Actually, you may be pleasantly surprised who notices and values French drains and other details. My H and BIL both do.
We certainly look for system and infrastructure details, especially after spending about $10K on french drains and proper ventilation the first year we lived in our current home. Dh would be impressed by your rooftop conduit.
The lack of a master bathroom water closet would be a deal breaker for us, too. We’ve walked away from houses that didn’t have one.
Can’t wait to see the photos in November when the house is complete.
I like the streaked floor tile that matches the arabesque ones. Are either slippery?
Good question on the tile. The arabesque is a water cut of porcelain tiles (very expensive) and the ‘wood grain’ tile has texture. So, with grout between the cuts and the texture in the wood grain porcelain, it is not slippery. The large wood grain tiles have good texture.
Similar to the other bathrooms, the detail and business will be in the floors and I will try to go more neutral with the large shower surround.
I’m trying to copy the Outlet Mall bathroom tile designs that I loaded about 4 months back. I reloaded the photos to Flickr again so you all can see what design I am going for
Looking at your landscaping, I’m wondering if olive trees would do well. They are so delicate and beautiful.
Pretty sure a decent olive tree is going to cost too much money at this point! I have two lemon trees adding some height to the blank wall of the house. And two very large crepe myrtles that are in transplant shock right now but luckily I see new leaves sprouting on them so they will survive
Master Bathroom and Bedroom
My agent and I stood in the bathroom space with the arabesque tile. We brought up several of the sconces onto her large iPad and we have selected the following for the master bathroom and bedroom. At first I thought they were too feminine for the space but she was really adament that these were the right ones (and price was really good)
(I ordered the sconces above… if they are really nice we may get some more for powder room)
Then I ordered the matching chandelier for over the bed and the flush mount for the sitting area. They can always be returned to Lowe’s if I hate them
Yay, my favorite sconces! 
I would love to replace some awful sconces in my house. I think I’m going to take a trip to Lowe’s and see what they have!
Those wood grain tiles are interesting. I’ve never seen a plank style tile before.
have you decided what color you are going for in the fixtures/vanity/shower?
I have a friend who has that woodgrain plank tile in her bathroom…and it looks fabulous!!
Love that tile and that you are recreating the gorgeous mall bathroom.
Those sconces aren’t in stock at Lowe’s. Stuff they have in stock are not that great.
I haven’t selected faucets and shower trim yet. I have to get Delta valve trim because I put in a Delta valve. Otherwise I want to wait until tile is in and sconces arrive. The sconces are like a pewter so maybe pewter fixtures
I did have to get the metal edging for shower tile and I had a ton of choices. The one that looked best with the tile was a brushed nickel.
I like brushed nickel over shiny chrome.
Shiny chrome is coming back in style. Either in super contemporary bathrooms or carrerra marble style bathrooms. A little shine next to all the honed whites and greys looks good.
But since I’m going with a muted beige, grey and black scheme the subtle pewter or brushed nickel looked better
I have brushed nickel in the kitchen I renovated three and a half years ago, and in the two bathrooms I’m renovating right now. I really like the brushed nickel look over chrome, but when I did the kitchen, I didn’t realize that the cost is tremendously higher for the brushed nickel. (About a third higher.) Had I known, I might have gone with the chrome.
Most of the low cost fixtures are chrome. These are usually chrome paint stuff over plastic. High end stuff like Grohe also comes in chrome and its chrome plating over solid brass. Usually very heavy when you hold in your hands compared to the Home Depot builder grade
It will be interesting to see what finish you select for the master bath fixtures. The description of the Jenna sconce calls the finish “painted vintage gold”. The description also says “Stamped metal shade with a hand-applied bronze finish features intricate rosettes and clear, faceted glass accents.” I hope there aren’t rosettes. Maybe it’s an error.
Oh boy, i should have read closer on that. There better not be any rosettes on those lights!!!
I can’t see any rosettes. There’s some texture on the shades; maybe it’s an abstract rosette pattern? The chandelier description says the shades are mica, which makes me wonder if there was a cut-and-paste error when someone was creating the blurbs for this group.
I’m quite fixated on this fixture, as I love your tile and overall aesthetic but don’t like the Jenna at all. My choice would be something pretty much its opposite. I’d go with a more authentic metal finish with a fairly clean and straightforward profile.
http://www.ballarddesigns.com/amelie-vanity-single-sconce-lighting/335731
Now that that’s off my chest, I bow down to your experience and expertise in this market and hope that the Jenna proves to be the perfect selection for your fabulous master bath!
That sconce description actually seems to be for the Quoizel Juliana bathroom vanity light (which does have rosettes). https://www.lowes.com/pd/Quoizel-Juliana-Painted-Vintage-Gold-Crystal-Accent-Bathroom-Vanity-Light/1000003148 The rest of the Jenna line doesn’t mention them. So looks like it’s just a misprint, no worries! The rest of the Jenna line essentially describes it as “Features a hand-made natural blonde mica shade trimmed in black …to complement the gold finish”.
I don’t see where they are getting the ‘gold’ finish description at all. When I looked at the pictures closely - the one where the light is off… it appears to be a brushed pewter type of color for the metal.
I love the Ballard Amelie and something like that was going to be my first choice. I have no problem returning a bunch of lights and ordering all over again! I just wanted to give the $39 ones a chance