I had to settle for a shower for years and years because the place we lived in only had a shower although my showers are deefinitely not a three minute person, more like 15min ha-ha I too decided on a spa bath in our new build, one that is big enough to fit two people but is simply a bath shape and I'm finding it hard to get myself back into baths because of being used to a shower for so long but I don't regret it either. I used to read the paper in the bath back when papers were what was around back then and I do miss that ha-ha

We recently made over a bathroom with dated features & a claw foot bath. See before & after pics. The bath was almond beige with brass feet. Painted it Dulux Ticking on the outside & used Rustoleum Tub & Tile on the inside. Bit of a process but we're very happy with the result. We were able to take the bath out of the room to paint so this made it easier. Left it to "cure" for quite a while before reinstalling & using. Sprayed the feet with chrome paint. The cabinet in after pic is the same cab as before, but with laminate benchtop removed & new wooden top & sides, benchtop basin, new tap. Treated the benchtop with 5 coats of marine grade polyurethane & painted the cabinet drawer fronts & doors with same paint as the bath (oil based). Floor retiled (over existing tile), double hung window removed and replaced with a fixed frame & frosted glass. Most expensive part was the new glass shower screen. My advice is to take the time to do correct prep & leave surfaces to harden thoroughly before using. With the bath I never run the hot tap first into the bath ie. warm water first then hot & only clean with detergent & a soft cloth, don't use any abrasive or harsh cleaners.

Timber with timber can work brilliantly, and it's in keeping with the mid century style you want for your home. This room (below) is a little similar to yours, albeit with less of a pitch to the roof - the large feature lighting helps to break up the expanse of timber on the ceiling. You have a lovely open plan area, so I'd be inclined to use rugs to create zones and a cosy feel. Rugs reduce the impact of a large expanse of flooring material. They have the benefit that you can swap things around to change the look and layout at little cost. I think one trick may be to define your "walls" carefully, and paint these before you go with a new floor. This should give you a sense of whether the timber is overwhelming, and how to balance it. E.g. You might decide it works best to paint the kitchen cupboards to white, to give you a more seamless look and work with your new counter tops. If you want to experiment with the "paint ceiling" approach - gulp, it's a big one!! - then maybe that small section above the kitchen bench, at a different angle to the rest of the roof, could be the spot. It seems to have the same horizontal line as the wall, so even if you don't like the painted look for the whole, you might be able to get away with blending this into the walls. Best of luck!

Yes painting is not a task I enjoy & think the concrete is probably best left as is - with the exception of a good wash.... that being said .... I can almost visualise the building now with black/charcoal windows & doors & lots of mass plantings creeping up to the concrete & now feel the dark growth on the concrete might just serve to pull the space together with the help of a structure overhead. Hahaha listen to me... I've gone from hating my concrete to almost defending it :) Siriuskey could you try posting the link again please as it just goes to Google home page? Or even a search topic & I'll try to find it. Thank you all for your suggestions & hopefully I'll have an updated image to share sooner rather than later.