Thanks for your quick response Bill. Here is a picture of the tub before tiling. It doesn't look like there's a lip that goes up behind the cement board. And another one of the tub with some of the cement board in place. Shouldn't he have used caulk between the tile and the tub? Can he just run a line of caulk on top of the grout? I don't think that's the right thing to do but I know that's what he'll say. Here also is a closeup pic of the red clay that shows. If it was just a couple of places I could understand but it's visible in many places. Along the top of the window it is especially evident. This pic shows one small part of the window, but the red clay shows around many parts of the window. The top just looks dirty until you get up close, which no one is going to do so they'll just wonder what the dirt is up there. I'm concerned about the field tile that has the red clay showing at the edges. Since the nonglazed part of the tile is exposed, will water work it's way in there? Will proper grouting hide the red clay? Again, here's a pic of one spot but the picture doesn't really show how much the red clay is showing. I tried to get a better pic but a photographer I'm not. Oh, and there are about 6 small black marks towards the top of the tub that weren't there when I bought it. It's a vinyl tub. I tried to wash them off but they didn't budge. He did the same thing to my vanity. All of a sudden there are marks on the front where something has hit it and left a series of small dark nicks. I made it clear in the nicest way I could that I wanted the vanity fixed. Now I'll have to do it again with the marks on the tub. Though I'm not sure they can be fixed. Thanks again for your help. Mary

I think I love the floor with the counter. That is if the colors are dead on matched in areas, and they look like they are on my screen. I'm confused about the herringbone and the penny rounds. Were you thinking of using both in the room. I would not. One or the other. I happen to love herringbone and used it in my kitchen and my bathroom. I mixed a bunch, but because of what I chose it all seems to blend ok. I like pencils to define an area. choose paint last, cause paint comes in soooo many colors. The most limiting element so far is the floor because its installed. I love the floor. You could go white with the penny rounds that would just show off texture in the field. I am posting a picture of my wainscoting to illustrate what I did. It is not what I am proposing you do. But it has a variety of tiles and colors, but still very subtle. Progress picture. I painted the upper wall before I tiled because I am a s#*t painter. Worked for me. The bottom baseboard what laid with a subtle tweak to level, cause the floor isn't level. The next row was the 4x4 field tile, and that is the row that I trimmed to level. Then I laid the pencil. The pencil was chosen because it matched the bottom of the crown profile. The marble stiletto was thicker than the field tile, so I had to make sure the pencil was placed so that it was proud of the marble. The last the crown went up: I don't remember why I didn't line the pencil up with the crown on this wall. All the other walls it's lined up. I was on a learning curve as this bathroom was my second tile installation. The kitchen backslash being my first:

Please keep in mind that spending your own money on your landlord's place is the same as writing the landlord a check as a gift. I agree with palimpset and others above. Repairs and maintenance you can ask the landlord to do: have the floor tile and shower tile professionally cleaned and sealed. Have the broken floor tiles replaced and the shower door area regrouted by a tile pro. Point out that there could be water damage if not fixed. You may be able to fix the vanity hinges yourself. Then adjust the drawer runners. Instructions online. Patience is a virtue. Grout paint can be bought at big box stores for $15 or less. It will make the landlord's floor tile look better. Then cover the floor in front of the vanity and the shower door entrance with latex-backed non-slip bathroom mats. Cracked tiles will be out of sight, out of mind. Ask the landlord to pay for a quart each of touch-up glossy paint matched to the ivory tile and the apricot pink tile. Those are for touching up old chips in the tile and the occasional crack. A close match obtained by comparison with paint chips will be just fine, it doesn't have to match perfectly. Or- Sometimes you can find a good match with inexpensive apricot pink fingernail polish or a tiny $10 bottle of ivory "appliance repair paint" for much less money than a quart of paint. Years ago, a pro on Houzz recommended nail polish to fix chips on old tile, and I've appreciated the tip ever since.

Frustratingly, you can easily pay that much to move too in our area of Northern CA; not sure where in the region OP is located, but guessing it may be similar. We costed both and ended up concluding we could do neither, so just added a second bathroom within the existing footprint and called it a day. Not ideal, but we discussed moving to areas farther out that were within our price range, and our kids felt strongly that they would prefer to continue sharing a room in our tiny house if it meant we could stay in our community. We will probably reassess when the older one gets to high school. The second bathroom definitely helps, though! OP, do you have kid/s now and are planning on adding more, or do you not yet have children at all? If the latter, I wouldn't hesitate to renovate now--you'll have plenty of time to enjoy it. But if you already have a child or two and are planning more in the near future, you will probably feel the limitations of the space sooner rather than later, so might want to make different decisions around investments. We have two kids and I think any more than that would be pushing it in a 2/1; most families we know with three or more kids ultimately moved.