Bathroom Remodeling Update: A bit more progress . . .

After months of agonizing deliberation, I finally picked out the tile for our 2nd Floor hallway bathroom.

Remodeling and decorating decisions do not come easily to me. I feel compelled to weigh every decision from every conceivable angle, over and over again, until vendors begin to avoid me, and my family is ready to have me committed. I worry about making a costly mistake with which I'll have to live for a long, long time.

Once the decisions are made, however, I feel like I've been through a self-discovery journey, and I'm so happy! Here's a close-up of the new travertine tile that will grace the floor once it's installed.

And here's one showing the pre-fabricated niches that are now available to re-modelers. The niches are screwed to the studs, encased with cement board, and then tiled. They will eventually hold shampoo, soap and other bath necessities.

Even the placement of the niches was researched for several months. The wall that we ultimately chose, is an exterior wall, and we had to figure out the proper way to insulate behind the niches. We also decided that, although it would lend an asymmetrical look to the wall, it was better to place them as far away from the shower spray as possible.

My husband, Lee, always opts for cement board as a backing for tile, as opposed to some of the other materials that are "supposedly" waterproof. It's heavy and slightly more cumbersome to install, but, with the number of leaks that the poor man has had to fix over the years, I can't say I blame him. Besides, the cement board adds a really solid feel to the wall that's not often found in modern construction.

Lee goes back to work next week, so he'll continue working on this now and then, as time permits. That's O.K. by me - I'll need at least a 2-month break before the next barrage of decisions, like the vanity, toilet, mirrow, lighting, towel rods, wall color . . .