Someone locally is selling a new, misordered white Kohler Purist tub for like 1/3 of normal cost, and I almost jumped at until I realized it had BubbleMassage and not the Effervescence i wanted (tiny bubbles rather than the usual big ones that quickly float to the surface and pop). I'm still intrigued with this tub - it, and its rectangular cousin the Kohler Sok, are like bathing in your own personal infinity pool. It's also a rare 2-person tub configured so you can either face each other or (my preference) face the same direction side by side, both in reasonable comfort. But I just can't fit a 46"w tub in this house (and thats before the obligitory deck built around it) so it will have to wait until my next move, which hopefully won't be too long in the future. Things I like in a bathroom that I really have: another Ikea Godmorgan sink cabinet (4' long x 18") with Odensvik sink - what an incredible use of space with those four deep wide drawers, thanks to the sink drain plumbing that's quickly pushed to the back, and the glossy drawerfronts, full extension drawer glides, soft-close feature, and wall hangability, along with the thick, glossy glazed ceramic top and nice chrome pulls I used, fool everyone into thinking it's seriously high-end stuff. As with a previous poster, the 18" rather than 21" depth went a long way to making the room feel roomier, since the deeper vanity would have been right up against the door opening. Since the Ikea sink doesn't have a backsplash, I put large ceramic tiles on the wall that look like Carrara marble. Nestled amonst those tiles between the sink and medicine cabinet is a 4" tall strip of glass/marble/metallic accent tile from Porcelanosa. Like everything else at that modernist boutique, it's expensive, but since I didn't need much it didn't matter, and the presense of obviously luxury-grade accent tiles further disguises that everything surrounding it came from Lowes or Ikea. Ditto the Pfister Kenzo waterfall faucet, which only set me back about $125. Looks 4x the price it is. California Faucets thermostatic tub/shower valve. Central lever controls temperature, with temperatures embossed in the metal, giving it the appearance of a dial on a nice wristwatch; just set your favorite temp and it keeps it. Below and above the large temperature control are two smaller levers for water volume control that can be used one at a time or both at once, for tub spout and shower, or fixed shower and hand shower, without the need for a seperate diverter control. All three controls fit on either a round or rectangular metal bezel, and there are loads of styles and finishes to choose from. Higher than average flow rate too. Much better than the Hansgrohe thermostatic valve I used in another room. An infrared heat lamp strategically positioned in the ceiling in front of the mirror and vanity cabinet, right under where you stand in front of the sink and mirror whilst drying off and styling hair. Also on the ceiling is a Broan QTR080L exhaust fan/light - very quiet, and the light uses a standard bulb instead of some funky compact fluorescent lamp that can only be purchase from an electrical specialty store, which is the norm for new exhaust fan/lights it seems. I put a retrofit LED bulb in there, which makes it even more efficient than the fluorescent bulbs most of these force you to use, and it gives off a more natural light too. Toto Drake II commode (or its skirted cousin, Vespin II). High quality, doesn't clog, perfect 16-1/2" height, cleans the side of the bowl extremely well (rare in 1.28gpf toilets), has two large water outlets instead of dozens of tiny holes that collect mildew so you can toss your toilet brush away. It's also slender so the space around it looks roomier in tight spaces. I used the Church 1720 slow-close seats from Lowes, which cover up most of their own seams at the back further easing cleaning (the lid on these sticks out about 1/2" beyond the seat and bowl underneath which looked odd at first, but that lets you lift the lid without touching the sometimes soiled parts underneath which I like). Also from Lowes, the Kohler recessed medicine cabinets mirrored inside and out, 26"h with several widths available, most for under $200. Would like them even better if the hinges allowed the doors (mirrored on the inside) to open further, but replacement hinges are available if you need that. Still, these look very elegant and are also very functional, with height-adjustable glass shelves. Home Depot has similar units with doors that swing open further, but they're not as well made. In another bathroom I used the Lowes Allen + Roth 31"w x 22"d vanity top in Blue Pearl, my favorite granite color, which was only $200 a few months ago but has risen in price some since. It's available in several other colors and widths too, all including an oval white undermount bowl. Still a good deal for a high quality granite top that fits atop loads of stock cabinets, though I'd prefer if it weren't pre-drilled for an 8" widespread faucet, generally ruling out using a single-hole or wall-mount faucet. These aren't stocked in stores, but they're not truly custom/built-to-order, probably sitting in a warehouse somewhere, and there's only about a one-week turnaround if you order from their website and pick up in their stores. These do include a backsplash, and a sidesplash is available too. Finally, nice sculpted lever handles on the bathroom doors, which allow them to be opened by pushing upward using the top of your hand if it's wet or soapy. I'm not a germophobe, but I like being able to do this before I'm about to eat a meal and want my hands to be clean and disinfected, and have guests over who may not have washed their hands after using the restroom. When used in the normal fashion, pushing downward with your palm, they're easier to open than round knobs.

As far as i know, "Stainless Steel" is pure stainless through and through, in the body of the metal. "Vibrant SS" or any other adjective (or fancy name) is a PVD plating. As far as i see, drains get the worst possible conditions. Even worse than sinks. Or, as bad as the sink bottom gets. Nota: There are no chrome plated sinks. There are no brushed nickel sinks. -- As far as i know, most drains bought and sold are not plated. And none of the stainless drains. As far as i know, in terms of matchymatchiness, nobody ever notices that their drain assembly is pure stainless (when they have BN or chrome or something close to stainless) As far as i know, they never ship PVD stainless (fancy adjective in front of the word stainless) drains. Only "stainless" drains. In general, I think drains ought not to be plated, because they get the worst conditions. I'm eager to know what the guarantee is on plated kitchen drains. In bathrooms, plated drains are normal. Chrome. -- This information is provided in the spirit of sharing. I hope everyone takes it that way, permanently. Some people in GW's kitchen forum say at times that it sounds like males talk down to females. I don't think so, not a whit. When someone dumps a lot of information, it is not a bad thing. Be happy. When someone corrects buehl, it is OK too. We don't need to engage in self censorship just because it's buehl (a respected contributor). I seem to be the only one correcting buehl. I've done it before a couple times. Hey, shouldn't it be more normal? Side note over. -- Hth.

amberm145: You mentioned that you'd like larger format tiles on your bathroom floor and a matching mosaic for the shower. We have 13" square travertine-style tile on our master bath floor, and the installer cut those same tiles down to 3.5" squares for the shower stall. So that may be something for you to consider. I've really enjoyed reading through this thread and all the differing points of view. I wish I'd known more about design and architecture than I did when we had our house built (in a "American Foursquare" 1920's style with Craftsman elements) 10 years ago, but we researched as much as we could at the time and are still learning. I used to beat myself up more for all the mistakes I felt we'd made, but now I try (and mostly succeed) to focus more on what I think we did right. I'm too practical to completely redo things that still function just fine, but I think about how I might re-do some of the things that still bug me over time. Some of you purists would shudder at the variety in finishes throughout our house (we did all pedestal sinks in the 3 baths, but different hardware finishes in each, for example). I have plenty of regrets I could fixate on in our house, but mixing hardware finishes isn't one of them. For us, having many things in an unfinished state (for example, our living room table/chairs were recently re-glued/refinished but the chair seats need to be reupholstered before we can actually USE them) is mainly due to my indecisiveness rather than a lack of finances to get projects done... I tend to over think things to the point of the ridiculous and drive even myself crazy sometimes, and I also feel like if it's something I can do myself (painting, window treatments, etc.), then I should. So everything takes time, and with young kids that's often a scarce resource. I've thought about asking for design advice from a professional, and will if we ever re-do our kitchen cabinets (my main regret after our build), but for now I'm trying to learn on my own here and from old house mags and such. I also come from a working class background and have lived in areas of poverty (including a mud hut in a 3rd world country), so the whole concept of design feels sort of indulgent and I guess it makes me feel guilty sometimes to even care about such things... But I do.

I would also go with the golden finishes. Maybe later you can find a gold shower fixture. I hear gold is coming back in style. So you should be able to find one. When I moved into my house 3 years ago I had a heck of a time finding a gold tube thingy that the toilet paper hangs on. Sorry don't know what you call it. Everything was chrome.