Another delay but some Pretty Tile!

14 years ago

The 3 week delay on the cabinets that was caused by the three week delay on the floor has turned into four weeks. Sigh. Whatever. I'm very happy not to be Traci stuck in a basement and count my blessings. But I finally found tile for the laundry room!!

I'm impressed with the tile salesman. He was expecting the samples I'd ordered for the laundry room yesterday and I was going to run over and pick them up so I could contemplate over the weekend and make my order Monday. They hadn't arrived by 4:00 p.m. I though c'est la vie. This morning they arrived on my doorstep!! I'm not sure if they redirected at UPS or what. The tile store is closed today, but I have my tile. Tres cool!

And they're SO PRETTY!! I keep turning on my desk light to see them sparkle.

It's Lundada Bay Tile, Sumi-e Izu Natural, translucent glass tiles in 1" squares and 1"x.5" mini-bricks. I don't know if I can keep myself from going nuts and rearranging the tiles to suit myself, but I found a colorway that I love. The colors are very marine: dark to light greens, pale aquas and skys, some almost clear. They have a rough surface (rather than polished) and sparkle. Oh, they sparkle!!

I was originally going to do a figurative mosaic on the wall above the washer, which is what one sees when the door is open, but never found the right tiles. And I LOVE these!

The layout is that there's a cabinet side right next to the sink, which will have about a foot of backsplash, and the sink is right next to the washer. They're enclosed in a niche made by a soffit above and the wall around the waterheater to the right. I can either just do the mosaic as delivered on the cabinet, behind the sink/washer, and behind the dryer (90 degrees from washer, next to other side of WH wall), as a stripe, which could look awesome, or just on the cabinet, then up to the soffit.

I'm really tempted to do it as a pattern up the wall. The larger tiles on the bottom, with the darker colors, and the mini bricks at the top, with the clear colors, and the mixed ones, both sizes mixed together in the middle. That'll add time from the tile setters and another week or more to the ever farther finish date, but it would look so amazing!!

Anyway, I just had to share. Happy 4th Everybody!

This picture, from the web, does not do them justice.

Comments (7)

rubyfig
14 years ago
That is going to be one glamorous laundry room! So happy for you. :)
mom2reese
14 years ago
Oh, I love sumi-e tile! I used it in my kitchen. That's a beautiful color you chose, and I really like the gradient pattern you're thinking about doing. It sounds gorgeous!

Would you mind posting a link to your blog? I seem to recall you having one, but maybe it was someone else?
Related Discussions
Tile Delay and question about sealing tile
Q
Comments (3)
Thanks-I did do this and knew that it would look this way sealed but didn't know if I needed to enhance and seal or if just sealing would do that-perfect I am thrilled to hear that! Thanks
...See More
New baby, should we delay new carpet?
Q
Comments (25)
Congratulations on your pregnancy! Having a baby is a wonderful thing and there is something special about having your first. I thought I had posted but I don't see my post and I wanted to share my thoughts with you. I have 5 children. If you can live with what you have, I REALLY don't think you should replace it, especially if you allow eating outside the kitchen, but even if you don't, kids are just plain hard on carpet. They ruin it with their art supplies, running in and out, spitting up, and in all kinds of other ways you probably can't imagine until it happens. Personally, I would clean it, maybe even invest in a steam cleaner, and keep it for as long as you can stand it. As far as having a young baby on the carpet itself, I don't think that's a good idea if it's new or old. Even when carpet looks clean it's usually not. If you could see underneath it, you'd be shocked at how much dirt, etc. is under there. Our pediatrician actually suggested we take up ours due to my son's asthma. When we took ours up and put down wood and tile his asthma improved, as did his allergies. Plus little ones can pull off fuzz, fibers, debris, etc. and put it in their mouths- and believe me, anything that within their reach that can fit in their mouths will end up there at some point! ;) You could use a blanket or what I did for my twins (they're 7 months now) might work for you. I bought interlocking foam tiles- not the kind w/ letters because babies will take them out and chew on them and because they stretch and start to come out easily and then you'll have to keep putting them back. Later when they're a little more mobile you can get a play yard if you want. I like my play yard because it keeps the babies from getting into things they shouldn't and because I know the area the boys in is always clean since nobody walks on it. The foam tiles are easily sanitized w/ 409 and a rag or a steam mop if you have one. I agree w/ the poster that said if you teach them to eat only in the kitchen you'll save yourself lots of headache in the long run by the way. And one more idea: Have you considered a tile that isn't slick? A slightly textured tile work for your dog and they're just as easy to clean. Congrats again on your upcoming addition.
...See More
delaying backsplash bad idea?
Q
Comments (22)
On Professional type ranges and rangetops you can get different heights of backguards. The island trim is the shortest and requires a non-flammable backsplash material. If your slide-in has a built-in backguard you should be ok but check the specs for your range. They usually call out the potential of fire hazard as they don't want the liability. Good luck with your tile. It took me 5 years to decide in my current kitchen and I'm having just as much trouble planning my new one. There are way too many cool tiles out there.
...See More
how to deal with delays
Q
Comments (15)
My heart went "thud" when I read this. I won't hijack your post by relating all the problems associated with our remodel. As with yours, we based all our arrangements with contractors - other than our KD's installation contractor - on her schedule and her word. Also, like you, trouble initially started with a hint of a slight delay. And, like you, it eventually turned into getting no responses at all. Among the worst of our problems was trying to keep our subs in the loop so they could plan to keep us in their schedules. They were superb craftsmen and really nice people who bent over backwards to accomodate our needs. I felt sick over how they were being jerked around and we were very generous with bonuses to them in the end to try to compensate in some way for their troubles. I hate to say this, but if you can get out of this, I would. We stayed the course and it was very uncomfortable dealing with people once we'd lost trust in their word. Instead of feeling like valued customers, we were made to feel like they were doing us a favor by having taken our job. The delays continued. We discovered that components we'd been told had been delivered and were ready for installation had not even yet been ordered. We let a lot of what most people here would consider unacceptable work (that DH eventually will touch up/repair) get by simply because we needed to get back in our home and have these folks out of our lives. If you can see clear to hit the reset button, you may spare yourself a lot of grief. I wish you the very best as you sort this out.
...See More
mercurygirl
14 years ago
I got a sample of one of the Lunada Bay Sumi-e colors in a mini-brick awhile back for my bath redo and really liked it. They're so pretty.
remodelfla
14 years ago
LOVE that tile plllog. Sumi-e is one of the tiles I have bookmarked.
prill
14 years ago
That's beautiful!
writersblock (9b/10a)
14 years ago
All the Lunada Bay tile is pretty, but that's the prettiest one.
plllog
Original Author
14 years ago
LOL!!! I should have known y'all knew all about this stuff! I haven't really been looking until I firmed up the kitchen tile order last week (all 16 pages of it!).

Glamour!! Rubyfig, that's what I want! Splendid word! I want some glamour in my laundry room, which is otherwise dismal and utilitarian.

Mom2reese, I need to update the blog--when the remodel went on hiatus, apparently so did I! So the new floor isn't up yet, and the preparations and empty kitchens links are still unpopulated. But thanks for asking, it's at www.jcskitchen.net

Another delay but some Pretty Tile!

Comments (7)

rubyfig

mom2reese

Related Discussions

mercurygirl

remodelfla

prill

writersblock (9b/10a)

plllog
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Another delay but some Pretty Tile!

Comments (7)

rubyfig

mom2reese

Related Discussions

mercurygirl

remodelfla

prill

writersblock (9b/10a)

plllogOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

plllog
Original Author