Thanks all, we're very pleased with how it turned out.
Being a tile contractor myself, let me say, thanks for sharing! Very nice layout and detail. I love that black/white contrast. And of coarse the drain cover is just too cool!
Unfortunately, I can't take credit for the actual tiling. I started the project, intending to do everything myself - designed every last detail down to using Schluter Rondec to frame the niche, bought all of the material, etc., but ran into a few issues that both took up the time I had allocated to finishing it, and got my wife a little nervous about me finishing up on time.
For starters, the HVAC guys got lazy and ran the duct for my wife's office/4th bedroom through my master shower (likely because it had a fiberglass enclosure and had space under a seat). So, rather than using a floating bench (Better Bench), I had no choice but to move the vent closer to the wall using some flex duct and go with a full corner bench (I already had granite sized and cut for the bench, so I REALLY wanted to keep it and not spend more money on a new piece):
Then, in a rush to finish the work for the day, I decided to let my sawzall eat some PVC drain for a snack. Oops. On top of that, the plumbers got lazy and ran the pex through the floor of the shower instead of the base plate in the stud cavity - somebody had already drilled the holes, but they decided not to run them through. So, I had to cut the under the floor, and reroute them through the plate. Easy fix, but annoying.
Ah well, that's what I get. Luckily, there was enough meat left on it to get a coupler in there. Here's a shot of the Kerdi membrane, in all it's orange glory:
I can take full credit for the demo of the old enclosure, framing of the new shower, and design of everything that you see in the picture, though. The guy who I hired to finish the job worked with me, since I already had the material, and knew exactly what I wanted. I would have loved to have done this myself, but the wife won... this time.
Where did your wife buy the drain? I must have one.
Designer Drains is the manufacturer of these drain grates. They have a TON of designs for many different types of drains. Mine so happened to be a Schluter drain, so here's a link to their "Oceanus" series Schluter drains to get you started:
http://www.designerdrains.com/schlutersquaredrains-oceanus.aspx. They're a bit pricey, IMO, but the fact that my wife actually FORCED me to buy it tells me that it's worth it.
