When our building company architect had drawn up the plans and we'd gone on to the next stage of "add-ons", we requested a niche in the tiled shower area for shampoos etc, but were told it can't be done due to water-tight issues. Then, during the walk-through before signing off, we mentioned this to the building supervisor, and he was surprised about our request of a shelf being declined, and said that we should've asked them before they tiled. But, since we'd already made quite a few changes to the standard plan, we didn't want to cause any aggro. Now we have one of those metal extendable corner shelves. So, it pays to get a second opinion.

I am struggling to find any pictures of where someone has the shower fittings higher than their shower screen to see how odd it actually would look like. One of my 101 learnings about getting the wrong tradesperson to "project manage" my bathroom renovation (until he went MIA), was not voicing louder to the plumber's assistant who actually did the shower connections, that what the "project manager" had suggested for heights of shower connections was way too high. I had actually double-checked it on the previous weekend with a friend and we both thought that it needed to be lowered by 100-150 mm, but when I said this to the "project manager" he ignored me as did the plumber assistant who made the connections....I know how a handheld shower only (which is all I wanted) fitting that is at 2070mm in one bathroom and 2020mm in the other bathroom. As there is no shower rail (because I wanted things to look simple), I get my daily stretches just to reach the handheld shower.....I am happy with the progress of my bathroom, except for all of the stuffups caused by this particular "tradesperson/project manager". We live and learn....I can't do anything about what has happened, but can only minimise the impact where possible and learn from all the things that went wrong, if there is ever a next time. I should make a list of the learnings once bathroom is finished.

The bathroom floor tiles which are shiny are the same in the shower unit which make it dangerously slippery. Is there a coating I can put on the shower tiles to make it less slippery?

I'd replace and go with the diagonal pattern also, despite the cost (you've got to look at it for a long time yet presumably). I think the existing look comes undone because the tiles on the bench laid as they are appear to add yet another design element to the area and actually make a feature of the bench itself. I personally wouldn't want to make a statement piece of the bench itself. If the tiles were laid diagonally, I think the bench would flow seamlessly from the wall into the floor. Similarly, if you highlighted the edge of the bench with the "decorative strip" tile, I think the bench again becomes the feature piece. Lovely roomy shower enclosure though, nice job.