Ohhh, you guys. The hours—HOURS AND HOURS—I spent looking at tile. On Pinterest and in real life. Eyes glazing over, scrolling through images on my computer. Ogling super expensive cement tiles, waffling about cement-LOOK tiles. Schlepping kids around and trying to prevent them from breaking everything in the tile stores. Grabbing samples and returning them, and grabbing more samples, and starting the process all over again.
Here are some of said samples:
With the shower tile more or less narrowed down, that left me with the floor tile. This was such a huge task for me. Because it's so permanent! We will have to look at this tile for years and years and years to come (because Lord knows Cliff is not going to want to do this again anytime soon!). It still scares me to think how many times I changed my mind before finally choosing tile. If I changed my mind ten times in two months, what will I think of my choice in two years?!
My Advice:
1) If you can't stop thinking about a certain tile or look, just GO WITH IT. Don't waste weeks researching and looking at other things only to circle back around to it. It took so long to make this decision because I was paralyzed by my fears: of it going out of style, of not liking it once it was laid down. But let's face it: unless you stick with something classic (which I sorrrt of tried to do), it's going to eventually go out of style. As long as it's not too wacky, you're going to be fine.
2) Don't get too hung up on one particular tile, but focus more on the overall look you want. You will hit snags if you're buying the right tile for your project—you won't be able to prevent every setback, so just expect some sort of snag. I had fiiiiinally decided to go with a classic small hex tile. But all that agonizing would turn out to be in vain: we ordered the tile and picked it up a few days later. Cliff started to do some more research, and he discovered that this particular tile wouldn't work with the underlayment he chose. We had to pay a restocking fee, and I would have to start the decision process alll over again. Gah! Talk about disappointing! To me, at least. Cliff, on the other hand, was probably really glad that we wouldn't be going with what he termed "Public Bathroom Tile". Anyway, this turn of events is what forced me to finally go with my gut and order the tile that I couldn't stop thinking about:
 |
| Annata Porcelain Field Tile in Charcoal Gray |
We ordered the tile and waited. I had read from reviews on Wayfair that the shipments for certain products could take a long time, and that some people experienced delays and had to hound Wayfair. I always think "That's not going to happen to me" when I read those kinds of reviews. Well it did! The shipment stalled en route, thus delaying our project for the umpteenth time. We had really wanted to finish the floor before Cliff's family visited, but it quickly became apparent that this was too ambitious.
Tile Stores
I'm still no tile expert, but I've been to a few tile stores, and I will say this about them:
Arizona Tile has a kids' play area! This was SO helpful. Also, while their prices might SEEM a little high, we found that the quality of the tile was superior to a lot of the stuff Home Depot and Lowe's is selling. HD and Lowe's are perfectly fine for certain things, but just check the reviews before you buy. If you're going to have to buy MORE boxes of cheap stuff because the tiles are inconsistent or broken, you might think about just buying something from a reputable tile store. This is where we ended up buying the white subway tile for our shower.
Bedrosian's is a mixed bag. They have a wide selection, especially if you're wanting wood-look tile. We got a lot of tile-related accessories here. But OMG their customer service is the WORST. They are incredibly disorganized. Expect long wait times. Expect them to tell you they have something in stock only to wait half an hour to find out they really DON'T have it in stock. Then expect to call and call to check on your order, because they certainly won't call you when something does come in.
Wayfair is where we finally landed for the floor tile. Somehow, none of the brick-and-mortar tile stores I visited carried the floor tile we ultimately ended up with. Which sorrrt of brings up that whole fear thing of mine—if the big stores don't even carry this, is it just super trendy and going to go out of style soon?? I suppose Wayfair just has a wider variety. Anyway, the shipment problem wasn't a huge deal, but if you have a serious time constraint, just be aware that delays are a real possibility. It's also really hard to tell what the tiles look like, even when people post pictures in their reviews.
My Horrible Photoshop Mockups
I used paint.net to mock up the bathroom in order to help me decide on vanities, fixtures, and tile. I probably spent way too much time on these, but it was kind of fun to use my meager "Photoshop" skills.
 |
| I loved this vanity for its mid-mod look, but it was significantly taller than most tallish new-style vanities. Not right for a kids' bathroom. :/ |
 |
| The actual vanity we chose + the ORIGINAL tile we bought (but couldn't keep) |
The final verdict
For the flooring, after all those hours and restocking fees, we ended up going with one of the first tiles I laid googly eyes on:
For the shower, I knew I wanted subway tile. We went with a large white subway tile from Arizona Tile.
 |
| The salesperson was unable to explain why the identical white subway tile above the circled one was more expensive, so we went with... the cheaper one. |
I can't write about tile anymore. Goodnight.
Comments
Post a Comment