More of an Exorcism than a Renovation

After much debate about finances, we decided to go ahead and redo our bathroom this year. We had planned to do it, but because the painting of the shingles outside took so long and drifted into this year's budget, we worried that we wouldn't be able to squeeze the bathroom in, too. But it's our only full bathroom, and it is dreary and nearly non-functional - here's a photo of what it looks like now so you can feel our pain...

Would you like a chicken taco to go with that avocado?

...so we're pushing ahead even though it makes a couple of frugal squirrels like us kind of nervous. We have a contractor lined up for July to completely gut and rebuild it, and we've started shopping for tile, vanity, faucets, etc. It's fun and tiring and nerve-wracking all at the same time.

We've pretty much settled on an extra long white subway tile for the shower/tub surround.

Just like the ones above, but off-set or staggered like these yellow tiles:

We are thinking about doing a pinstripe or two of black glass tile about shoulder height, kind of like this picture, but with black tiles that are twice as long as these to go with the extra long white tiles:

Our house was built in the 1930's, and a black and white tile bathroom was a very common design at the time, so we're trying to do that theme with a contemporary twist to match our own style. The traditional black and white bathroom would've had checkered or octagonal small tiles on the floor, but we're thinking of doing these long, rectangular grey tiles instead to get that contemporary feel without the dangerous, slippery quality of the white ceramic.

Here is the front runner in the vanity search (only in the blackish sable stain instead of this brown and a little smaller than this one, with the white ceramic top/sink shown here):

And here is the current pick for the sink faucet:

We're hoping to do some lighting shopping this weekend, and I'm hunting for a medicine cabinet with a black frame around the mirror. I had considered doing a light grey paint on the walls, but with the grey floors now and the fact that the room doesn't get much sun, I think that might be too much. I'll probably just leave them white. Add some kind of black and white shower curtain and bright yellow towels, and I think it will be a nearly unfathomable improvement. I may even have to start soaking in the bath once the room no longer sends me into a death spiral of depression or makes me hungry for guacamole. 100% less ugly!