Tile

It took me forever to pick out floor tile.I chose this 18x18 ceramic tile by MOHAWK. The color is Latte.

http://www.mohawkflooring.com/product-gallery/gallery-ceramic.aspx

 It will go on all the floors except in the master bath. In there we put the same MOHAWK tile, except the color is called Cappuccino, a little warmer color.

I researched all tile, and this is what I discovered about MOHAWK tile: In an age-old creation process, clays are mined, ground to fine powders, blended with water, pressed together to form the body of the tile and finally dried to reduce moisture content.
After being coated with glass-forming minerals and stained with a colored glaze, the tile is fired in kilns at approximately 2000° Fahrenheit to form the finished product  .In their  efforts to bring me Mohawk’s highest-level quality products, they put all of their ceramic tile through standardized industry testing and classification to determine overall performance.

 

This is the MOHAWK cappuccino in the master shower. We picked to lay it in a "brick" pattern, instead of stacked straight. Our builder said, brick pattern used to be popular, but now people are going back to straight, so for that reason, we stuck with brick pattern, because when it comes back in style 10 years from now, we'll be stylish! Actually, I picked it because no one is doing.

And yes, we are putting this same tile on the floor, only in 18x18. Yes you can put floor tile on the walls of a shower but the type of grout that is used it different. I think they use an "epoxy" grout or something. We are putting travertine on the floor of the shower.

That cute little stool in the corner, well yeah, that's an upgrade...and it's made completely of Styrofoam. So tell me why a hunk of Styrofoam costs $200 just because it is shaped in a triangle? I sweet talked the tile guys into tiling it for free...meaning they aren't charging us labor, but we are paying the $200 upgrade for the stool. I just need something to sit on and shave my legs when I'm 60, you know?

Next to the barrel ceiling, this tub area is probably my favorite spot in the house. I purposely got a long tub instead of a rounder one, one with arm rest on the side (see 'em?) and extra jets for old bones. This is my retirement home you know. The band of decorative tile is a glass mosaic that I've been collecting from Lowe's for several months. Every time I go, I buy a square of it. I knew my accent tile would be expensive and I didn't want to buy it all at once, and all upgrades have to be paid at closing in cash...so every time I went to Lowe's, I bought a 12x12 square of this mosaic for the bathroom. It too 14 to do the shower and the tub surround. I got 2 ft from each square. Plus, Lowe's gives a 10% Military discount, so I took advantage of that every time. I'm glad it bought it along, because it's like I didn't spend that much on it at all. And BTW, our budget from the builder was $2 per square foot, and this tile was $10, so we pad $8/sq ft. out of pocket. But, to look at over the next 50 years...God willing, it's worth it, like the shower stool!

My friend Mary Beth (who was also my realtor when I lived here before) http://www.yournewhomeok.com/content/agentpage.html/1855302?brokerid=0&ad_id=336473

put all glass tiles on her bar in her kitchen. She said it's like "jewelry" for your house, and I  think she's right. I love how it sparkles and shines. Only thing is in the shower, and tub area, it will need a swipe of glass cleaner and I imagine you can't use abrasive cleaners since it's glass.

You can't really tell it in the picture, but we went with "Biscuit" colored tub/sink/toilet in the master. I'm glad we did too, because it goes good with the tile. I think white would've been too much contrast. BTW, the toilet is a $50 upgrade for Biscuit color, but no upgrade for the sinks. Whatever.

This is the travertine tile floor. Supposably it's easily cared for once it's sealed, and you re-brush sealer on once a year. When I asked our builder for a plastic shower bottom, he looked at me like I was from another planet..."we don't do those" he said. "Oh" I said.

We had to stand on it just to see what it felt like.

The guys got some of my floor tile done today, which included the bathroom. This is how it all looks together. i don't think I can even bear to put throw rugs over this tile. Not for a while anyway.

Above is the half bath off the living room hallway.

This is the guest bathroom, and I'm most excited about this shower tile because I got it from all over the Southeast and Central Part of the Country, including the Ark latex! It was a higher end shower tile...originally anyway. Each 6x6 tile retails for 89 cents each which multiply times 4 to make a square foot, comes to $3.56 a square foot. The bull nose tiles, which are the edge pieces that are on the sides that curve out and are polished were $2.89 EACH, yes EACH. When we were in TN in May, we found 6 cases of these tiles on clearance at LOWES. The tiles were marked down to .31 cents each, which came to $1.24 a square foot, and the Bull nose trim edges were 18 cents each. So we bought what they had, but they only had 8 bull nose...determined to find more elsewhere, I bought what they had and found 18 more at one store in Shreveport, 9 more at the Youree drive store, 10 at the store here in Oklahoma, and my sister ended up mailing me some from Tennessee.

Once we moved here, I was at a Lowe's one town over and saw these coordinating trim sections on the clearance aisle...and yes, they were meant to go with this tile! Same color, same dye lot, same set. Each 1ft section was originally $8.00 and they were marked down to $2.12 each and i needed 15. Needless to say, we walked off with the tile in this bathroom and it looks slammin' good, as my friend Amy would say!

So, if you're a guest in my home, this will be your shower. :) I hope you like it!

The guys started at the front door and are workign their way toward the living room. Just under the barrel celing, the tile will end and the carpet will start into the family room.

I wonder if I'll hit this tile from a tumble down the steps ever...I hope not.

We always end our trip out to the house by going upstairs and looking off the balcony and taking it all in and thanking God for it. For all of it.

The tile is pretty, the wood is stunning, the stone is wonderful, the paint is perfect, but the view is breathtaking, and that can't be repeated by Man. That's God made.