House Update 4: Tile

This past week was the week of tile laying, and week 7 of this project. It’s crazy how much time has passed and yet how little time. I’m in awe of how much Chad has gotten done especially since you can never fully anticipate which projects will take more time and what will hold you up.

So before we get to the good stuff, let me just tell you I’ve spent a WHOLE lot of time in tile stores (with a grumpy 3-yr-old and 1-yr-old). I’m pretty sure they’d be happy if they never had to set foot in a tile store again. But really they’ve been good sports since I’ve dragged them all over the valley for weeks.

Tile sounds simple, but I’ve realized it’s not. We’ve gathered samples, consulted friends and each other, and gathered more samples. We’ve disagreed about our favorites, did a little trade off (we ended up going with my favorite option in the kitchen and then Chad’s favorite option the master bath), and ended up with some beautiful spaces.

Side note: I am amazed at how much Chad and I have grown in our style and understanding of each other as we’ve worked together on our homes. Our first home was my first time picking finishes and trying to find my style. And while it turned out pretty well in the end, there were definitely things I wish I’d done differently. And there were a lot of tears since we were renovating for the first time. Now we’re more inclined to work with each other’s ideas and come up with a cohesive look that I’m really happy with. 

Want a little peek? I’ll do a post later on with all the details of the finishes by room and where we got them, but for now I just wanted to share the work process and where we are with everything.

The kitchen floor was first, and I LOVE how it turned out. The tiles are 16″ x 24″ which is a bit of an unusual size but you still get the rectangular shape with a bit more weight. And we staggered the layout in thirds so it’s really neat to see it on an angle. We also went with a grout that blends perfectly, so it’s a really subtle, sophisticated look. Here it is right before it got grout.

Then the main bathroom we kept the original tile floor and only had to tile the shower surround. We went with a fun vertical stripe of accent tile, and it’s beautiful.

The laundry room got a simple 12″ x 24″ tile that echoes the kitchen tile in the pattern (and has a textile-like finish–so perfect for laundry).

And the master bath got penny tiles (Chad’s pick–I was campaigning for hexies, but this is really nice, timeless option we’ll never regret) on the *heated!* floor and a 3-d like tile accent that’s really cool.

It took the tile guys a full week to do all this work, and I’m just grateful Chad didn’t have to do it all. It would have taken so much more time by himself.