Hi Emma, me again. Congratulations on your new home! Very exciting Although not yours, draw you eye towards that rattan drawer unit near the shower, these textures and natural tones are perfect for this house. They help modernize a dated interior because the natural element relax the space and blend into the often dated timbers that were used in the past. Today we have gone towards lighter and weathered grey toned timbers or completely contrast with ebonies, blacks and rich browns. The timber direction of our pasts were ore influenced by reds, and into the oranges. This is because timber was often stained. So, I suggest.... Purchase a unit like this one, or introduce a small timber stool near your bath, they are not just dressing, they are useful, taking off shoes, placing your bath accessories or even having a resting place for your well deserved glass of wine. Replace your mirror with a timber framed one, and the window dressing with a timber blind. It will conceal most of the window frame which is brass and dates the room, however timber blinds will retain privacy and still allow you to direct soft lit into the room without ever having to close the blinds altogether. These are not expensive if you buy ready to hang ones from places like spotlight or Lincraft. Just measure then side of your window frame, and buy your best fit. I would replace your cabinet handles with chrome ones to tie into your other chrome fixtures, this will also look more contemporary. Possibly also your tap ware, which can be bought at hardware stores. Easy to do yourself, no trades required. Just a simple tool that you also buy from a hardware which will help loosen tight fixtures. There's much more you could do if your willing to give it a go, but as it's your first home, perhaps try these simple things and build your confidence. I'm happy to offer more suggestions if you want t tackle some more.

There is a product called Nanokote that you apply to the shower screen so the water just beads off when wet. Now I did try this product years ago and didn't find it that great but it could of improved by now. But my husband uses car wax on the windscreen of my car and polishes it off so water just slides of it when it rains so I am thinking of him doing this when we move into our new home shortly and see how that goes. As for tiles everyone raves about those steam machines but in the product reviews I haven't found a model that hasn't broke down after a short use.

Sounds like a very stressful situation! If there is absolutely no way the builder will allow you to change things (even if they did, I imagine they would ask you to foot the entire bill of pulling the tiles down and replacing all water proofing in addition to new tiles), I can make a few suggestions for improvement. Firstly I would suggest replacing the tiles above the vanity with a white mosaic, a patterned or a textured feature tile/strip. You could also use this same tile to replace the vertical feature in the shower. There are some beautiful shapes and sizes available to choose from. Secondly I would address the grout situation in this way: Floor - dark colour grout & Walls - Light colour grout. Lastly if it does not prove too difficult or expensive, maybe replace the tiles below the vanity with a plain white tile (could be similar size). Good luck and I am sure once you have a lovely mirror up and some crisp white towels, it will look just wonderful.

We deliberately used a different tile to add interest and to contrast with the white bathtub. It really makes the bath and white shelving stand out much better than white against white. To reduce the number of different materials used, however, we matched the grey floor tile on those walls and also in the shower niche, only switching from matt floor tiles to matching Lappato tiles.