I am remodeling my small bathroom (5 ft x 9 ft) which has a skylight to bring in natural light. I have a brown toilet and bathtub. I would like to use brushed nickel hardware (faucets, shower head, towel bars...). I am looking for suggestions on what colors to use for the rest of my bathroom that would complement the brown toilet & bathtub and the brushed nickel hardware. What color for the tiled floor, bathtub's tiled wall, main bathroom wall, ceiling wall, vanity color, vanity top's color? I like cream/off-white color - would it be good as floor color for a bathroom with brown toilet & bathtub? I would like to have a decorative border on the tub's tiled wall, what color do you recommend for the tub's tiled wall and the decorative border? Thanks so much!

To give you perspective, I am 43 and thus have been around for decades. I want to know if this is a change in our society or if I have just moved into different social environments and this explains the change I see.

I grew up in a family that was sort of artsy and intellectual so all of our family and friends, naturally, tended in that direction. Here's my question:

It used to be that cleaning your house was just to keep it decent. If the bathroom was not filthy, that was good enough, and no one cared about the latest fixtures and no one had ridiculous decorative soaps and towels no one could use. Clean the fixtures with some cleanser and if they work, that's all that matters, no gleaming tiles or faucets (who would waste time on something unnecessary?) and it didn't matter how old the faucets were as long as they didn't drip.

Now, when I visit people, I find that 95% of the homes have everything cleaned and shined down to the last millimeter, with the latest in everything. And people are such snobs about wanting the best of everything, I guess to keep up with the neighbors or impress one another, or maybe people get enjoyment out of making their house resemble a magazine feature.

Also, it used to be that a working car was good enough; now people feel ashamed if they don't have the latest and it better be a brand that impresses others. In other words, I see a lot of pretension about wealth and also in all social classes, there seems to be a preoccupation about cleanliness being all-important, to the point that no speck of dust is tolerated and the fixtures/tiles/furniture better be new; no old and comfy sofas allowed.

Lawns used to be simply mowed and it was expected that some of it grew over the sidewalk edge; only mansions had gardeners that would trim and edge, but now, in suburbia, you'd better trim and edge and even fertilize or you'll get a note from the homeowner's association; anything less than perfection is unacceptable. Previously just making sure the grass didn't grow too high was all anyone expected.

Just looking for the thoughts and observations of others on what seems like a major society shift. Or maybe not - have people always been preoccupied with perfection in their possessions and their housekeeping and I just didn't know any of them till recently?