You know the holidays tend to put a kink in the whole working-on-the-house thing, usually because I can’t get my rapidly expanding waist-line off of some family members couch after gorging myself on food not cooked in a microwave.
Also, I’m not going to lie, I got a kindle for Christmas and have read no less than five ebooks on it in the last eight days.
Which isn’t to say we didn’t also do a little work on the house, it just wasn’t the crazy-fest it usually is. I might have at least partially lost my mind doing this though…
Repetitive tasks make me a little crazy.
We also prepped the full bath tub surround for tile.
It was a layer of tar paper…
Then a layer of Durock.
You might remember a few months ago I started a series of posts on building a DIY shower using our master bath as an example. Expect more posts in that series soon with the step-by-steps for all of the tar paper and Durock goodness– followed by my favorite…tile!
And speaking of tile, I also managed to tear myself away from the Kindle long enough to go to the Tile Shop in Ann Arbor, which has the most extensive bathroom and kitchen tile displays I’ve seen anywhere.
You’ll have to pardon the quality of these pictures since they were all iPhone reference shots as my dear mother and I were running back and forth through the store like mad-women.
Love the use of different shaped tile in this accent strip:
This slate was the first thing I fell in love with at the store, even though I don’t think it’s quite what I’m going for in either bathroom:
I love the large rectangular tiles though, in this bath as well:
I was, you know, ninety-ish percent sure walking in to the store that I was going to go with white subway tile for the full bath. Back in August I put together some ideas for a beachy bathroom and I’m still thinking in that direction. White subway tile with a funky accent strip seemed like the way to go, but white grout makes my body shake in horror a bit.
It is not going to be the most used shower in the house, but we do have well water (run through a softener, but still).
Nothing quite clicked as being “it” for either of the bathrooms, so I’m letting it all marinate for a bit (while I work on the drywall and make up songs, that is). And I’ve got a couple of other projects I’m extra excited about coming up soon. Hopefully at least one of them will result in more storage space for the clothes we’re drowning in over here.
If it doesn’t, you know where to bring the excavator to dig us out…
8 Responses
If you want really cool tiles, you could see if local potters will make some. They would be truly one of a kind, probably comparable in price (ours are), and you would support your local artists and local economy 🙂
What an awesome idea! I never thought of that, but I’m going to check into it.
White grout scares me too.
Our (only) bathroom is in desperate need of a re-do, so I am looking forward to your tutorials. Although I’m not sure what we’ll do without a working bathroom during construction…
Hi, found your blog recently – i’m just getting into this online community/ blog thing. I’ve just started a DIY blog, recording my little projects, although my DIY skills are much MUCH more basic at the mo. Love that you’re doing all these massive projects – and that your blog is neither pink nor flowery lol. Anna
Thanks Anna, I’m so glad you found me here. Leave a link to your blog next time you comment. I’m always interested in people’s projects– big or small!
I’m saving for my first house, living in a tiny rented apartment at the moment, so DIY projects are limited. Really cant wait to get a house so I can actually make the most of some of these projects. I’m blogging about the little DIY jobs that need doing around the house, even the really basic ones but its really early days – pretty sure you’d be able to do all my projects blindfolded lol. Will let you know the link next time I post, and when I have a couple of more projects up there.
I am usually longing for sensible data on this subject. It are often laborious to seek out generally. Thanks!. i’ll check back on your web site from time to time for additional data.
Comments are closed.