Janieful: "The advanced toilet makes sense to me - at least much more than a separate bidet would. I have never used either, but bidets take up so much space. The one in all model is much more practical." The advanced toilet seats are not, strictly speaking, direct replacements for bidets, though one generic term for advanced toilet seats is "bidet seat." The first and foremost function of an advanced toilet seat is water washing a bit further to the rear than a bidet cleanses. Cleansing the anus with water is far superior to wiping (and spreading) with dry paper. Most current models of advanced toilet seat have a second washing function called "feminine cleaning," or a variant thereof, which has many similarities to the function of a bidet. As you may guess, that function directs the water somewhat further forward than the primary function does. However, in "real" bidets, the water comes from the front, whereas in advanced toilet seats, the water approaches from the rear, so there is a difference. The various brands of advanced toilet seats approach these functions in different manners. Inax, which invented the advanced toilet seat category, determined that the optimal angle of incidence of the spray on the anus should be 70 degrees from horizontal or, in other words, just 20 degrees from vertical. The Inax advanced toilet seats therefore have spray wands for posterior cleansing that extend out fairly far, so that the spray can be more nearly vertical. Toto, the biggest player in the market, was obsessed by the spectre of "backwash," the (small proportion of the) water that rebounds off the user's posterior, and accordingly Toto Washlets are designed to spray water at the anus at 43 degrees from horizontal, which reduces (but does not not eliminate) the amount of backwash that hits the spray wand. But spray directed at Toto's 43 degree angle does not wash as effectively as the 70 degree spray of the Inax models does. Inax addresses the backwash matter with an aggressive self-cleaning cycle for the spray wands, executed both before and after each use. As to the feminine function, Toto can get by with a single wand for both posterior and feminine cleansing, with two spray nozzles in the single wand, because the 43 degree spray angle for the posterior wash already is so shallow. Inax has to use a separate dedicated spray wand for feminine cleansing, because the wand that Inax uses for posterior cleansing would not be positioned well for the feminine cleansing function. But, whether or not you use the toilet seat for bidet-like functions, water-assisted posterior cleansing is a huge step up from dry wiping after a bowel movement. There probably is no way to upgrade your bathroom more effectively than to replace a passive toilet seat with an advanced toilet seat.

I'm just reading this post a couple months later, but I am so glad you got your Delicatus! Is it in yet? Would love to see pictures because we are right where you were in January.... I keep being "drawn" to Delicatus (which is only one of the many names it seems to be called!) and I think DH is now agrees that it is so much nicer than the Level 1 stones everyone else has. We will have white cabinets, and I like the way Delicatus looks with them. We haven't found the right stone (or price!) yet, but at this point, I'm more than ready to go over-budget to get a countertop I can be excited about (as opposed to spending less for a granite I'm "ho-hum" about.) Sure hope you are happy with your decision and look forward to seeing your photos when yours is in!

I was thinking of posting this as well. We're on a tight budget. I have been agonizing over which appliances to choose. Save: Rehabbing old existing cabinets instead of gutting kitchen but having carpenter and his crew totally paint insides and build custom shaker doors....and adding a few new cabinets where we are moving the fridge across the room. The effect will be of new cabinets (I hope). No moving walls or plumbing is a savings. Frigidaire Professional wall oven and built in micro instead of the sleek Electrolux suite. Jenn Air French door CD fridge with no external water/ice that's $500 less than the Samsung Fd CD model. Use Home Depot gift cards for $1000 for GE profile cooktop. I will save about $2500 by going Frigidaire, Jenn Air fridge, and using gift cards at HD for cooktop. Not my absolute preference on appliances, but possibly replaceable and who notices that much anyway if they're not the big hulking SZ or Viking or Wolf models? :) So I keep agonizing anyway, but try to tell myself that ANYTHING is better than my shattered 1976 GE ovens! Splurge: The finishes, basically: granite, custom island (& granite for island), nice subway tile backsplash, lighting (a ton of can lights need to be put in as well as undercounter). Will possibly splurge on built in cabinets in large eating area to replace freestanding IKEA storage. My theory is splurge on stuff that's difficult and really costly to replace and get what I want (nice tile, a granite I love, extra built-ins, etc.) and go easy on the things that could be replaced more easily and aren't quite as noticeable to others.

The only carpet we have on our main level is in our master closet. We didn't do it for cost cutting measures, just that we liked the idea of carpet in the closet. It doesn't look odd at all. The only suggestion I would make, should you decide to carpet your closet, is to be sure your vacuum cleaner can go under your closet system. Some of our units are a little too low and I need to put a nozzle on the vacuum hose and vacuum that way. Otherwise, I vacuum the entire house whether carpet, hardwood or tile, so not an issue to do the closet.