When last I left off with the story of the upstairs bathroom, I told you about how I tore it apart but the photos didn’t load. Sorry about that. Here’s what it looks like right now.
I wavered initially, but I’m definitely going to replace that blue tile. Here’s a closeup for you. It’s fine. But it’s very much of the same era as those frilly curtains AND I definitely have to extend the shower backsplash up the wall now that it’s a true shower and not just a bathtub with a sprayer.
The problem is, I have a specific idea in my head that…is proving problematic to get in reality.
Or maybe more accurately I found it in reality but it’s expensive and with a high minimum order (3x what I need). I’m not quite ready to spend $500 on just tile.
It’s awfully bold but I love it.
So, commence searching and ordering near-endless samples of other tile.
Color was okay, not great, and the pattern was not as much fun as I thought it would be.
Ugh, boring as hell. Not nearly as deep a color as it appeared in the photos.
This is…fine. Close. But not quite deep enough in person. And it’s the larger sized subway tile which is not quite the look I wanted.
I had such high hopes for this one and the color is so awful. Well, I’m sure it’s actually trendy but it’s way too dark & gray for me.
Here they all are together.
We went to an actual tile store and I fell deeply, profoundly in love with this tile, but when we checked…it was $40sf and I honestly I forget what the minimum order was because my brain went all static. Still bummed about this one.
So, this is the current best contender. It’s the larger sized subway tile, which I don’t like. It doesn’t come with the snubbed edges so we’d have to figure that out. And we’d have to lay it individually to get the herringbone pattern, which might not even work with the huge size of the tiles. If this one came in a 1×3 instead of a 3×6 I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
I’ve got some time yet before I have to decide, but…what would you do?
beljoeor.com 
Honestly? I would get the one that makes your heart sing (love that grey and blue!) but make it an accent stripe around the shower, with the bulk of the tile being “plain” cheaper stuff. And then also make a soap bottle cutout between the studs with the fun tile as the backing in it. For me, the best part about visually dramatic but expensive tiles like that is showing them off, which I feel like using them in an accent stripe both shows them off and makes having it in your house a lot cheaper.
LikeLike
I hate to say it, but I’d go with what you really want. I’ve found with home reno’s it’s better to spend the extra and get what you love versus saving some money and always wanting to do it over again. My kitchen counter wound up being way over budget, but every time I look at it (STILL!) I just love it.
LikeLike