Decisions have been made

Well, my fears have been confirmed, and we won't be getting our see-thru fireplace. Bummer. The fire box insert is much smaller than the opening we'd have and it would look inadequate. Also, there's ventilation and security concerns. Oh well. I have a new dream now.

Here's where I think the money formerly allocated to fireplace renovations is going to go:Awwwwww, YEAH! Now, we all know I have a water aversion. (Don't know why, I just do.) But this tub might just be enough to get me over my aversion to water. Tub isn't even the right word for it. Aquatic relaxation receptacle? Water-enabled multi-tasking portal? Still not enough of a description. But you can visit Overstock.com here and read the manufacturer's description for yourself. And if you're thinking, "J, you are not really going to spend all that money on a tub?!", you're wrong. I most certainly will. As soon as my plumber okays it. I think that a master bath needs something special, and right now ours has nothing special. We were planning a remodel anyway, to switch the location of the tub and the toilet. The image below is a snapshot from a 3d model I built in Google SketchUp. It represents basically what our new bathroom is going to look like, although some of the finish choices (tiles, colors, etc.) may change.

That empty room is the walk-in closet, and that weird box thingy floating above the tub in the model below is actually the existing skylight. Which right now shines majestically down upon the toilet, as you can see. This model below is pretty close to what we have now, but I left the 80's cedar paneling above the garden tub out. I don't like the view from the tub, nor the enclosed tile shower. It's all too cramped and dated. So I think swapping the tub and toilet, putting a little wall in between them, and changing the shower enclosure to glass and cutting the corner of the closet and eliminating the wall between the vanity and the shower will all add up to a bigger-feeling space with minimal structural changes.

Since The Tub is so mighty and large, it's going to take a little more space than the one in the first model shows, so we're going to build a mock-up out of cardboard later today and put it in there (yes, really), and see if it feels too cramped. Our walkway to the toilet room is going to be more narrow than typical, so if we don't think it will work well that way, we may have to steal a few more inches from the closet and move that wall out. I'm hoping we can avoid it though...I gotta save some $$$$$$ to buy The Tub.