Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Where to start?????

I am planning on doing some remodeling in my bathroom. I would like to replace the tile on both walls and floor. The tile in on the walls wraps around the tube/shower area and then continues around the remainder of the bathroom covering the lower half of the walls. I want to remove all of the tile and then only replace tile around the tube/shower area. What is the best way to remove the existing tile? Is there cement board behind the tile? Will that have to be replaced also?

Kimberli, welcome to the forums! Depending on when your house was built will tell whether or not there is a possibility of durock behind the tile in the wet area. It is not absolute, however. Removing tile will also remove part of your sheetrock surface, so be ready to skim coat it to bring it back.
I don't want to scare you, but you are in for a long project, and none of it will be easy. If you are up to it, we will be here to give you our expertise and advice. You are at a position of not knowing, right now. You will have to dive in and start removing the tiles in order to find out if there is any cbu behind it.

How old is the house, value of the house?? This may sound like a wierd question, but older and upscale houses had full mud walls and floors. They are not easy to get out, and the new floor needs building up to support tile. If it was a tract house built after 65-70, it is likely tile on drywall(for the walls). Easier to just tear it all out and start fresh. Floors could still be mud= subfloor, wire mesh, 1-1 1/2" of mortar, then tile.

Correct me if I am wrong, but you want to remove the half wall of tile as it exits the shower area, but leave the tile in the shower. On the half wall of tile, how far does it jut out from the wall? It is important to know if you have tile installed directly on the original wall plane, or if the wall is built out with lath and concrete. You can tell by the bullnose piece on top. If it is only about 3/8" thick, we are good to go. If it is about 1 1/4" thick, then we need to drop back and punt. Let me know about this so we can make a decision as to whether to proceed or not.