Update: I spoke to someone in customer service yesterday and they are working on getting my order out. I received one wt this a.m. out of the 6 ordered. I asked for a discount because they did not live up to the shipping guarantee as promised and am awaiting word on that because she needs to speak to a higher up. In the meantime, they called this a.m. to let me know that the thermal liner I ordered on 1 shade is not available and that I'd have to change my option on that one. It is 3 weeks after my order, so I am disappointed that they are just noticing that now. I was under the impression from the above posting and email I received that my order was being taken care of, only to find out another detail had slipped through the cracks. I am trying to be patient but I have had too many snafus in too short a time period. The fact that my kitchen was only half delivered last week and then I got stood up yesterday on the redelivery, and since I was shorted on my kitchen/den floor, which install has now been delayed until Fri, it is hard not to be very testy. I have been dealing with customer services, missing time at work and neglecting other things that need doing. We are so close, yet so far from done. I will keep you posted how this gets resolved.

hollybar-- and anyone else with grasscloth wallpaper-- do you have any pictures you'd be willing to share? I'm considering installing grasscloth wallpaper either above or below the chair rail in our dining room but am intimidated as I've never worked with wallpaper before. I need some encouragement! Originally I was thinking of adding it below the chair rail, but we have 3 cats so that could really be a disaster. The first house I bought as an adult had wallpapered bedrooms where the wallpaper had been painted over. The house was built in 1900 and I guess at some point a previous owner decided to paint over the wallpaper rather than remove it. I actually didn't mind the textured look... It was kind of interesting. Which was good because I sure wasn't about to try and strip off layers of paint and wallpaper.

I wanted a feminine but not cloyingly "girly" look. I think you have hit the mark in the beige-y tiles -- and any number of colors would work as accents with this tile, so you'll be able to change your look over the years. I would not frame these tiles with the copper hexes -- I think the frames would be somewhat jarring and would ruin the soft, almost watercolor-y look of these tiles. I think I'd do the majority of the shower with the large tile in the lower right ... the flower-looking tile as an accent band ... and put the copper hexes (which I do like -- just not as a frame) on the shower floor. The small tiles will give you greater grip on the shower floor, which is important since you say you value aging-in-place. Yes, they'll require some scrubbing occasionally, but you're not talking about a big area -- and safety matters. Are these marble? I would not go with marble in the shower -- not matter how lovely -- it's not an easy-to-maintain material. Yes to porcelain every time. It's essentially "forever", moderately priced, and so many choices. Yes, labor will cost more than you expect. You can minimize this a bit by going with large sized tiles on the shower walls ... and by using a simple layout (simple square layout rather than herringbone, for example). Yes, labor should be about the same regardless of whether you use marble or porcelain. Excellent advice above about putting in grab bars now. Let the tile installer do it now ... let him PLAN the tiles around the idea of grab bars ... rather than having someone come in later /in future years and plop the bars in the middle of your lovely tile. Excellent advice, too, about taking photographs while the walls are open. Maybe you'll never need to know what lies behind your walls, but it'll take little effort to take the pictures, and it could be very useful someday. While you're planning this shower, go with a larger storage niche than you think you need ... and think about NOT using your expensive accent tile in the back of the niche ... you're going to cover it up with shampoo bottles. I'm not clear on this: Are you talking about tile for just the shower floor ... or the bathroom floor PLUS the shower floor? I've decided to use same wood-tone LVP literally everywhere in my whole house ... except the two showers. I have tile floors in my bathroom now, and I do not love that they're cold underfoot. Also, tile is harder on the joints as you age -- I like the linoleum in my kitchen better than the tile in my bathroom. Perhaps this is a mismatch of qualities /materials, but -- as you said above -- I'm building to please myself. Last thought: Do it right. Tile lasts a long, long time -- you'll likely never re-do this. So don't skimp.

I think you can go with any motif you want. I would be careful with too much of one type of foreign motif, you don't want to look like an ethnic restaurant. Or like Cost Plus World Market. I say this as someone who has collected a lot on my travels and collects a lot in general. You need to be judicious in what you choose, and if you have a lot of things, then use your closets (even under the beds if you have to) and rotate your lovelies. And by the way, there are only 20 tigers left in Tibet, and as per my earlier comment, that marvelous wallpaper doesn't have to be interpreted as Tibet unless you want it to be. As for how you use it, I would not use it to paper a whole wall. You could cut large panels of it on either side of the four windows and frame those panels in large black frames, maybe two inches. Then inside those wallpaper panels mount black brackets on which you display objets of beauty and interest. Not things so huge that they obscure the wallpaper of course. Treat them like the scrolls on the back wall of a tokonoma. It could be a beautifully formed glass vase with a few stems of greenery or flowers (odd numbers) or lucky bamboo (which is really dracaena sanderiana.) You can find second -hand Simon Pearce or Steuben, etc in charity shops and online for a very reasonable price with only minor etching on the inside base which won't be seen anyway as the stems will obscure it. You can display architectural artifacts, (no clocks!) fossils, taxidermy, sculpture, ethnic handiworks, candlesticks, plates, etc. My favorite of course would be a purple shoe with crimson sole and crimson lining curled at the toe :)