I have 40 SF of Hate2CUGo Butt Love2 CU Leave I am selling- moving & was going to use it for a backsplash- willing to sell for for discount if you pay shipping in New Orleans Area . Email me at allison@mircost.com if interested

Bottom line is I believe he IS getting a kickback from his tile people. He told me the other night he needed to be paid for taking care of the materials and guaranteeing them... bull I know. He even said he would have to charge me more if we bought our tiles from the designer! He said we were getting into cost plus territory I spoke with my designer and told her that he would be calling her and that if he wants to add his "kickback" so we could use her we would go for it. I just went this am to see his tile person. The woman they use is a sales person. She is NOT a designer. I brought a list in with me to see what I would pay for each piece. I did not get that when I went in... but was assured I would not be paying the retail price on the tiles. So I assume based on the amount I purchase I get a discount. No one told me how much. I love both my designer and my builder and do not wish to give either of them up nor do I want them at each other's throats. I selected them each for the expertise. Both of them are excellent at what they do and I love what I see coming from both. I apologized to both of them for not introducing the two of them before hand. My Designer told me early on to let him know that she also sells items such as tile, counter tops and interior surfaces. I could have sworn we did. I think he forgot. Just got back from seeing his tile person. I went through the entire house and found pieces that were comparable to my decorator's plan and some were actually the same. (everyone has their own marble and travertine for instance) I actually found a few things I liked better particularly for a back porch area which I had yet to address with my Designer. What they don't have and I know they probably cannot get are the decorative accent glass pieces and backsplash I fell in love with. I was told that they are limited to specific companies. So I would never be able to get those pieces from them. What I plan on doing is having both of them total their tile up for the rooms. I may have to decide who we will go with after that. But I am leaning towards buying most of it from his tile place to make him happy and let him know I am going to buy specific glass accents or backsplash tiles from her. I am not sure how that will go over... but I will want I like. And if his Tile people don't have it then he will have to accept that. Our Builder gave us a fixed price to build the whole house and then added in some of the extras that we were doing ... cost for a custom staircase that he is building, stone frplace that he is building (still don't know if that includes the materials!), and for the extra glass and doors to enclose our LR and DR. Then he gave us a sheet that specified his allowances. He didn't even specify our countertop prices (said granite) and we had to call him for that price. We choose this builder specifically bc he does all his own wood (cabinets included). And the work is ALL custom done bc he has his own woodworking shop. His woodwork is stunningly beautiful. His contract gave us the allowances... $3.50 for tile per square foot which is LOW. And we will be going over. So I do not understand why it matters where we go to him. He did NOT specify ANYWHERE in the contract that we had to use HIS SUPPLIERS. He said it was assumed based on the contract. (Sorry that doesn't cut it!) Bottom line. His tile lady said we will not pay the price that was on the front of the tiles. We would get a discount. She said he does NOT get a kick back from them (something that some builders get... you pay for the tile and when he picks it up he gets a rebate or a commission fee back from the tile company). But for all I know they could be lying. All I want is what I fell in love with.

Ok, Rufinorox. Let's see what we can come up with... - Does your contractor friend have an account with a tile warehouse/dealer or do they know a tile sub with accounts that would be willing to pass his discount on to you? Some tile companies may have warehouse/showrooms in your area (Florida Tile has one in ours). Talk with the different designers/reps in the showrooms you go to--outline what you're looking for including budget and see what they recommend. This was the formula that worked for me--I went to too many tile places to count & in the end 2 of them were instrumental in pointing me in the direction that gave me the style & price point I was looking for. When you are with the right person, you will know it--they won't try to push you toward a different style or a higher price point or seemingly insult you with the very few plain boring options they present that you've already viewed at Lowe's. -A white or beige bathroom should help make things easier. I know you're also looking for a little wow factor-i.e. the glass tile border. So in this scenario, you will likely need to decide which is more important--a higher end tile with no border or a lower end tile with the border. Those glass tile sections are expensive as are listello tiles, bullnose tiles, chair rail etc. One thing you may want to consider is splitting those borders in 1/2 lengthwise--it will make for a skinnier accent, but you'll only need 1/2 as much to complete the job. - It will likely be considerably less expensive to only tile the shower surround & floor and just sheetrock behind the toilet & sink. Now if you're going for a period look in the house and the tile behind the toilet & sink is integral to that, I understand. Otherwise, the money could definitely be used elsewhere in the remodel. If the room is 5x8, then you're talking about roughly 70 additional sq ft to tile beyond the surround & floor--that's alot. - Budget sounds good. As it's you're only bath, you are likely going to want the remodel to go as quick as possible, while still getting as much bling & bang for your buck--I would want that too! Plus anyone who comes over to visit will likely be seeing your beautiful masterpiece!What have you set in stone so far that you cannot live without? Can you post brand & model & price you were quoted? Are you dealing with Lowe's for those, an online source or a plumbing distributor company? Are those retail prices or you were given contractor prices? Make sure you're getting the contractor prices especially if you're dealing with someone local. If you're not, then usually you can get them for the contractor price online. When you mention fixtures, I'm guessing you are talking about tub, toilet, sink/vanity & maybe faucets? So that puts you down to a budget of around $2K - $4K remaining for tile? -As far as tile brand, we had the best luck with Florida Tile as far as selection & price went. We were looking at their tile before we found out about their coprorate showroom/warehouse in our area. You may want to look at Pristine, Renaissance & Las Olas from them--cost efficient with a high end look (I can post pics if you would like). The first 2 were $2.00sqft for your basic tiles in multiple sizes and the Las Olas was being discontinued and was $1.72sqft. All come in varying shades of white, grey, beige & brown which would meet your criteria. The last tile pic you posted was actually very similar if not exactly what we wanted to go with in our son's bathroom. Like you are finding, the cost can be prohibitive. We ended up doing a combination of Florida Tile's Pristine 9x18 size set in a brick pattern in alabaster on the shower surround & Las Olas 13x13 tiles on the floor in a diagonal pattern in the Sea Oats color (diagonal setting with large tiles in a small room makes the space seem larger). I think it turned out just as nice if not nicer. We opted to go without the accent tile in the boys' baths even though we had fallen in love with one similar to the one you've chosen (ours was made up of squares though). DH made a good point that no one would be checking out the boys' baths & they won't be living here forever, so why spend the extra? In your case, with just the one bathroom, I think it would be money well spent. I hope this helps!

JLC, I like the center of that tile, but I'm not so crazy about the "studded" border. Sophie, that looks good, though I can't see a price. My secret hope: I'll find something at the Highland Games this summer. That probably won't happen, which is why I say it's my secret hope instead of my plan!