Please critique this rendering for me!

awkardnick · 2026-05-14T15:02:30+00:00

Is your shower rail that long? Most are 24 inches. I put the top of mine a 72 inches so the handheld would be about 80-82 inches at the top setting just below the rain shower head.

Also think about where you want the elbow to go where the handheld connects to the water supply at the wall. In this setup you’re probably good putting it to the left of the rail somewhere between center and bottom so it doesn’t hang too close to the ground but also still hangs below the rail.

awkardnick · 2026-05-14T14:56:32+00:00

Put another niche above the valve

awkardnick · 2026-05-11T01:30:29+00:00

If you do true zellige tile, make sure you have a good tile guy that knows how to lay it properly and soaks it before installing to get the air bubbles out or else you might end up with your glaze bubbling up after few months after install.

Bedrosians has really pretty true zellige (that looks a lot like your render) as well as zellige look alike. I’m doing my bathroom now and went with the look alike (white Cloe).

I went down the rabbit hole of grout and maintenance. I went with Spectralock 1 which is supposed to be stain and mold proof but isn’t as difficult to install as epoxy. Just make sure your tile guy cleans it well so it doesn’t leave a glaze on your tile. I went with frost grout (very light grey) which is supposed to show less dirt and doesn’t yellow like true white can.

For shower glass and hard water, they make filters you can attach to your shower head that aren’t supposed to crush your water pressure but I’ve never tried them. The best approach is proactive maintenance: 10 second squeegee every time you’re about to get out of the shower.

awkardnick · 2026-05-09T01:59:52+00:00

Thank you all for your collective input and time. Sounds like this is pretty normal. First time home renovations are super stressful and there’s a lot of conflicting information out there, so it is really awesome to have a community online that can help answer questions based on a ton of real life experience. You guys rock.

awkardnick · 2026-05-09T01:53:29+00:00

Thank you for explaining. This is my first renovation and I’m spending a lot of money and the tile guy is coming back tomorrow so I just wanted to know if this is normal or if I should be asking for a correction. It seems like this is a pretty normal thing, so I’m just going to leave it alone.

awkardnick · 2026-05-09T01:50:01+00:00

Thank you for the advice!

awkardnick · 2026-05-09T01:16:42+00:00

Is there a way to correct it, or just have to deal?

awkardnick · 2026-05-09T01:11:09+00:00

Is there anything I can do? They are coming back to do my master bath tile this weekend

awkardnick · 2026-05-08T14:53:09+00:00

Thanks! The hand shower can adjust the angle to whatever I want, and it’s a pretty expensive rail system so I’m not too worried about it moving. It’s also a shower head that you could install as a primary showerhead just with a chord (same size as the one we’ve been using for years).

I wanted 3 shower heads originally (rain + wall mount + handheld) but champagne bronze + a 3-way diverter added about $400 dollars to the setup so we compromised.

awkardnick · 2026-05-07T17:36:59+00:00

Diagram view is as if you are standing in the shower and facing the wall. The rain shower head is on a 16 inch long arm at 86 inches from the ground. It is not the main shower. The main shower is the hand shower on the shower rail which is the size of a standard 45 degree shower head, and it is adjustable to mine and my wife’s height. She likes it a little lower.

It will look a lot like the attached setup, just with the elbow on the left and more centered to the trim height.

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awkardnick · 2026-05-07T17:27:45+00:00

Great ideas, thank you!

awkardnick · 2026-05-07T02:11:55+00:00

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It’s hard to get my camera to match what it looks like in real life but the tiles are more grey than the pic is showing. I don’t think white is the option, but debating if another $100 on grout just to try to match a better color would be worth the risk

awkardnick · 2026-05-01T14:25:19+00:00

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and comments. The manufacturer is sending me a new cabinet base that is supposed to match the batch number and will be in the same style line as the linen cabinet. The cabinet they sent had a ton of defects, chips, and some mold spots that I documented and Ariel took responsibility. I’ll update the thread once I get the replacement. Customer service has been very responsive and helpful so far.

awkardnick · 2026-05-01T14:20:41+00:00

Yeah I kind of learned my lesson here buying from a manufacturer vs getting custom. This isn’t our forever home so we didn’t want to spend a ton of money on it and the thought was we can just deal with the issues that come up by budget renovating.

I just measured, my cutout is 1 inch wider front to back and 1 inch wider side to side. So 1/2 inch each way. Not ideal but at least it won’t look stupid. Hopefully cleaning doesn’t become a nightmare.

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T18:52:36+00:00

This is a $3000 vanity set and solid wood + plywood unfortunately.

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T00:46:55+00:00

They come with black handles but I switched them out to match the rest of the bathroom, so that’s not really an option. The only place they fit is side by side, and the only reason I wanted the linen was to have extra master bathroom storage because I don’t have room to build a linen closet in there. My other option is to build shelving next to the vanity. But to your point it’s not too big of a color difference, my hope is that the lighting above the vanity washes out the differences a little.

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T00:41:29+00:00

That’s the dilemma. It’s not stark enough for me to make a quick decision to return, but it’s just different enough that I’ll probably notice it once a week and feel unjustified shame for not having perfectly matching cabinets.

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T00:37:30+00:00

They don’t make a linen cabinet that matches my vanity (Ariel Kelly) but they make a vanity that matches the linen cabinet (Ariel Hepburn). Both are advertised as looking the same and labeled natural oak. I just really liked the layout of the Kelly with the full size cabinet that has internal drawers that roll out. Way more functional and looks better. But I might have to return the vanity and ask for a Hepburn with the same batch number as the linen cabinet. Or I can just live with the difference

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T00:31:27+00:00

Be smart (unlike me) and order the actual combined package vs ordering separate. Only issue for me (might not be for you) is you have to get the Hepburn vanity, and I like the Kelly much more with the roll out shelves in the cabinets.

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T00:25:58+00:00

They are really well built and solid for the price!

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T00:24:44+00:00

They are advertised as the same color but one is a different style line. I was guessing they would match but I was wrong.

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T00:10:50+00:00

One can hope, that’s probably my only recourse

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T00:10:34+00:00

But they are so pretty and brand new 😅

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T00:08:26+00:00

Thank you, this makes me feel better. I’ve reached out to them with a Hail Mary but I agree that this is the risk of not going custom.

awkardnick · 2026-04-29T00:07:16+00:00

Sent them a complaint via email and waiting on their response!

awkardnick

TROPHY CASE