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The question

We are tempted to replace our small, 54-inch bathtub with a customized shower, but our friends say we shouldn't remove the home's only tub. If we go ahead with it, are we setting ourselves up for a lower sale price on the home?

The answer

I am such a bathtub person, so I would always choose tub over shower. But it is your house and you are shower people, so carpe diem! You must please yourselves, but your friends are right to caution you: There are plenty of other bathtub people who would simply refuse to buy a house if it lacked a tub, so that means you would be narrowing your pool of potential buyers. (Personally, I am still looking for a house without a kitchen.)

Professionally speaking, I have to say that a house needs a tub. Perhaps a Japanese soaking tub would work, since it is smaller but higher. You could design the bathroom as a wet room and you'd have it all: tub, shower, floor drain, sink and toilet. My advice: Tile the ceiling, install a good fan and let the water games begin. You might even think waterfall.

Architect and interior designer Dee Dee Taylor Eustace's new e-book, Dee Dee's Rules, is available on iTunes. Follow her on Twitter: @ddtaylordd. Have a design problem? E-mail style@globeandmail.com.

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