Thank you so much to everyone for the advice. That's what I was afraid of...too many elements. It's an older home and I want to keep the "charm" of an older space. I was planning to use honed black granite for the counter tops. It's going to primarily function as a kid's bathroom. I am using the antique brick in a few other areas of the house. I recognize the riskiness here, but was hoping it would come across with a charm that is original to the home. The antique brick blends better with the other elements in the home than the carrara does. I'm still not sure how to bring it all together. I know that the white porcelain is timeless. Will the carrara/black and white bath be outdated, considering it's been such a popular choice the last couple of years? What about the subway tiles? [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by New York Architects & Designers Jane Kim Design [Eclectic Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2104) by New York Architects & Designers Jane Kim Design This post was edited by TXBluebonnet11 on Fri, Jun 21, 13 at 4:04

Their mistake if the design specifications and communications clearly indicated the trim and valves necessary. Is that literally the only shower trim that works with the valves. I agree that it is butt ugly and the finish is the least of the issues as it looks like the least expensive rental apartment fixture I can imagine. I went through quite a bit in determining exactly the configuration of the shower trim and consequently the rough which was necessary and I would have been beyond distraught if I were expected to use that hideous bit of shower because of the GC/plumbing error. It should be changed at their expense since there isn't any reasonable accommodation the homeowner can make in terms of selecting other trim that would work. I live in a condo and you can sometimes get your neighbor to agree to let you access plumbing depending on what is on the other side. For example, in my condo, in order to access the shower drains, it is necessary to go through my downstair neighbor's ceiling. I lucked out because my downstairs neighbor had recently died and the apartment was original and going to be completely remodeled so they weren't very picky about repairing the ceiling since my GC just had to patch and paint a generic white. It may or may not be easy to access and then repair your neighbor's drywall - your neighbor would have to grant access I think if your valves needed to be replaced I would think in the future but you should talk to either your manager or the Board to determine how to proceed.

The answer to your question is another question: How much money do you want to spend and how much renovating do you want to do? So, yeah, that faucet trim is dated. The tub spout not fitting to the wall looks bad also. You have some options: $ 1. Replace the insides of the valve to stop the leak 2. Also replace the trim 3. Replace the tub spout and fix it so that it meets the tile (shorten the stub). Or $$$$ Replace the tub, retile, and put in new shower faucets. Build out the wall so that it fixes that "shelf" What I would do: I would go with Option #1 to fix the leak and make it look much better without dropping a huge amount of money. If, at some later date, you want to do significantly more work, you can. Usually when you first move into a new home money is tight... so do enough work to make this look 100% better and not leak, but don't drop big coin on it right now. What I would not do: I would not cut into the tile to replace the faucet. It's not going to go back well.

I have a similar problem with my bathroom sink though if I don't turn the water up too high it does okay. I think it is the shape of our sinks and in your case, combined with the faucet. Does the faucet produce a strong, narrow stream of water? Would this faucet allow a swivel or flexible aerator to be attached to the end? Some cartridge models with the inner plastic parts won't (mine won't) but if it would, it might solve your problem.