The only thing that really works for me is to look through magazines and on-line photos and cut or print them out and then just look at the features that I'm drawn to over and over. I begin to create a theme or a pattern, the materials I like most, etc. I realize that there are high-end things I can't have (like basketweave carrera marble floors.... ahhhh) but there are ways to approach that look (porcelain hex tile by Dal tile) that give me a similar design but without the exorbitant cost. That's what I do anyway! I look at the tiles, the layouts and the grout colors. That's important too, because it can change the entire look of a tile installation.

Ae2ga contacted me off line soliciting more substantive critique on her board. Apparently we weren't critical enough--step up, people! :) So I took her tile and design elements and did a couple boards. I thought that her underlying problem was that it is hard to use two vivid, contrasting colors in a design in balanced quantities and intensities without making it look like a college sports jersey (Go Cal Bears!). So I did one design where I let blues predominate and one where I let yellows take the lead, although a lot of the elements are the same. I focused on the color balance, and the styles of the different elements don't work together as well as I would like. It was devilishly hard finding things in the right color, let alone the right color and style. Anyway, feel free to rip these apart and let ae2ga know what you really think works and what doesn't with her tile. Floor: .....Yellow: Checkered Marmoleum in Butter and White Marble .....Blue: Daltile Micro Flecks in Moonlight Swim Cabinets: Kraftmaid square raised panel maple in Cinnamon Cabinet Hardware: Plymouth knob and Allison antique brass pull from eknobsandpulls.com Range: Bluestar in blue Counter: .....Yellow: Silestone Yellow Dream .....Blue: Silestone Blue Enjoy Tile: Ae2ga's tile Rangehood: Frigidaire stainless chimney hood Paint: Benjamin Moore Barely Yellow Rug: .....Yellow: Blue oriental rug from therugfactory.com .....Blue: Fronter Moroccan ivory & yellow hand-woven wool rug from Zinc Door Table: From ae2ga's pic, sorry for the loss of resolution Chairs: Furniture Classics English country ladderback side chair from homefurnitureshowroom.com (chosen to resemble ae2ga's, which lost too much resolution to use) Art: Bridge in City Park by Charles Woodward Hutson, ca 1910-1920, from 1stDibs.com Frame: .....Yellow: Paint swatch of Color Guild Galaxy Blue from myperfectcolor.com .....Blue: Paint swatch of Benjamin Moore Midnight Navy from myperfectcolor.com Lighting: .....Yellow: Ikat batik drum pendant from ShadesofLight.com .....Blue: All yellow giclee pendant chandelier from eurostylelighting.com (this is the wrong yellow and wrong style, but I couldn't find anything that really worked)

Hi, anyone from Vancouver Canada? I have been trying to find a source for a Corian solid surface shower pan but am having a difficult time finding one. I've called a few bathroom supply stores and went to a few Home Depot and they only have the ugly acrylic ones and only in white, Corian.com does not even mention this type of product so why is that? If it's such a great product why wouldn't they advertise it?

@Melanie, thank you for sharing pics of how it can be done. While I can understand a large window isn't ideal for some, I'm really not opposed to having one especially since even if I change the layout, there will be a window in the shower no matter what. @ Jan Moyer, a friend of mine knows how to create a more accurate drawing so I'll try and get him to do so and post here.