We’ve also selected our tiles for the upstairs washroom and laundry room floor. Some of the selections are the same as the downstairs washroom since we believe in having some consistency throughout the house.
Here’s the photo with explanation underneath (keep in mind that these photos don’t do the tiles justice):
The grey is for the floor (same as the basement). It will also be the floor in the laundry room. The white subway tile is for the side walls of the shower. The glass subway tile is for the majority of the back feature wall of the shower. The glass / carrera random brick tile at the top (not the best sample but it will be stunning) will be used as a two foot band running across the back wall of the shower.
We’re using Olympia for most of our tiles since the price is good. The glass / carrera random brick is from Saltillo.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Giovanna // Feb 23, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Hi, I recently started reading through your blog - it’s a great source of information, as my boyfriend and I are planning to buy our first house and we need all the help we can find to make a good decision. I have some questions/comments that I hope you will have time to answer. First: you said you decided to buy the house almost on the impulse (hot market, I know). Did you walk in knowing you were to make a lot of renovations? Did you look at the house as a fixer-upper? Second: I am glad you decided to keep the rad heating system. In Europe (where I am from) it is the norm. It might make the air too dry, but you can easily buy ceramic vessels to hung on the rads and fill with water (but you probably knew about this cheap trick). Now there are on the market very attractive/high efficiency elements. My father installed one rad in his bathroom that doubled as a towel warmer/hanger! I am always concerned about laying many layers of floors and drywall as they might make the weight too high for the structure. I am not familiar with wooden frame buildings - do you have a rough guide to decide when it’s time to call in the engineer? Do you reckon better/cheaper/saver to remove the many layers or strengthen the bearing walls? And one last thing: you have painted the main floor all in the same white. Isn’t that too boring? How are you planning to liven it up? Thanks and my compliments for the great job you’re doing!
2 anke // Feb 23, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Hi Giovanna
We knew that this house would need extensive renovations. It was two apartments so the work was clear. We knew that essentially we would have to go room by room and do a lot of renovations over a long period of time. We budgeted for this expense but as always we have gone over.
Yes, we LOVE our rads. It is much less dry then forced air and given that we have a dog it is nice that the dog air isn’t flying around as it was in our old house.
I’m sorry but we can’t comment on when it is time to see a structural engineer. Our view is that if you are concerned you should consult one. You can never be too sure.
Finally, yes, a lot of our house is white. We use furniture, flooring, art, photos, pillows, and tile to complete the picture.
All the best.
3 Amanda // Mar 31, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I was looking at the same glass/carrera tile from Saltillo as our kitchen backsplash. I’ve love to see pictures of the finished product. (p.s. love the blog)
4 anke // Apr 1, 2009 at 1:07 pm
We are having some problems getting that tile in right now. They put an order in for the wrong tile when I first ordered it 5 weeks ago! I’m so disappointed as the next shipment won’t arrive until mid May and we’ll be ready for tiling within the next two weeks. I’m going to have to go back and pick out a 2nd option…
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