I'm not an expert, but we have renovated a pool and made 1 big mistake. We had similar coping that formed a big hob all the way around (unlike yours). We leveled it out with paving (and then coated the pebblecrete with an epoxy sandstone-look product). The mistake? Part of the yard sloped down to the pool. Every time it rained.....all the sand, dirt and debris from down the side of my house and around the pool went straight into the pool. If we had our time over- we'd leave a small hob around the side of the pool where the land sloped down. Yours looks like it is on the downside of your house with some garden. The hob might be there for a reason.....as we learned.

As said above the metal strip is generally installed during the tiling. I just could not sway my hubby to go with a capping tile in our budget ensuite reno, but in hindsight he agrees we should have.... Anyway, I decided to tape the tiles and paint over the grout as with the darker paint colour it helps it recede. The grout line isn't too noticeable from a distance thankfully, but here is a close up which might help you decide what to do

This is a great article.... thank you for sharing :). Be nice to see this in the 'stories' section where everyone will see it.

You have a tricky design exercise with limited space and lots of structural and plumbing constraints. I would call in a professional to do an accurate measure-up and work with you in selecting appropriately scaled bathroom fittings and a workable layout. Only your option 1 looks like it may have potential as all of the others don't have enough space around the different elements to access them properly. If you have never renovated before then a tiny bathroom in an apartment could be a really expensive exercise in learning from your mistakes, as every millimetre is crucial, and any little mistakes cost big dollars to rectify. Have a look at my project, "Luxury Bathroom Renovation", which was actually a tiny powder room, a tiny ensuite and a tiny bathroom all in the same townhouse, that was renovated with similar constraints to yours (except none of these rooms had windows or any natural light) to see some of the tricks that professional designers use to maximise space and functionality in tiny bathrooms. All three of these rooms were carefully designed and drawn up at a large scale (1:20) to make sure that everything worked, and could be accessed without the need for extreme body contortions. https://www.houzz.com.au/hznb/projects/luxury-bathroom-renovation-pj-vj~672428 Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits viz Zoom