Hi there - I can't seem to find a tile that gets me excited for this stairway landing. We just replaced the back door, and this landing is at the top of our basement stairs. The stairs and the floor leading to the landing are both white oak. I like 12x24 solid-color porcelain tiles, but I can't find a color that looks great. The square brown tile is too big, I think (the landing is only 3' x 3') and too close to the color of the wall without matching. The lighter colors just seem... wrong to me. We have a dark brown constrast wall that you can see here- the other walls nearby are a caramel color; trim is white. Does anyone have great ideas? Thanks in advance!

The best DESIGN option = same tile throughout. The sad thing is the tile may no longer be available. Now you are into some weird design elements that no one explained at the time you installed the wood-look tile. In essence you have "wet" areas that are covered in "wood". You are now looking at having to put traditional looking tile or stone in the living areas normally reserved for wood. This is Bass Akwards in the eyes of many (myself included). Personally, being a cork flooring expert, I would replace carpet with cork floating flooring. It is soft and quiet and is NOT wood looking. But I know cork and I know how to live with its eccentricities. I'm 1% of the population. The other 99% can't handle cork. In an ideal world, you would have used a stone look tile in the kitchen areas and a wood-look tile for the rest of the house because that's traditionally where you would put wood. I would check to see if you can find the original wood-look tile. Be aware you will have issues with colour - assuming you can find the same product. Photos of what you are dealing with could help us.

The vinegar isn't strong enough to clean 'oil' prints like skin oils (foot prints). You need a better 'degreaser'. Your situation is one of the most complained about. Dark, low-gloss flooring showing oil prints. You can try a spritz of Windex on a tile, let it sit for 30 seconds then wipe it up. Spritz the tile again and then wipe up immediately with a NEW cloth. Walk away for a n hour or so. Then go back and 'reassess' the tile you just cleaned. If you can see the difference then you know you are on the right track. One of the issues with 'air drying' is the water evaporates off but the GUNK is left behind. It's kinda like smearing mud around without removing the mud. A towel dry is a better option for low-gloss floors. It ensures you get the water AND the gunk off (the stuff you were trying to clean in the first place).

needs a littlle more attenyion than just the tile, heating and paint. Are you really lovin' that tub and tile surround???? One note of caution with the heated floor and tile installation. Lay down the heating material on the entire floor. Saving money by only heating a 'path' will result in uneven floor tile. Just a little uneven edge on a tile is a pain on a tiled floor. This is a bare feet nuisance easily avoided.