bathtub paralysis

If I've learned one thing about myself in this process, it is that I will never stick to my first decision. I come out of it feeling pretty confident and accomplished .... and then whamo. Change my mind. It's not that big of a deal and honestly kind of expected.

But the bathtub is the latest victim.

I first visited the bathtub decision over a year ago - and walked away with a few takeaways. My visit to Snow & Jones this past weekend only made me feel perplexed about what I want. I know that I want something that feels traditional but also perhaps more important than that ... Timeless. I don't want to walk into my bathroom in 13 months or 3 years and feel like it needs to be changed. I'm very concerned about having "bathtub buyers remorse".

So here are the latest round of specs:

• timeless // above all the things that I care about, this is the most important.
• ceramic, not plastic // the plastic wouldn't bother me at all if we were going with a built-in tub, but for a free-standing tub.... the plastic feels weird and cheap. And this is obviously not cheap.
• faucet hardware is plumbed through the tub // I'd rather the faucet be attached to the tub. I don't know how to describe this any other way but the pictures will help show this
• tub drain is separate // Kohler has recently started to include their weird looking tub drain as part of all their tubs. While this is great and saves you about $300, I just don't like how it looks. I'd like to avoid this

The tub is an indirect centerpiece of the room - so there is no room for error here. Based on the layout, it is visible from the bedroom and sits directly under the windows. I don't want it to be the most interesting part of the bathroom, I want it to just be part of the bathroom.

After doing some online and in-person research, it feels like there are two main brands to be considered: Kohler and Victoria+Albert.

But that dark horse in this whole search? Buying a used tub. After realizing how expensive these tubs are... and my ultimate goal is "timeless" ... should I just buy an old clawfoot tub and refinish it? I have to do a lot more research on this for why its a bad idea but it's hard to argue with a $200 vintage tub that might need $500 worth of love ... as compared to a $3000 tub I haven't fallen in love with.

all inspiration images can be found on this board