You;re asking for basic shower design considerations?

1) The door, if swinging, needs to swing out, not in.

2) I usually place the on/off valve where it can be reached without having to step into the shower. Reach in, turn on the valve to get the hot water going without getting wet. Get undressed. By now the water is hot. Go shower.

3) Shower heads? The world is your proverbial oyster. Do realize that a rainshower head will not suffice as your MAIN shower head. Many find the gentle "rain" insufficient to get a good vigorous shower. But it's fine as a secondary head. Many like a handheld with a hose long enough to wash dwn the walls and floor of the shower. Makes cleaning easier. Today's handhelds, unlike the leaky pieces of trash sold 20 years ago, are great as a main shower head.

4) Valve style. Pressure balanced of Thermostatic? It might be player.

5) shower head location, you don't want it spraying towards a door.

6) Shower storage? Niche? Shelf? Hanging baskets? Location? Materials? Preformed or custom niche?

7) Shower construction? Cement backer board over a vapor barrier? Kerdi?

8) Tile...stone versus ceramic? Stone is more maintenance.

9) Tile design? 2" squares are common on floors. They easily conform to floor slopes and provide good traction. Ont he walls you can run larger tiles on the lower part of the wall, then some sort of horizontal border or deco insert at chair rail height, then change to a smaller tile and maybe a different layout pattern on the upper part of the wall. Myriad options.

Mongo pretty much covered tha gamut. I'll add a few things:

1) Do you need a bench in the shower? Your options are built in covered with granite/marble/stone/tile, prefab benches that attach to the walls, or a free standing teak bench.

2) Define your budget. Frameless glass shower doors look beautiful, but they are expensive. They can easily run a couple thousand dollars or more depending on size, hardware, glass, etc. They do tend to make the room look much bigger and are an upscale touch. We have them and love them. Just wanted to point out that having the shower door swing both inward and outward can be beneficial. We have dual action hinges because we live in a humid environment and we like to leave the shower door open to facilitate drying of the shower. Being able to crack the door open inward helps with that while not leaving a dripping door open on the floor.

I was in a similar place as yours. I had this decision making about the whole bathroom to make.

One thing that you might want to consider is whether your shower base is going to be tiled or are you getting a shower pan. We looked at a few options and decided on Swanstone (thanks to this forum).

Thank you!! I really appreciate all the help.

Mongo, a few questions for you:

Any recommendations for a good handheld showerhead? Brand?

Is one type of shower storage preferable? I really have no idea on this one.

What is kerdi?

Would travertine be hard to maintain?

What do you think of 1" tile on the floor?

Thanks again, Sharon

Sharon,
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nikki,

Just to let you know advertising isn't allowed on the forums.

Best, Mongo

Any recommendations for a good handheld showerhead? Brand? There are quite a few good ones out there nowadays. Do realize that the handhelds made today are nothing like the leaky weak-flow heads of 20 years ago. In my own house I have a Grohe Relaxa Top4 hand held. While it has different settings, we usually just keep it on the standard spray pattern. Gives a good vigorous flow. The handheld head is probably $75, then you'd need the bar, a hose, an outlet nipple, etc. Probably less than $200 for an entire setup. But there are other good ones out there too.

Is one type of shower storage preferable? I really have no idea on this one. Personally I prefer recessed niches over projecting corner shelves. Niches can be bought preformed, or they can be custom fabricated on-site. The latter allows the niche to be as large or as small as you need it. Corner shelves are less expensive than niches. Then you always have aftermarket baskets or racks.

What is kerdi? If you're suffering from insomnia, read this thread. It'll educate you on Kerdi and help you get to sleep.

Would travertine be hard to maintain? Natural stone is usually more difficult to maintain than ceramic. Some natural stones are more difficult to maintain than other natural stone. Travertine can be up there in terms of maintenance. Much depends on the quality of your water. Hard water, dissolved minerals, etc. Porous stones can require sealing and cleaning with pH neutral products.

That said, travertine is a common material used in showers.

What do you think of 1" tile on the floor? It can work fine, and look fine as well. Again, smaller tiles mean increased under-foot traction. That's good. But smaller tiles mean more grout. In a well-built shower that's not a problem. In a shower with a poorly pitched floor, with inadequate ventilation, with hard water, all those things can mess with grout.

In a well constructed shower pretty much anything can work well. Heck, years ago I did an end-grain teak tile floor in a shower.

Mongo,

I was unaware of your forum rules. I apologize for advertising. Thanks!

nikki, no worries. I've purchased from your website and have sent others to your site too. At least yours is a good one!

Best, Mongo

There is a thread here, WHAT WERE YOUR BEST AND WORST DESIGN DECISIONS? it is a great thread with over 100 post and is really worth the time reading. I have spent days reading all these post. This site has been so wonderful.