Tile

I love going to tile stores.  It's just fun walking around and

imagining all the possible combinations for various imaginary rooms.

It seems like every time you go, there's something different.

I wish I could say picking out the tile was as much fun as the Bathroom Goddess

made picking out the fixtures.  At this store, the salesperson sucked every bit of joy

out of the process.  No creativity, no suggestions on alternatives for the tile I wanted

that was $60 per tile.  I felt like I was just the next person she was stuck dealing with

and she couldn't wait to get my order taken care of so she could move on the next victim.

My next bathroom tile will come from Home Depot or Amazon.

Anyway, back to the tile.

There seems to be a lot of subway tile variations right now.  I think

the crocodile pattern is great but many of these seem juvenile.

And who's going to clean all those little bumps?

My favorite are the marbles.

Hexagons, basket weaves, greek keys...I love them all.

One of the most unique things I saw was this "braided" marble tile.   Each of

little pieces is about one inch by two inches.  Really, really beautiful.

I decided to go with a 4-inch by 12-inch subway tile on tub surround.

I think it strikes a nice balance of a classic tile in a more modern shape.

And 40% off.

It doesn't hurt that bigger tile = less grout to clean.

On the rest of the walls, I'm going to be doing a horizontal planking

of some kind capped off with a chair rail. 

In the tub/shower surround I continued that chair rail with a Greek key mosaic.

The floor.

I was planning to use wood on the floor to provide continuity of

color and material but once I started talking to Sam, my contractor, about

radiant heating in the floor, I quickly changed my mind to tile.

So I chose this faux wood porcelain tile in 9x36 inch "planks."

This is Ergon Wood Talk in Beige Digue.

It's incredibly realistic and it's apparently quite popular because it's

backordered a little bit.

I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about this choice.  I'm usually VERY

definitive about my choices and I'm a little ambivalent about this one.

I just joined the 21st Century and got an iPhone.

If you already found me on Instagram, you'd know my

Greek key border arrived yesterday.  Follow along if you'd like!

I'm really enjoying Instagram.  It gets me out and about a lot more and

makes me pay more attention to my surroundings.  I think Instagram is best 

to show details, textures, shapes and contrasts.  Close up and personal.  It's amazing

the things you can find when you're really paying attention.