I'm a bathroom builder, a Houzz Contributor, a blogger (http://www.no-curb.com), a linear drain salesman and "Coach" to about 24 North Shore Girls Soccer players.
A dream client for me is someone looking to build their dream bathroom - not someone looking for a cheap fix.
I live for snow days and love the work we do. My newest love is LED lighting and we are pushing the boundaries of what's possible in a high end shower!
If you are looking for inspiration come check out my Ideabooks on Houzz. I have a ton of them - http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/users/johnfrwhipple
Shower Bench Design (110 Design plus pictures). Building a shower bench can help define the whole layout of the shower or help correct a lay out with a particular tile selection.
It is important to design a slope to the shower bench and to insure it is waterproofed properly. Here in Vancouver we build custom benches all the time for our clients.
A linear shower drain looks great when placed right up in front of your shower bench.
In a steam shower extra care should be taken if you plan on heating the shower bench or sitting for long periods of time.
Take a look at these examples from the Houzz pages - I hope it helps with your design inspiration...