Bathroom Fixtures to Complete Your Design: How to Choose Them

In what order should you choose bathroom fixtures?

Start with the pieces that set the plumbing: the vanity and sink, the toilet, the shower valve and the tub. Their drains, supply lines and valve bodies go into the floor and walls before tile, so they cannot change later without opening finished work. Then choose the trim that shows: faucets, showerheads, valve handles. Last come lighting, the mirror and hardware such as towel bars and pulls.

Our hub advice is the same: decide on tile, fixtures and glass before demolition, because a change after the tile is ordered or the glass is measured costs time and money (Bathroom Remodeling Across the Greater Seattle Area). The full planning sequence, from budget to permits, is in How to Plan a Bathroom Remodeling Project in Seattle.

Which bathroom vanity and sink should you choose?

Pick the vanity, then the sink that sits in or on its top:

• Undermount sink: sits under a stone or quartz top.
• Integrated sink: the sink is built into the top, as on our Bellevue vanity.
• Trough sink: one long basin with two faucets, as on our Redmond double vanity.
• Vessel sink: sits on top of the counter, so the faucet has to reach over its rim.

Our Redmond master bathroom with the wood slat wall replaced two glass vessel sinks with a wide white trough sink and two wall-mounted faucets on a floating wood vanity. It took about 13 weeks in 2024.

How much water does a bathroom faucet use?

A standard bathroom sink faucet flows 2.2 gallons per minute, and a WaterSense labeled faucet or aerator uses a maximum of 1.5 gallons per minute, 30 percent or more less, according to the EPA WaterSense bathroom faucets page (updated June 2026). Replacing old faucets and aerators saves the average family 700 gallons of water a year, per the same EPA WaterSense page (updated June 2026).

Washington law sets a floor too: under RCW 19.260.040(15) (read October 2026), showerheads, lavatory faucets and replacement aerators, and water closets must meet the California Code of Regulations, Title 20, section 1605.3 in effect as of January 1, 2018.

Which toilet should you choose for a bathroom remodel?

Toilets are nearly 30 percent of an average home's indoor water use, and older ones use as much as 6 gallons per flush, according to the EPA WaterSense residential toilets page (updated May 2026). The same EPA page (updated May 2026) says a WaterSense labeled toilet uses 1.28 gallons per flush or less, 20 percent below the federal standard of 1.6, and is independently certified for performance and efficiency. A dual flush model adds a reduced flush mode for liquid waste.

Keeping the toilet on its existing drain keeps the price down: moving the toilet or shower drain is not in our starting prices.

Sources: EPA WaterSense bathroom faucets (updated June 16, 2026), showerheads (updated March 3, 2026) and residential toilets (updated May 29, 2026) pages.

How do you choose a shower valve, showerhead and rain head?

The valve is chosen first, because it goes into the wall at rough-in. It decides how many outlets you can run: a single head, a head and a handheld, or a rain head, handheld and body sprays. A standard showerhead flows 2.5 gallons per minute, and a WaterSense showerhead uses no more than 2.0 gpm and is tested for spray force and coverage, per the EPA WaterSense showerheads page (updated March 2026).

Our navy Redmond master bathroom has a rain head, a handheld and body sprays on one mosaic wall. It was built in 2023 to 2024 for about $65,000. The black marble-look basement bathroom in Redmond has a square rain panel set in the ceiling over a handheld. How many heads and sprays should run at once in one shower is covered in Bathroom Remodel Dos and Don'ts: Mistakes to Avoid.

Should all bathroom fixtures be the same finish?

No. Our finished baths use one or two. In each, the faucets, shower trim and tub filler share one finish, and a second finish goes on pulls, the mirror frame or the lights.

Our Bellevue bathroom does this. It was finished in 2024 for about $35,000. The faucet and showerhead are brushed nickel, while the integrated sink, the bar pulls and the mirror frame are black. The Redmond open shower master bath pairs brushed nickel valve trim with brushed pulls on its wood vanities. The black basement bathroom in Redmond uses matte black fixtures throughout, set against black marble-look tile.

Which bathtub and tub filler fit your bathroom fixtures?

The tub decides the filler. An alcove tub takes a wall spout and valve on its end wall. A freestanding tub sits away from the walls, so its filler stands on the floor, as in two of our Redmond baths, or mounts on the nearest wall, as in our navy Redmond bath. Both the Redmond wood slat bathroom and the black basement bathroom in Redmond use a floor-mounted filler beside a freestanding tub, and each cost about $100,000 in 2024.

Tub size, depth, floor loading and hot water are covered in Bathroom Remodels With Soaking Tubs: How to Plan One.

What lighting, mirror and fan does a bathroom need?

Our baths light the face from the sides or from behind the mirror. Two sconces at the sides of a mirror, as on the Redmond open shower master bath, light the face evenly. A backlit or lit mirror, as in the black basement bathroom in Redmond, does the same job in one fixture. Add a ceiling light for the room and put each on its own switch, with a dimmer where you want softer light at night.

The fan is a fixture too. The Seattle Residential Code requires local exhaust in every home, so a properly sized bathroom fan is part of the job. Heated floors, steam showers and smart controls need dedicated circuits and planning, our pricing guide notes, so choose them with the lighting, before the electrician roughs in. Our pricing guide lists a heated floor option from the small bath Luxury level and a towel warmer in the large bath Super-Luxury level.

What does a bathroom fixture upgrade cost at each finish level?

Fixtures are priced as part of the whole bathroom, by finish level. Each starting price includes a standard material allowance, and upgrades are priced from your selections. The table lists what our small bathroom levels include for fixtures, lighting and the vanity. The full table by size is on our bathroom pricing guide, linked under the table.

Source: our bathroom pricing guide, updated October 2026. A medium bath adds a premium shower system at Luxury ($85,000+) and digital shower controls at Super-Luxury ($125,000+). Permit fees, moving the toilet or shower drain, and upgrades beyond the allowance are priced in writing.

How do we help you choose bathroom fixtures?

At the consultation we measure the room and look at what is under the floor and behind the fixtures where we can. Our designer then helps you choose tile, fixtures and finishes that work together, and you see the bathroom in 3D before you sign off. You get a written, line by line price with each fixture on it. We build bathrooms across 132+ cities in 8 counties, including Home Remodeling Contractors in Redmond, WA.