. Thanks for asking

Totally understandable, Sarah. I really enjoyed going along with you in the process. I learned a lot and really like how it turned out. Thanks for saying you will post more later on.

Just discovered your thread, @sarah jones. Your bathroom looks great. I can certainly relate to your dilemmas. I'm contemplating redoing our 8 x 5 bathroom next year and have yet to find tiles I love. You managed a cohesive mix with three tiles in your space. Bravo! Thanks for sharing. You've broaden my ideas for my remodel.

These are the finished pictures of the hall bath remodel. The only thing I can't find is a large framed picture for above the toilet that I like. I thought I would go ahead and post though.

Nice... the shapes you've used, 3 niches too, are rectangular, angular. Round tiles make a pleasing contrast.

Hi Sarah! Thanks for remembering to post after the glass doors. It all looks so fresh and clean and pretty. Nice job!

It's beautiful!! The art will find you!

is that wallpaper? Love it!

​Yes it is wallpaper. You really do want a second person to help you stick it to the wall. Also lay out and measure your sheets in a large space before installing so that you can line up the pattern from sheet to sheet. Write the order number on the back of each one.