As a professional designer I presented my wife with detailed plans for our master bedroom and bathroom suite. She looked them over and then told me what we were doing......... Just kidding!

Actually we compromised at every crossroad, always picking the design and materials we could both enjoy and live with. Neither of us got our first selections for hardwood flooring, marble tile, fixtures and furniture. But our combined selections were more interesting. We marvel almost daily three years later at the interesting combinations we came up with together.

She wanted simple oak flooring, I wanted Brazilian Cherry, We got Cypress as a compromise and it is unusual and striking. I wanted Carrera marble counter tops and tile, she wanted more natural colored Porcelain tile, we compromised with Crema Marfil Marble counters and flooring and again it's less pedestrian and unusual.

We love our selections and they work so well together. But it's not a coincidence, it's because we love each other and WE work so well together. That's something I'll appreciate long after the thrill of the multiple rotating shower heads has warn off.

We did have one tiny issue. There's one short length of flooring that is a little plainer than my wife would have liked. When everything was complete she wondered if that piece would grow on her or if it would still bother her 20 years latter. I plan to have my ashes interred under that floorboard so hopefully when I'm gone it will be her favorite.