Decisions Decisions

Well, the striped wallpaper has been stripped and the walls are down to sheetrock. The paint colors have been chosen and the paint has been bought. A new light fixture is waiting to be hung. BUT....

Ahhh there's the rub. I am having a hard time making a "I am 100% positive that I want to do this" decision on what
in the world to do with this bathroom countertop. Let me explain. The cabinet is custom built for the bathroom - lovely when it was constructed - worn looking now. It will be receiving a nice finish. A caramel color paint with a chocolate brown glaze. The countertop. THE countertop. The COUNTERTOP. THE COUNTERTOP! Yikes. Since this is a custom sized cabinet - you cannot find a stock bathroom countertop that will fit. To special order one would cost me around $500 - not in my budget right now.

Here are my choices.

Choice #1 - Leave this countertop alone. It's not that I dislike it completely. It is in pretty good shape - I could polish it up nicely with some heavy duty clear coat car wax. (I've done this before with GREAT results!). And then just replace the faucet. I am just not loving the "shell shaped" sink anymore. Which is kind of funny because I am using what I call "beachy" colors. Soft beige, warm tones, and cool blue accents with some "oceany" decorative accesories. Not all kitchy - just enough to give it that weekend at the shore feel.

Choice #2 - Pull this countertop up and replace it with a tiled countertop. I am liking this idea. I've looked at using large tiles (so there would be less grout space) and then I have also looked at using smaller tiles. This would also include a nice tile backsplash and a new sink.

Here is what I present for your opinion. Is tile a choice from the past? Does anyone have tile countertops and HATE them? Oh and believe me if $$ was no object I would have granite installed. But I have several house updates to do and need to spread my decorating dollars around the best I can.

Hmm...shell shaped sink - Too 80's???? Though when I looked through the custom order books at Lowes - guess what I saw? A shell shaped sink that you can order right now today!

Now regardless of the decision I will be installing a new faucet. And I have also decided that I will be replacing the old floor (which I wasn't going to do when I started).

So there you have it. My current perplexing problem. (I did purchase a sample tile to lay out to see how it would look and I still can't make up my mind.) Really, I would appreciate any thoughts from any of you that happen upon this crazy post. Really....

In the meantime, I am going to go hang the new mirror in the entryway. (If you happen to remember I asked opinions about that in an earlier post.) I await your thoughts!