Wooo!!! Cat, I am stuck at home because of the snow storm so wandered around here not looking at anything in particular and came upon your thread. I totally agree with you on the shower curtain choice. Regardless of whether I have the money to spare or not, keeping those suckers clean is a nuisance over time. We have a glass shower door that was installed back in 2003 and I can't tell you how much I hate cleaning it. Not that the door is all that dirty, but a shower curtain is way easier, and you can change the look/style whenever you feel like it. Can't do that with a pricey shower door. Anyway, everything looks lovely as usual, including the "prom" dress :-) Love, love those circular tiles, and the floor tiles that look like fabric. Gorgeous. What colour is that again? It looks greyish on my monitor.

As far as the way they add the finish to the faucet, look for PVD - physical vapor deposited. It's a molecular bond son won't peel off. But some "living finishes" like ORB are warranteed, they will change with use/cleaning. I'm not sure about Delta's ORB (I hope it's covered, I bought all Venetian Bronze fixtures for my new master bath!), but their "Brilliance" finishes are PVD and have a limited lifetime warranty for the original purchaser. Chrome is probably the finish that holds up the best, polished brass (other than PVD) is lacquered and the lacquer wears off and it tarnishes, I don't really know much about brushed nickel and other special finishes but I'd say look for PVD and the manufacturer's warranty, avoid "living finishes" and you'll be OK. I don't know how "limited" it is, but I had chrome in my old house and they sent me a few pieces (not that long after installation) - a cartridge for a diverter valve that melted b/c my water was too hot, and a plastic cover for faucet set-screw that was discolored. I found some finish damage on my ORB Roman tub faucet (not installed yet) right out of the box and they sent me a replacement faucet. Hooked up my handshower to the hose and shower arm just to test it out and couldn't get anything through the wand, called them to ask if I was missing something (removing a cap or something?) in installation procedure, they said if water coming through the hose it should be coming through the wand, and they are sending me a new handshower piece (NOT an inexpensive part!). I am going to sound like a Delta rep (I don't work for them but have been a Delta faucet owner for 15+ yrs in 2 houses), but have to say that they have probably rhe best customer service, not only for bath/kitchen plumbing fixtures, but of *any* company that I have ever dealt with. Though I haven't dealt with Moen, Hansgrohe (have a HG handshower mounted on shower arm in main bath), Grohe, etc. Back to original question - besides finish, look at the construction. Heavy is good - usually means brass, though you'll pay more. Some faucets may have plastic pieces (areators, etc.) but the fewer the better b/c they will peel/chip and discolor. Washerless is good, cartridge is better, ceramic disk is the best (longest life, lower maintenance) but you'll pay for it up front. It's hard to take the leap of faith and buy online, but I'd say buy online for prices but read description carefully, look at return policy in case it's not what you expected. I bought all my Delta bronze fixtures online, but I know I can trust Delta to make anything right. Last house we bought (Delta again) through bath showroom. I would avoid the big-box stores since they often get a line (from same manufacturer) that looks like the high-end designs, but have lower-quality construction (plastic, washers instead of brass, ceramic) and finishes than what you'd buy from a showroom/plumbing supply. I bought the HG handshower at HD, it's mostly plastic, but it was only $50 on clearance, it's working fine after 4+ years with at least 2 and sometimes 4 showers a day (our only full bath so far). But it's not the quality of the Delta I bought for either house, and I'm sure it's not the quality you'd get buying HG or Grohe from a plumbing supply. Good luck!

Well, the link for the contemporary towel bars won't work for me for some reason. Can you give me the name of the collection your're considering so I can look it up? And just so I understand, you want the finish of the towel bars to match the faucets? But have the sconces in ORB? Everyone has their own opinion of course, but a like I said a lot of people mix and match and it always seems to work. IMHO, these kinds of choices are what makes the room personalized and comfortable for you and you should put what you like. I think in the end it will look great. These samples are a better match of what I was trying to convey. See how the shape of the holders sort of mimic the bottom of your lighting fixture? And with some of the towel bars I saw, the bar has a curved shape that also mimics the fixuture. I found these at Faucet.com, the link for the Gatco Avenue. Moen Mason Moen Modern Gatco 4790 Avenue Here is a link that might be useful: Gatco Avenue

Chrome is always in "style" if you are looking for style and it is easy to keep clean and always looks good. If you want something that always looks clean and easy to clean and keep looking good, chrome. When we were doing our revamp for all the bathrooms, the lady who had the most to gain by selling some of the other metals told me quite honestly that she opted for chrome in her house and after working with and having many different metals in various homes, when she built her "permanent" home, she put chrome throughout.