too many tile choices

14 years ago

Old house built in 1922. The bathroom being remodeled is the upstairs family bath, no master bathroom. It is shared by me, hubby, and 11 yr old son. It is a small bathroom, only 7' 7" x 8' 7". No room for a seperate tub and shower.

I have been planning this bathroom for 2 years now. I have the tub already purchased, almost all the plumbing fixtures purchased, sink is picked out, and cabinetry will be custom. I am stuck on the tile.

I like everything. Makes choosing tile difficult. This problem is delaying the process considerably.

Do I go for the historically appropriate hex floor/subway wall?

Or the elegant look of white statuary marble?

Or the ever popular, rich earthy brown tones of some stones?

Or the modern glass tile look?

How do I pick when I like it all?

I have tried the pros and cons of everything, but that does not help, cause they all equal out, lol!

Any suggestions? Should I just flip a coin?

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Comments (2)

just_julie
14 years ago
I'm the same way, I like EVERYTHING!

Let your husband and son decide. It will make them feel included in the process.
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kimkitchy
14 years ago
angie, I just want to commiserate and say, "boy, do I know how you feel!". Tile choices were the hardest thing for me during our 1913 bungalow kitchen and, later, bath renovations. I couldn't get over how much there was from which to choose. It was overwhelming!

Style:
Does your home have a consistent style throughout? Is the rest of your home "original"? Do features from 1922 remain? Is there a feeling you are trying to evoke in your home as a whole? Would one style or another look totally out of place with the rest of your home? Or do you embrace the "eclectic"? What would look best with the cabinetry you've picked out?

Practicality:
Since this sounds like a hard working family bath, you want materials that are going to hold up well to use. Can you tolerate stains and etching in marble? White is not a problem, as far as color for ceramic/porcelain tile, but I think it is terrible as a color for grout. So, think about both. Test natural materials before you purchase them; drip shampoo on them, leave water standing on them, etc.

Small spaces:
(I'm sure others will disagree but...) I do think lighter colors make smaller spaces feel bigger. Do you have a window in this bath?

Bring home lots and lots of samples. Invite a friend or relative whose opinion you trust about color to look at your tile samples with your cabinetry choices, etc. (it helped me a lot to show my BIL tiles - he's a printer and has a great eye for color). Don't worry about what's hot in the latest mags (or what's not). In the end, if you "like it all", you can't go wrong! Best of luck with your remodel!
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Hi overlyanxious - yes, I ordered the tile last weekend! I posted in a separate thread "OMG! I ordered the tile!" :-) Ordered the late-breaking Ilva Pietre Travertine in Bianco. Color's a little lighter than I really wanted, but the next shade down was too dark - I really wanted something in the middle! But it's going to look great with the random brick mixed travertine border I ordered. *And* with my cool Asian-influenced light fixture. See the other thread for details! For the completeness of this thread, I'll just mention that my store also had the other Ilva tiles blondelle mentioned: the Crema Marfil, and the Andes Traful. Both are beautiful, but the Andes had too much gray in it for me - I already knew from some of the Daltile samples that I didn't like gray. And the Crema Marfil - I actually don't remember what I thought of it, just that I didn't like it as much as the Pietre Travertine. Don't know much about the upkeep of real travertine, just that it needs to be sealed from time to time, and I had no confidence in my ability to not procrastinate doing it. There are a lot of threads here on that subject - maybe just search for travertine. Sigh about the Daltile. They told me in the Daltile showroom that it was discontinued, not just out of stock; I actually emailed Daltile customer service asking about it and they never got back to me. Maybe it's just as well. My reno is starting on 9/29, so depending when in October the Dal would have been available, it might have been (probably would have been) too late. Here is a link that might be useful: OMG! I ordered the tile!
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Tracey- I love that light fixture by the way. It is similar to one I am thinking of (though honestly, I think yours is more interesting..)and finally a tile decision!!!! WAy to go. As I said previously, I don't think you could have made a mistake with ANY of the contenders. I did go back to your original post just to "re-familiarize" myself with the winner, and I can see why you picked it. I think you will be delighted with it. I looked at the link you gave, and of course I have not seen the stuff IRL or spent the time looking into it, but I thought that some of the borders they had in that line looked quite nice as well. (are they the ones you are thinking of or is it a different one with mixture of noce etc?). Again I have not seen any of these IRL(except of course for the monocibec, daily:)but I did love the versailles one with those glass tiles that Blondell posted. However, it was my experience when I did my time looking for kitchen backsplash - I loved when I saw the glass tiles folks were posting on here, loved them in the stores... but when they came home with me... they stuck out not in the good way, but kind of like "why did she use them along with everything else?". I tried to find the specific ones in that post, and am not sure which ones they are because they are gorgeous and would consider using them as some sort of accent or border... but I think that what you are contemplating will be gorgeous, and RIGHT for you and your home. Enjoy the decision being made. (and sometimes, having a constraint like availability in a time frame is a good thing for indecisive types like myself and many others here). GREAT CHOICE!!!
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You don't mention bosch model, but the nexxt series don't stack, the axxis series does.... I think it sounds like you have a space constraint that would eliminate the whirlpool, lg, and smasung machines (at leat the ones that seem to be the 'popular' models... I'm thinking you've got Frigidaire, Axxis, Asko, Miele, and maybe a sears model to look at... fwiw... my fil had a frigidaire stacked set for literally years... he died before they did, and now the nephew has them...still going strong... I have a bosch, but it's a nexxt... I think the bosch or the asko would be the way to go... personally I think the Miele is way over priced and not worth the extra cash..
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too many tile choices

Comments (2)

just_julie

kimkitchy

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