The bathroom

Now that we're gettin' 'er done construction-wise, I can let myself think about finishes and furnishings without quite so much guilt. First, here's a floor plan:

Never mind the different hatching patterns. They indicate new vs. existing walls so the framers know what's what.

And here's my bathroom inspiration:

Via Brooklyn Limestone

Not sure of the source on this one.

I guess "inspiration" isn't really the right word, since these are what I had in mind before I sought out pictures. They're a pretty good representation of what I'm going for, though. If Tom approves, this will be our flooring:

On clearance for $4.39/sqft at Lowe's

Wall spashability seems like a good idea in a kid's bathroom, so we're going to wrap plain white subway tiles around the room up to a height of about 4 feet. It will be capped off with a chair rail tile, much like in the photos above. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect light fixtures - perfect meaning pretty AND cheap, a combination that seems very hard to achieve.

I'm not sure about the vanity yet, but I'm pretty sure I want something that looks more like furniture than your standard vanity. I really like these:



The second one obviously offers more in the way of storage, but I have allotted space for a large linen cabinet on the wall opposite the vanity. I don't know if I'd prefer something built-in:


Or something freestanding:
Built-ins are appropriate for the age of our house (if done correctly, of course) while a piece of furniture would give us flexibility in the future (because I can never seem to make up my mind). Maybe even a buffet or hutch, which would provide more counter space. Any recommendations or suggestions?

And if I decide that we simply need more storage than even the linen cabinet can provide, I will just have to suck it up and do a standard vanity. My crazy brain craves creative and custom solutions, so even "standard" doesn't necessarily mean out-of-the-box. This is completely wrong aesthetically, but I like the idea:

And once the kids are tall enough to not need a step up, this could easily be turned over and used as an extra drawer. If you were designing a bathroom from scratch, what would be on the top of your list?