I’m in the midst of painting – and hoping for one more warm(ish) day to finish – but most of the guest bath is now done.
With the guest bath nearing completion, I’m turning my thoughts (and wallet) to “my” bathroom – the one for which I cut a doorway from my bedroom into the original bath through what was the tub wall.
It’s a 7′ x 10′ space in which there will be a toilet and 5′-long vanity (that I’m building), and an adjacent 3’6″ x 10′ shower room. (With a curb – a walk-in is too complicated.)
I’ve long been coveting Tuilikivi 2″ soapstone hex tiles for the entire floor…but my eyes are (much) larger than my home reno account. So my plan is to buy the 33 sq. ft. (or so) of the soapstone tiles I need for the shower floor, and choose something else – something far less dear – for the rest of the flooring. But what?
I want it to be at least semi-appropriate to 1906 (and I’m not one to hop on design trends), so I keep vacillating between 1″ hex tile and penny tile, both in white. Either way, I’d use a grey grout that picks up the color of the soapstone tile in the shower. The vanity top will be soapstone, to a) tie it visually together and b) I just love soapstone. The walls will be white subway tile (up to the top of the shower head in the shower, and to a chair rail in the rest of the space).
This week, I’m leaning toward the penny tile; I like the difference in shape. Last week, I was leaning toward the hex tile; I like the continuity of shape.
At least I’ve narrowed it down to two!
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The guest bath looks fabulous. Your plans for your bath sound equally so.
Tough call. Do you have samples of each the penny tile and hex pattern that you can lay down and look at for a while to see what feels right to you?
Yoyr guest bath looks wonderful! We just did black and white 3/4 hex in our bathroom reno with black grout to tie in with the baseboards etc. We love it but man it takes a lot of grout!
Love the sharp look of the white fixtures with the dark walls and the curtain that ties it all together. Just lovely! (I like the penny tile as something a bit different.)
I’m having a hard time visualizing your bathroom. A 7×10 room with 3.5×10 taken up by the bath leaves you with a 3.5×10 remainder. Stick in a vanity and you’ll be standing in the shower to use it, right?
I should have used “adjacent” (and just changed it). The “old” bath is 7′ x 10′; alongside it was the hallway one used to enter it. I’m closing that hallway off, and it is becoming the shower, with the old door into the bathroom now the door from the bathroom into said shower. So the overall space is 10’6″ wide x 10′ long…but they were already separate spaces, so I’ve gone on thinking of them as such.
Don’t compromise… You have to live with it every day, so get the good stuff. Life is too short for those sorts of regrets… A small luxury.
I’m guessing you’re thinking OSB infused with epoxy is not 1906-ish.
It’s interesting how the penny tile creates a negative hexagonal shape with the grout lines. I like it. But I think the hexagonal tile still pulls ahead slightly. Just slightly.
I agree with Alan, though. Don’t try and skimp to save one or two hundred dollars because you’ll be looking at it for (hopefully) a long time. My mom made that mistake and complained about her dining room rug for 25 years. Because she tried to save a little money and didn’t get the one she wanted the most.
I vote for the penny tile. It makes you do a double take. Hex by any other name… would still be hex.
BTW, your manse is coming along swimmingly. Brava!
I think the darker one for the entire area might be too much dark. I would also see if a white hexagonal the same size as the soapstone is available. Not sure the round goes with the hex as well as hex and hex.