Let the tiling begin!!! I knew he was doing the floor today, but to my surprise, he tiled the sink/toilet wall too! Now I finally get to see what my border looks like with my tile. :-) The main tile is porcelain, but the border is a mixed travertine - have to decide if I want to enhance it. As soon as I can get in there with a wet sponge, I'll figure it out... hope there's enough time to post photos here before I have to make a decision so you all can help me!!! I'm not crazy about the way he tiled the border on the outside corner. He said the border tiles were too fragile to mitre, but I would have butted them together the other way, even though it wouldn't have matched the way the tile and bullnose below are butted (see photo below). I think it would have gone better with the mitered bullnose on top. You know, looking at it, I think I would have preferred he mitred the entire corner... Sigh.

Thanks everyone! I didn't think it would so difficult to choose floor tile, wow! All the tiles I showed are porcelain by Surface Art. Individually, I prefer the travertine and slate look ones BUT I think we have so much going on in the kitchen that I think the two quartz-look ones (light grey & dark grey) are the better choices overall for our space. The problem is I wish there were an option that was halfway between the two grey colors! I do like how the dark quartz looks with our other choices, but am having trouble envisioning it in the entire space and am concerned it's dark enough that it would show every little speck and crumb. The light one seems a bit too light, and seems to tend to the blue side at some times of day. I'm heading back to the tile shop now to see if there's an in between option in another tile brand... Linelle -- our cabinets are through a local shop. The name of the stain is "Late Harvest" (on rustic beech, it looks a lot like natural cherry color) and the paint is "shoji white". If you're in eastern WA / Idaho, let me know and I'll send more info about the shop. thanks everyone! Michelle

I think there are higher end vinyl flooring styles that would give you the look you want and be less prone to odor and stain absorption. I had some great stuff at my last house. I didn't install it, but it looked like tile and wore like iron. Edited to add that I love linoleum and wood flooring, so I would not be saying this unless I really thought there wasn't a better option. But maybe some others who have had linoleum or tile etc. can chime in. My only experience was having vinyl flooring in my last house that I inherited, and being pleasantly surprised at how nice it was, and then having this higher end vinyl tile just installed in my new house and liking it more than I thought I would too because it is somewhat textured so softer on the feet than the older stuff. But I also installed flat vinyl checkerboard flooring on an old clubhouse I was in charge of about ten years ago, and that was simple, inexpensive and looked good in the end. Again, I wanted linoleum, but the vinyl flooring was what was in my price range. I did green and white squares, the tile was lightly marbled.

Well, painting our doors is taking much more time than anticipated! Partly bc we decided to take them off to lay flat and spray for a smoother finish. Plus my husband decided to work on building our shed yesterday so i had to wait for help on a few occasions. But we need a shed so that’s ok! Prep took forever bc the doors are not in great shape. And those darn windows! But I got both doors prepped and we sprayed 1 coat of primer on 1 door. But then couldn’t move it right away and then had to hang them before dark! So we will finish this weekend! I’ll post pics when done. Thank you!