We're in the middle of our masterbath remodel and I went with a monochromatic theme. I have almond porcelain tile on shower walls, accented with chocolate brick 1 x 2's...tub surround coordinates with almond and chocolate, floor of the shower is the chocolate bricks and the bathroom floor will be beige toned porcelain. I elected to paint the walls taupe. The paint just went in and at first I felt like I walked into a brown cardboard box, no color in the room. But as my daughter in law points out, putting the color into towels and accessories and window treatments allows me to change colors easily. I can always swap out towels to change my whole color palette. If I had elected to paint the room something other then a neutral color then I'd be repainting when my mood changes. So keeping it neutral and accessorizing with colors makes sense to me. This time around I'm going with red accents, in the future I may switch to blue or aqua.....but at least I won't have to paint!

I'd just make sure the guys doing the tile install have used Kerdi before. It's certainly not nuclear physics, but I'd be happier if they had done one or two before you. If they haven't done one before, I'd want to make sure they sat and watched the Kerdi video completely...probably a couple of times. I'd also advise you to watch it yourself. You don't need any expertise to watch the video and double check your workers work. Again, I'd advise this if they've never done it before. If they've done a couple, leave them alone. Personally, I'd still watch the video and check up on their work. It would just be long after they've gone. You want a good install, but you don't want to be a pain in the @ss either. Laying the tile over the Kerdi can be tricky. Layering the different seams can make it tough to get a flat plane with the wall tile. Again, an expert should have no problem. My first experience...I'm not a pro by any stretch, but I do know which end of a hammer to swing...definitely had a learning curve.

I am looking for input here. I wipe the crema marfil shower and open the window, but still get some grout mold and this is after I had shower regrouted and sealed. Cleaning people recommend bleach and Bona. They use Bona also on the floors, also crema marfil. So yesterday they were washing the windows with hot water and some drops of liquid soap. After they were gone I noticed many large water spots across the floor. I called the service owner and he said the water melted the surface the Bona builds up. To fix this I was to get some 0000 steel wool, lightly sand the spots and then drip in the Bona to cover the spot holes. OK. So does anyone know if this makes sense or should I hire a stone person to come in and resurface the shower and vanity? And if Bona is not recommended, what is?

Use a poultice of hydrogen peroxide and baking powder. Mix and make it the consistency of a runny paste. 1st slather on a tiny bit in a corner, let it dry to a cakey crust overnight and remove. Make sure it didn't do any harm. If it didn't, repeat and place on stained area. Close area off as it is not good for pets. Afterwards, seal if you haven't already or reseal if its been awhile,