FINISHING THE BATH IN STYLE

Finishing the Bath in Style
LIBERAL OR CO SERVATlVE? That's a question you'll have to answer as you sort out bath- room styles, materials, and finishes.
Do your tastes run toward the classic or the eclectic? Are you more comfortable in a bathroom filled with gleaming white fixtures and hygienic tiled floors, or is there a radical element in you calling out for more color, more pizzazz, something, well, different?

Vintage or contemporary, the style you choose and the fixtures and finishes you select go hand in hand. Tile, of course, remains an ever-popular favorite for all styles of bathrooms thanks to its versatility. But you might also want to consider the organic appeal of natural stone, which rivals tile in its durability and affordability. Metal and glass both have a number of applications in a bathroom and can lend it a modern, industrial quality. And, of course, there are synthetic finishes-like colorful plastic laminates and tough solid surfacing materials-that can be used in any number of ways to spice up your bathroom. In fact, there's a whole palette of beautiful and durable natural and synthetic finish materials avail- able to choose from. To help your bathroom take shape, refer to the following pages for examples of style and substance.