Bathroom design

I have a 5' by 9' bathroom built in 1984 on the second floor of a two-story townhouse...standard tub/shower combo, high-flow toilet, and single vanity all in a row on one wall....it's all very white now, mostly, with two skylights which I like

I have a qualified person who will help me with the re-do...

I'd like to convert the tub to only a shower with a glass door opening inward, a shelf for the usuals, and have the shower head raised...

will get a new low-flow toilet....

want to change the vanity/sink to an undermount sink and a new slightly-raised counter with a new counter material....possible recessed med cabinet if studs allow....new mirror....

mostly need help with colors/styles/materials/"decor" choices....I prefer natural colors and want it to be very updated, but something that will not look dated in ten years...(will granite and stainless-steel kitchens look dated in ten years??!!).....don't want the latest and greatest bathroom fad (don't need those "rain-like" showerheads or "jetted" tubs), but want it functional and attractive in a classic, tasteful way....thinking of large tiles to the ceiling....

any websites that have tons of pictures and ideas for bathrooms??...a quick google search only returned narrow ads with only specific products....

One of my favorite places for ideas and inspiration is hgtv's rate my room portion of it's website. Some people out there have SUCH good taste! Plus there is stuff on there in every style you could imagine. Some of the rooms were put together with a professional designer and large budgets but there are also many, many normal people working with small budgets finding creative solutions and making them look great. I also really like that you can rate the rooms, makes it fun. There is also a section for comments so say you see a shower curtain you just have to have you can ask the OP where they got it and 90% of the time they will tell you

Decration taste

Saint those are some cheap ugly junk. They are just Walmart quality corrugated cardboard boxes. They are only one step above the Chinese brand cabinets. Only thing they have over the Chinese brands is they are not infested with formaldehyde and sulfer.

We in the west as a whole do not like that Euro frameless style. Those in Europe hate our framed cabinets. There are good and bad arguments for both types of cabinetry. I love the business but if taste started to turn to that ugly frameless style I would leave the business in a heart beat.

Saint those are some cheap ugly junk. They are just Walmart quality corrugated cardboard boxes. They are only one step above the Chinese brand cabinets. Only thing they have over the Chinese brands is they are not infested with formaldehyde and sulfer.

We in the west as a whole do not like that Euro frameless style. Those in Europe hate our framed cabinets. There are good and bad arguments for both types of cabinetry. I love the business but if taste started to turn to that ugly frameless style I would leave the business in a heart beat.

How to decaorate the baby's room?

I would like to see ideas of the way you did your nurseries if you were really happy with how they turned out. Perhaps you have tips on what you wish you hadn't done? Or a FAVORITE book on nursery decorating you can recommend?

I am due for my first about Oct/Nov. I have a 13x13' room with 1 window and a paneled French door closet. Other than these 2 features the room is stark and ready for spark. =) I won't find out what the sex is because I am paying cash for my pregnancy and since it's not too important for me to know the sex I'm not going to opt for the ultrasound. I'd like to use that money on more baby things. I am thinking of doing the nursery in mauve and country blue but am not limited to these ideas. I thought I would love yellow checkered squares (1 foot x 1 foot) on the lower half of the room but the walls are lightly textured so I worry about how nice the lines could look. I may install a chair rail to do 2 different ideas in the room. My DH suggested I do a garden theme and paint flowers and picket fencing etc since I am okay at painting. But I am not sure I want to invest this kind of time in the nursery.

I plan to keep the linens simple and just get frilly white bedding as it can be bleached clean. The furniture may be a dark cherry or white wash I am not decided yet. The trim in the house is already white.

Brag a little bit of my bedroom

I gotta brag a little.

Our mid-70s ranch house has a master bedroom which was described as 12 x 16 when we bought the house. (Note to self - always take a tape measure with you when you are house-hunting.)

The bedroom is actually 11.5 x 15.5. Not that a half-foot makes THAT much difference, but it's kind of annoying to realize you got short-changed on the deal, especially when you have a king-sized bed to squeeze in.

Well for the first four years, we didn't try to do that. Oldest son took that bedroom, and we took what is/was a "game room" off the kitchen and made it into our bedroom. (It's 13 x 18 or so, so it was plenty big.)

DS is now in college and since this game room has its own entrance we decided to switch rooms and finally turn some attention to this "master bedroom."

DS had painted the walls gray, which was fine for him, but pretty boring and it clashed with my bed linens. So after we ripped up carpets and laid oak-look laminate, the next step was painting the walls - I went with Cafe au Lait - a taupe-y color.

I also took a hard look at our comforter set, and decided that 7 years was long enough; it was time for a new set. Talk about sticker shock - most places wanted $200 - $500 for a comforter. Yikes!

I then decided I could re-do the whole bedroom (including paint) for $500.

And I did.

Comforter set $90 (same one at JC Penneys was $185, and I'm not sure it included shams and skirt)
Bedside tables - $17 each (reg. $99 each; wayyyy marked down)
Wall lamps - $20 each
New TV stand - $80
Paint - $30
Rug - $80
Flowers - $30
Curtains - $36
Curtain Rod - $15
Pillows - $60
Total - $475

(Okay, so when I finally track down the desk I want - Target never has it in stock) - it'll cost me another $110.)

But I did it, and I think it turned out pretty good. Here are the after shots

Let's share a group of home decorating pictures!

living room

bedroom

family room]

guestes room

home office