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Home Decorating

Need advice for tile around fireplace

10 years ago

hello,

I've been posting under flooring and have decided to post here as I need some advice on what kind [color & tile] I should replace the old tile with. I thought of black galaxy granite to match my counter tops. I live in a 2nd floor condo and am taking up the carpet and tile in the sunroom/foyer area and around the fireplace. It's time to replace the carpet [18 yrs old] and was skeptical at first because I live over somebody but then after talking to my neighbors, it seems that everybody is replacing carpet with hardwood/laminate flooring. I was thinking that maybe I could find a small slab of leftover black galaxy granite to use for the fireplace and in front of it. My floors are going to be in the mid range of brownish color [walnut] I don't want too light or too dark. [been looking at Bruce Fruitwood spice]

This is a real challenge for me as there are so many choices out there! Not 3 or 4 but like 20-25!! Makes it difficult as I need others' opinions. So, any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to spend top dollar!! This is a condo albeit it is my home:)

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Comments (8)

peachiepie
10 years ago
Do you have a picture of the fireplace? Hard to recommend with no visual.

Peachie
Tmnca
10 years ago
If you put in laminate or hard floor, invest in a good quality sound attenuating underlayment. It will not only make your downstairs neighbors happy, it makes the floor feel and sound much better quality!

As for the tile, can you post some pictures?
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you can go to any stone fabricator warehouse/store, or stone yard, and ask for a 12x24 (or whatever size you need) remnant. they have tons of them. they usually just throw away the small pieces. Or must you stay with Floor and Decor? if so, look for 12x24 or 24x24 size tiles and use the larger ones for the hearth. you could even look at 24x24 Basalt tiles. a solid black or dark gray would look great against the wood floor. (see my photo above) or, try some of the other tile options I've given. Do you like anything else? what kind of style or furniture are you doing? here's another split-face ledger panel. these usually come in 6x24, or 12x12 sheets. simple to install, and inexpensive. This creamy tan would be a nice neutral w/your floors. The walls in this room are painted Revere Pewter, in case you want to copy the whole thing! do you like these tiles? 8x8 or 9x9 is usually the size. (some are 6x6 too) They mimic the encaustic tile look. Tilebar.com has a lot of them. I think home depot and lowes has them. (search porcelain cement tile look tiles) CleTile has the real cement tiles (the thick ones). in the foreground are glazed brick subway tiles. those would look nice too. Or the Zellige tiles. this is the 4x4 zellige. do you like this look? what you could also do is get the larger 12x24 real marble tiles. like this on the right. use these for the hearth. for the surround, they usually come in a 4x12 size or a mosaic. use that for the surround
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raineygirl
Original Author
10 years ago
Sorry about that. I thought I had uploaded the picture:) I plan on getting the best that goes underneath the laminate flooring. Not sure what it's called but I'll ask for it. Any advice on the fireplace tile?
raineygirl
Original Author
10 years ago
here's another angle of my fireplace and tiled sunroom and foyer. I hear this is a messy job [removing tile] and that dust gets everywhere!
dilly_ny
10 years ago
I just put cultured stone and I think it would be awesome to have the stone wrapped around like you fireplace wraps. Here's mine:

It's Bucks County ledge stone. The greys would blend well with your existing flooring. Here is a close up of the stone (as shown in showroom). There are many different colors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cultured Stone
raineygirl
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks dilly! That's beautiful and that has certainly giving me another idea. I never thought of using stone. I live in a condo and didn't want to spend top dollar for this but I think that is an excellent idea. Question: how does it look if the stone doesn't bump up against the end of a wall? Like the sides of your stone? I wouldn't be doing it to the top where it reaches the ceiling...so was wondering how it would look if its not flat against the wall?
Also, I'm taking up the tile in the sunroom. Putting down laminate flooring. Thanks for the idea!
raineygirl
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks dilly! That's beautiful and that has certainly giving me another idea. I never thought of using stone. I live in a condo and didn't want to spend top dollar for this but I think that is an excellent idea. Question: how does it look if the stone doesn't bump up against the end of a wall? Like the sides of your stone? I wouldn't be doing it to the top where it reaches the ceiling...so was wondering how it would look if its not flat against the wall?
Also, I'm taking up the tile in the sunroom. Putting down laminate flooring. Thanks for the idea!
Tmnca
10 years ago
I think black would be too dark with the darker floors, but the existing grey will be too cool. Perhaps a more brown tone?

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