I saw your post in the kitchen section also. I can give you my opinion, but will of course preface it with I am a DIYer and by no means a professional, so please take it at face value. I say, take the savings and run with it. Especially if you are doing the job yourself. My husband and I install everything ourselves. While I had installed small tile jobs before, I had never done a large tile job or done one in a home I actually owned and was planning on living in forever. When it came time to buy our own hexagon floor tile and white subway tile for tub surround I did my research and had a few long conversations with my brother in law who had been in construction for 40 something years. I was going to splurge on the tile, figuring I save all the money by installing everything ourselves, why not spend a little more and get a "high quality" product. For the very little difference I could see side by side in the tile I was considering the cost difference was astronomical. My BIL advice was also spot on. The more expensive tile had many imperfections as far as the depth of the actual tile. A more "hand made" look and feel yes, however it requires a very skilled installer to make it look right and they must take added time to get it to look right. So not only would it have cost us more, but I wouldn't have been able to do a great job alone without hiring it out. We went with the big box store brands. The only issue I had with the big box store, was paying attention to their quality before buying and while installing. For instance, I did a black pencil trim with our white subway tile. I had a hard time in the store finding as many trim pieces as I needed that weren't scratched already. A bad batch sent to the local store was not padded properly and had to be gone through to find ones that I deemed perfect. Also before grouting the hexagon floor we checked extra carefully to be sure the black hex tiles were where they were supposed to be in the black and white design as there was one sheet of the mosaic that had one out of place. We certainly did not want to grout and find out later that we had a mistake in the pattern. But honestly well worth it for almost $2000 savings I figure I got from just the cost of the tile. I am about to start the second bathroom and have already started shopping my local big box store for my tile. Good luck.

We used glass tiles for our swimming pool waterline, but we did not go with the small 1x1 tiles as we had heard about so many problems with mosaic tiles. We found Lightstreams Glass Tile and used their 2x2 glass tiles for our pool. They were amuch more beautiful than any small glass mosaic tiles we had looked at. Theyare very thick, high quality glass. The color is part of the glass, not a paint on one side, which they told us was important for swimming pool installations. They are also smooth on all 4 sides so we don't worry about the kids' getting cut from the tiles. Lightstreams had recommended mortar products to be used with their tiles and we were also given installation recommendations. Each tile had to be back-buttered with the mortar, and the trowel marks smoothed out before placing the tiles on the waterline area. The tiles are beautiful and we have not had any problems with them and it has been two years since they have been installed. They also have the coolest tiles for step markers, called Shell Beach, and they are so unique -- everyone always asks us where we got our tile. Here is a link that might be useful: Lightstreams Glass Tile

This is a pic of our shower using clips and silicone. The shower door is open. The silicone is along the wall and the bottom, where the glass meets the Torreon travertine. It is nearly invisible. The clips are drilled directly into the stone tile. There is framing behind it. (edit to say there are wood studs behind the tile) We initially did not have the rubber seal on the glass where it meets the door because the water did not splash out during the "test". The shower head is in the center of the shower but from this photo angle, it looks like it is close to the door. But once a body was in the shower, the water was deflected and came through the crack. Not a ton, but enough to need to wipe up instead of letting sit on the travertine floor. Hope that gives you a visual how clips will hold your glass.

whew,,,lots of questions. grab bar- plan now so that it can be attached to studs. if the studs aren't in the right place for the bar, the tiler or GC will have to do that for you prior to tiling/waterproofing the walls. shower heads. are you in Calif? we have the low water usage mandate. they won't even ship the good stuff to you. I had to have mine shipped to AZ at my FIL's place. (yeah, whatever. I take short showers so it's really not a big deal. I have to rinse shampoo from my hair and the low-water rate ones are garbage) I went w/the Brizo line. As for the hand held, they all have plastic components due to weight. I guess they don't want them falling and cracking the tile or someone's foot (if they were solid metal) Go to an actual bath place, or research yourself and order them online. I've found that ordering individual pieces from Amazon (I did Kohler Purist for a clients shower) was the best budget option. But, you have to know all the components and what goes w/what piece. you can't mix and match (usually) also know that your tiler will need the rough in valve first, before any waterproofing goes in. I like a good sized niche. figure out how big you want it and put on the farthest wall. the less water that hits it, the better. they have pre-formed niches that are water tight. the tiler just installs them in between the studs and waterproofs around it. (but sizes are limited) your tile selection seems fine. go with all porcelain and smaller grout joints on the walls. do you already have a tile guy lined up? Do your homework on this one. like really do your homework. check references, question as to how he will waterproof, etc. that shower should run you in the 5K range. maybe less, maybe more depending on where you are and who is doing it. here is my shower to show you the Brizo fixtures. (one other factor, see the valve? it has a double lever to control the handheld. I can run both at once. Not all valves will do this. and some require a separate rough in valve. I didn't want two plates (valves) on the wall. so make sure you check on this before ordering) I did have to get the shower head spout from another company because Brizo didn't make one long enough. I like this handheld on the bar, although I rarely adjust it. you can choose to have one fixed like in the second pic. (this was my neighbors that I did for them. Kohler Purist line. they also did the wall mount Purist faucet over the vanity)