Gates Reno
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July 23, 2006
The road to hell is paved with tile
Tile. I never thought little pieces of ceramic, porcelain and glass could break up my marriage. But if this is what it will be like when we make choices for the other 2.5 bathrooms, then we are headed for divorce court for sure.
What we seem to have decided on for the kids’ bathroom – for now, until my husband changes his mind again (I’m trying to bait him into actually writing an entry) – is this: White subway tile on the floor, with a black subway tile border. White subway tile up to sink level. A small border above that of narrower white tile, and from there on up, gorgeous penny-round tile in a pretty, calming, fun shade of light green. The tub area will be all subway tile.
I love this plan. I think it will look great with the fixtures we’ve chosen.
The trough sink I mentioned before (ours is only two faucets long, not the three pictured). We’re getting the soap dish and faucets pictured; I think they’re just about the only ones you can get with that sink, so it’s a good thing I love them.
We chose a Toto toilet with an extra-large valve (Ultramax One Piece Round Toilet), for all those items our kids will be trying to flush down it when we’re not watching them as closely as we should be.
The tub is a Kohler drop-in model, a little shorter than normal at 4’ (we have space issues in that particular bathroom), but also deeper than a normal tub.
The tub and shower fixtures are favorites of mine. They're modern looking but not too modern; I think they're a good compliment to the sink fixtures, which are very industrial looking (it is an industrial sink, after all). All of the fixtures are from Kohler, and we'll be getting them in brushed nickel.
There will be a large mirror above the double sink, and a couple of medicine cabinets on the wall (we haven’t chosen those yet). There will also be a narrow-ish shelf running under the sink that will hold bath toys, and then there will be a couple of step-stools stored under the shelf.
There won’t be a lot of storage inside the bathroom, but there will be a linen closet nearby.
We’ll all be using this bathroom for a long time, until we can afford to get the master bathroom done. I think it’s going to be beautiful.
Comments
Sounds like the walls will be beautiful!
Just one comment on the floor tiles - if they are typical subway tiles, they may be a bit smooth, which might not be good with an active boy. I had a bathroom with smooth white floor tiles (not mosaic) - they looked great when clean, but it seemed to only take one shower for them to look messy. Just something to think about.
Good luck with all the details! I'm excited to see your progress.
Posted by: HC at July 24, 2006 1:29 PM
If you go with the 3X6 subway tile for the floor it may be quite slippery when wet because of the size and smoothness of this tile. Smaller tiles give you traction. Be careful!
Posted by: dt at July 24, 2006 1:39 PM
Hi there, thank you for your comments. I'm interested to hear more about both the slickness and the dirtiness of the subway tiles on the floor. I chose the subway tiles for the floor over smaller tiles because I though that less grout would equal a cleaner look. On our bathroom floors now, which have squares of tile about one foot each, the area around the grout always seems to trap the dirt.
Posted by: Amy at July 24, 2006 3:14 PM
Subway tile is traditionally a wall tile. Don't think I've ever seen it on a floor before. Some kind of small hex tile would be a better floor choice, I think.
Posted by: 1894 at July 24, 2006 3:34 PM
Further to 1894's post, have a look at the bathroom floor tile posted over on the Bed-Stuy reno page - you could do an all white variation with the black border. I also think subway tile would be very slippery on the floor, but it looks terrific on the walls. You could use grout that is an off-white color to help conceal the dirt on the floors.
Posted by: Archiefina at July 24, 2006 3:44 PM
We went with the white and black hex tile on the floor, and subway tile for the wall. We used a white grout and sealed it as soon as it was dry (before anyone walked on it) and it has held up pretty well dirt-wise.
Posted by: dt at July 24, 2006 6:31 PM
I love subway tile!! But I would be very worried about walking on it. It is slippery when wet. The small hex tiles are long time new york favorites for a good reason.
Posted by: victor at July 25, 2006 6:40 PM
We ended up going with a different tile for the floor (more on that later), but for the record, Ms. Architect said that the white subway tile used on floors does not have the glaze on it that wall tiles do, and is not slippery.
Posted by: Amy at July 25, 2006 9:31 PM
Before you cough up the money for the fixtures, check on Ebay. You can put the brands/models into their search feature. They have a gazillion bath and kitchen fixtures, name brands, most of the time brand new, and not factory seconds. I got all of my fixtures on ebay and saved a boatload of money over getting the same things elsewhere.
Posted by: CrownHeightsProud at July 26, 2006 1:15 AM
I did. We're getting some unusual stuff. They had the accessories, but not the main items.
Posted by: Amy at July 26, 2006 7:14 AM
If you're getting new toilets, consider getting dual-flush. So much better for the environment - small flush for pees, big flush for other stuff.
Posted by: anon at July 26, 2006 9:46 AM
i second the daul-flush comment, our new toto looks exactly like the one in your pic but has the two flush options. most suppliers should be able to order it. if you cant find the product number let me know, ive got the pdf here somewhere.
Posted by: daniel at July 26, 2006 1:30 PM
I actually did a lot of research on dual-flush toilets, after seeing them mentioned on Brownstoner (and Omer wonders why nothing gets done around here all day). They’re still very much in the running for the other 2.5 bathrooms, but we decided that up on the kids' floor, the more flushing power, the better. I have yet to meet a kid that doesn't use too much toilet paper.
Posted by: Amy at July 26, 2006 6:03 PM
We did our bathroom in white subway tiles up to sink height, and to the ceiling inside the shower. the floors are a round penny tile from Ann Sacks in pale blue. it looks AMAZING. Here's a picture if you want to see. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dualpupil/195540864/
Good luck!
Posted by: Wendy at July 26, 2006 10:39 PM
Thanks for the pic! What a gorgeous bathroom. The penny tile on the floor looks amazing.
I'll be writing an entry today about why we're no longer using penny round in the kids' bathroom, but I'm going to push for it in at least one other bathroom.
Posted by: Amy at July 27, 2006 10:48 AM
Hmmm. How about swapping it? Subway tile on the walls (still with the green border) and penny tile on the floors and shower? Just a thought.
Posted by: sandra at July 27, 2006 5:48 PM
Where did you find the trough sink for the kid's bathroom? I have a very small bathroom and need to remodel. It will be used by 3 children and love the idea of the double trough sink, as when it is time to brush teeth an extra faucet would be great.
Thanks.
Posted by: Melinda Wellington at June 16, 2007 12:50 PM
We got ours at Home Depot, but it's out of stock now. If you google Brockway Wash Sink you'll find it. I know NeedPlumbingSupplies.com has it.
Posted by: Amy at June 21, 2007 1:32 PM
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