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Carrara Marble clashes with Kohler Biscuit fixtures aaaggghhhh!

10 years ago

First a little whine to go with my wine... I am doing a forced remodel of my master bathroom. Thank you Newport Brass (sarcasm intended), their insanely expensive piece of garbage brass temp balancing valve fractured resulting in a flood in my master bath and formal dining room. (Their horrible 1 year warranty won't even provide a replacement valve!). Thank goodness for homeowner's insurance!

Now to the reason for this post. This is our forever home and I never want to do this again. I want a classic, timeless look in my bathroom. The marble I had was a dreamy creamy super light taupe with white veining but now, nine years later, it is not coming out of the mountain looking at all the same - it's nearly peach and tan. Therefore, the bathroom is a total gut except I'm keeping the claw foot tub, toilet and sinks which are Kohler Biscuit. Biscuit looked great with the creamy dreamy marble.

What to do with the bathroom floors, wainscot, and shower? I will also need to choose a new slab as my counters also matched the marble tile. I have been paralyzed with indecision. I want natural stone but I'm not totally opposed to an amazing fake. My first choice would be calacatta but my budget for marble tile according to the insurance is $8 sf. My second choice is Carrera, but I put a sample next to the biscuit tub and ugh, it looks horrible. Is there an affordable white marble out there that has a little warmth to it without being beige or brown? I don't like travertine or crema marfil... I'm a crow, I like shiny, sparkly things.

Suggestions?

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Comments (5)

akcorcoran
10 years ago
Hi!

I'm not sure if this is the look you're going for but I had the same dilemma with Kohler Biscuit!

I wanted a light bathroom but it couldn't be white, so I went with a tile that has white and then cream veins in it for my accent tile because I also had Biscuit Kohler sinks and a tub.

Then I saved $ by going with a Daltile CrossCut Porcelain tile that mimics a marble (the polished version really looks amazing! I think it's called San Michele and the color was "crema") and the same product in bigger 12" x 24" pieces for our shower. I was nervous that those big tiles would look to modern but they are laid in a 70/30 pattern and the marble/veining looks really pretty while also giving it a slightly updated look.

Basically I covered the most square footage with the less expensive tile (I think it worked out to right around $6-8 sq/ft) and then use the accent tile (Cloud 9/Del Greco, it was called) more sparingly b/c it was more expensive.

Our marble countertops and the tub surround are then Breccia Oniciata marble. It's a creamy, dreamy marble that - importantly to me! - ISN"T white or light based so that over time, it will age well.

Here's a few pics - you can see the porcelain on floor, the accent around tub and sink backsplash and then the marble. and then a link to the Cross Cut tile b/c it was the biggest savings. Can provide more info if you're interested.

Let me know if you'd like me to get more specific information or the names of any of the particular tiles!

Good luck! I lived in analysis paralysis for months and months. Once I pulled the trigger, I just moved to the "love" stage!

Here is a link that might be useful: Crema tile (look for that color on this sheet)
busybee3
10 years ago
we have royal oyster marble in our bath- shower walls and bathroom floor... it has a fair amount of color variation- with white veining and some darker tan shades of veining in a creamy/taupey backround--overall a relatively light tile, imo. i really like it. altho we have white fixtures, i think something like that would look nice with biscuit too.
(i paired it with dark cabinets and dark granite vanity top, etc.)
i don't remember the exact price/sqft, but it wasn't an expensive marble.
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Ok, here are the details. MASTER BATH: All tile from Artistic Tile. Wall and floor tile is a porcelain wannabe. I think it's one of the best i've seen. It's called Exedra Calacutta. Floor is in 18 x 18s on the diagonal and the wall tile is 9 x 18 brick laid. The feature tile is Danse Lucido Vetromarmi collection water jet tile with glass and calcutta marble. The glass subways are Pavarotti Pearl. The vanity is the 72" British Cane vanity from Modern bath. The top is Carrara marble which came with the vanity. I thought it would clash horribly with the calcutta tile, but we actually really like the contrast and will probably keep it. The tub is a Victoria & Albert lava stone soaking tub. Toilet is the Toto SoirÃÂ©e one piece. The wall color is Benjamin Moore Moonshine. Light fixtures from Overstock.com DOWNSTAIRS GUEST BATHROOM: Vanity was already there - we repainted it 'Wenge' and put in two Toto sinks and Costa Esmarelda granite. Floor is Crema Marfil and Dark Emperador hexagons. They sell it at Avalon Tile but we got ours from Glasstilestore.com for way less. I just LOVE it. The shower floor is crema marfil hexagons and the wall tile is a simple crema marfil 12 x 12 both from Garden State Tile. Toilet is another Toto SoirÃÂ©e. Wall color is Benjamin Moore Oatmeal. UPSTAIRS GUEST BATH/ BABY'S BATHROOM: Reused vanity painted white, added Toto sinks and a polished limestone counter top. Floor is a porcelain slate effect red/ brown 12 x 12 which we had bought a ton of to do our sun room and then never used. It was super cheap at $1.99/ sqft. We laid it staggered on the diagonal. Wall tile is Adex off white crackle subway from Garden State Tile. The tub is the Kohler Devonshire. Wall color is Sherwin Williams Autumnal. We plan to put a fun and funky chandelier in this bathroom just to add a little more fun. I figure it could be toned down in the future by painting it a quieter color, but for the baby's room we love it!
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jacqueline5
Original Author
10 years ago
Gorgeous bathroom ak! Alas, I really want to go much lighter. Looking at the porcelain versions of calacatta but going from the real thing to tile is difficult. I can't find one that doesn't look like a fake that isn't outrageously expensive. The other alternative I'm also seriously considering is having miracle method refinish my tub to white and switching out the toilet and sinks. With white I can go with more affordable statuary or carrera. Indecision paralysis is driving me crazy!
jacqueline5
Original Author
10 years ago
Busy bee do you have photos to share? I'd love to see your bathroom!
nycbluedevil
10 years ago
I used botticino marble. Definitely creamy.

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