who makes the final decision (and opinions pls - bathroom)? :)

[gabbybaby]

So, hubby and I disagree. It's the first real design decision to make so surely a sign of things to come as we work through our house! Doing the loft ensuite. I want dark greyish/silver tiles, with a feature mosaic, white gloss vanity cabinet. He wants lighter, brownish/beige tiles, probably same tiles in a lighter colour & feature mosaic, with dark wood unit. We agree on the unit, just not the colour.
Who wins the design arguments on other people's projects? Neither of us have great design eyes, so we can't visualise the results too well!
And what do you think will work better? It's a fairly big ensuite, with a large walk in shower. This is the unit in white:
img.edilportale.com/products/prodotti-129345-relefa25bc6fd5e49b18eec4e066c609ec7.jpg
This is a smaller version of the same unit in the wood:
img1.reuter-shop.com/products/dur/duravit-vero-wall-mounted-vanity-unit-w-80-h-298-d-446-cm-brushed-dark-oak--dur-ve621307272_0.jpg
Opinions please!! Thanks

[ragged]

Your colour scheme sounds better imho. Although I hate en suites and would tell you do neither.

We end up bargaining. e.g.: I got a new car & DH got to knock thru a wall (he loathed the car I badly wanted & I thought wall-knocking was pointless).

[IShouldBeSoLurky]

I agree with you - I detest beige in bathrooms (or anywhere else, for that matter).

[inmyheadimthequeen]

I think the white unit is nicer and also like the sound of the grey/silver tiles, the whole arrangement looks and sounds much 'cleaner' than beige /wood, which I think would date more easily. Just realised as I'm typing this that I have white/grey/silver in my ensuite!

[Tealtowel]

Id choose white too. Your colour scheme sounds much nicer.
Can you compromise somehow maybe? Not quite sure how though

[gabbybaby]

Thanks all. Back to the tile shop in a few mins to find something lighter but neutral and hoping then white cabinet. If we get light tiles he might compromise on silver mosaic

[helentheheron]

Grey tiles definitely better than beige! Maybe a light slate sort of thing?

[wickedwaterwitch]

I prefer the White too, it's less likely to date

[TheUnwillingNarcheska]

White won't date as quickly as beige tiles and walnut units which have been out a while.

The best thing is to agree to something new that way someone doesn't feel like they have lost.

The way it works in our house is I trawl through stuff, choose a short list sometimes with only 1 item on it, present it to Dh and he then chooses from my short list. That way he doesn't ever choose something I don't like.

It does always make me laugh when people say they wouldn't have an en-suite when every hotel room has one but no-one complains about those

And before someone says smells, you need a better extractor fan.

[gabbybaby]

Thanks all. I'm trying the shortlist but now just being told to do what I want, which is unhelpful! This is the tile I want on floors & walls, with white vanity unit & tall unit, and a sparkly feature mosaic. Hubby thinks it's too dark.
www.tilesandbathroomsonline.co.uk/porcelanosa-tissue-silver-44-x-66cm/
..and it's not even a question not to have an ensuite... We have 2 girls growing up fast! That's not in question! I just need to find a tile that's grey, but neutral enough to go either way so that I can convince hubby it's not really grey :)

[Lasize]

Think that vanity is great. But def in white. (To Unwilling: noises!)

[inmyheadimthequeen]

The tiles are nice and the white unit would lighten the room (in any case, darker = classier, imho). Good luck!

[itmustbeglove]

I say pick your battles. If you 'win' on the ensuite you may find he insists on a lime green and black kitchen or something.

I'm a fan of the plainest ever things, DH likes horrible elaborate stuff. We have an odd house

[gabbybaby]

itmustbeglove - that's my worry. If we're going to disagree on every room (the loft ensuite being the first of the whole house within the next 5 months or so), then where do I give him what he wants so that I definitely get the kitchen I want at the very end, which is what matters the most to me at the end of the day (although, I told him before we even started this big job that I don't care what he says when it comes to kitchen, that's my space, it's only me that cooks and 90% me that cleans it, and I'll have what I want. So hopefully I've pre-empted the argument on that one ! ). Which room do I give in on? But right now, I want my "wow!" bathroom! I'm struggling :)

[EarSlaps]

I think beige is a little bit dated now (though the bathroom in our new house has beige and chocolate tiles, plus dark wood vanity and I actually quite like it!). Grey is easier to change the look of the room with towels or accessories. Perhaps he might think grey is a bit cold? So a warm colour for towels or if there are any painted walls?

Please tell me the feature mosaic won't be in the shower area? I see so many bathroom with tiny mosaic tiles in the shower and groan at all that grouting to clean, plus it would rip your cleaning cloth to shreds! Big tiles and as little gout as possible are best in the wet areas IMHO (but then I am lazy ).

We have an ensuite and the rule is you can only poo in there if it's before a shower, so that the extractor fan will be on a while. And certainly not if the other person is in bed!

[lighteningirl]

I have final say on everything in the house tho I wouldn't do anything he hated he has final say exterior garage carport cars and garden but he wouldn't do anything I hate. Your white/grey/silver is lovely and when you come to sell will add value his won't. My dh wanted oak kitchen black sparkly worktop we have an antique white modern shaker with off white worktop and he loves it.

[gabbybaby]

Thanks all. Earslaps - mosaic will be in 2 alcoves built into the shower, and around the toilet cistern box.
My husband originally agreed to the tiles I want, but then saw a friend's very recently done ensuite, and it was a dark slate grey, so he's worried it will be dark. My argument is that ours is a lot bigger, with a bigger window and will have a big shower tray & unit, so it will break up the dark tiles. But that's his worry anyway. I think that as he originally said yes, I'm just going to order them, because I have to get the order in before Porcelnosa's sale ends on 11th October, otherwise I'll have to start all over again looking at tiles, as we can't afford those ones if not in the sale!

[gabbybaby]

This is the mosaic: www.porcelanosa-usa.com/products/mosaics/harmony-strip-silver.html

[NattyGolfJerkin]

We are in the process of a large, whole house renovation. I am more interested in design than DH and luckily he tends to like my taste and so our process has been that I'll pick a selection of 'looks' (styles) that I like and then he'll choose from those. By his own admission, he gets overwhelmed and bored if presented with a huge choice, so me editing it down eases it for all. Then we'll narrow down to colours, then individual finishes and fixtures, again with me presenting a series of edited options.

I wouldn't (and haven't) done anything I know he doesn't like and there are certain practical things that he was sure he wanted to incorporate into the designs (e.g. large range cooker, wine fridge and so on) but the finishes we decide together.

If I was in your shoes, I agree with other posters that I'd try to find something that you both agree on. Or a paler version of your grey scheme if lack of light is something your DH is concerned about.

[gabbybaby]

Thanks Natty. He seems to have come to terms with it now anyway. I got so confused about the whole thing over the weekend when he turned around and said he no longer liked the one we'd previously agreed on, that I was lost and didn't know where to start. I've now asked everyone I know (obviously have no faith in my own taste :) ) who all chose my original choice from the options I presented them with, so I've told hubby that I'm now so confused that I'm going to just go with the ones we chose originally, and he's agreed as I think he's sick of it now! I've also told him we need to go kitchen shopping asap (thinking kitchen will be needed around January, last thing to be done on the extension/renovation) if just the ensuite is causing this much of a headache ;) .
I also told him that going forward, I'll decide on decoration :). He's obsessed with lighting, plumbing, insulation and the garage (it's home to his precious bike, so important to him!!), so he can go crazy with those! He obv has no idea for design!

[itmustbeglove]

I think it gets easier the more you do it. We did a whole house and to begin with I spent days looking at radiators and paint colours for one room. By the end I was making snap decisions, although maybe I got to the point where I didn't care.

Re DH who has no taste I'd give him the choice of two that I liked and let him pick. He always chose the cheapest

[itmustbeglove]

Also, there are some really knowledgeable posters on MN. When I was dithering I came on here and got some great advice.