QUARTERLY DESIGN TIP: REMODELING A BATHROOM I'm currently updating my own bathroom, and I have to say that bathrooms may be "the littlest room in the house," but they are far from the least expensive. One obvious solution is to do as much of the labor as possible. My husband and I are installing the cabinets and countertops ourselves and saving $500 in the process. (Here's hoping that next quarter's design tip isn't: Never Install Cabinets and Countertops Yourself.) As with any room, the basic process of designing a bathroom boils down to balancing the pros and cons of the seemingly limitless options and figuring out what's important to you. For example, I hate to clean and, alas, am not meticulous, so I always give extra weight to the durability and ease of cleaning of the materials that I select. I steer away from marble surfaces, which are porous and can stain easily. Also, some vanity cabinets feature wonderful narrow pullout storage racks for medicinal supplies. I, however, prefer to avoid bending down any more than is absolutely necessary (in fact, I've recently developed a fondness for slip-on shoes and flip-flops), so I'm forgoing the anti-medicine-cabinet design trend in favor of a nice, roomy, eye-level medicine cabinet. Also, I've chosen kitchen-cabinet countertop heights, so my sink and my drawers will be four inches higher than the standard height, which turned out to be slightly less expensive in my case. (This should allow me to buy an extra-snazzy toilet-paper dispenser. Oh, joy!) Consider the usage that your bathroom gets. If this is the guest bathroom, it's going to get a lot less daily usage than the other bathrooms in your house, so you can go with the showier items. In the bathroom that kids use, you'll want to stay with the standard 30" bathroom-counter height, and you'll want durable, easy-to-clean materials. For the master bath that you'll use every morning and every night, you should balance practical considerations with that which makes your heart sing. If you know that an above-the-counter glass bowl for a sink will put a smile on your face each time you use it, surely life's too short to go with the more practical, easier-to-clean under-mount sink. Some quick random tips: Do some Internet research before selecting a toilet. Efficient toilets can save homeowners up to $100 a year. Regulations passed in 1992 lowered the water-consumption of each flush from 7 gallons to 1.6 gallons, but not all of the readily available brands are up to the task. Remember that the purpose of lighting at the vanity cabinet is not to illuminate the sink or the mirror, but rather your face. A pair of sconces mounted at eye level to either side of the mirror is ideal. Ceiling-mounted or above-the-mirror fixtures cast downward shadows. Lastly, the optimum temperature of a bathroom is five degrees higher than in the rest of the house. Heated floors or small electric space heaters are a wonderful luxury. Happy designing! Back to list of design tips.