Guest Bathroom Remodel

The long awaited day for demolition has *finally* arrived… and, true to form, I finalized the selections for our guest bathroom remodel yesterday.  It all started a couple of weeks ago when I attended an open house and saw the tile I had originally selected in a guest bathroom.  I HATED IT.  Adding insult to injury, our office finished renovating our bathrooms and they also used the tile I picked out…. which made me think that it was a terrible selection.

Let me just say this.  I despise picking tile with every fiber of my being.  This ENTIRE process was an exercise of frustration for me.  We went to Arizona Tile first to meet with a rep recommended by our tile guy.  No one would tell me what anything cost.  Not even a ballpark.  They kept telling me to just pick what I like and they would provide pricing to the tile guy.  I know I’m not alone on this – I don’t want to fall in love with something and find out it is WAY MORE than I want to spend.  I want to know what a $4.00 piece of tile looks like, what a $40.00 piece of tile looks like, and what a $400.00 piece of tile looks like… so I can gauge what the range is.  Just give me an idea.  SOMETHING.  ANYTHING.  Tell me I’m not alone on this. 

Eventually, I ended up choosing something so everyone would leave me alone and we could leave… so I think I always knew I would end up changing my mind.  I ended up at Artistic Tile (Elizabeth is awesome!  I can’t say enough good things about how patient she was with me.  Can you tell I’m the most annoying person ever when it comes to tile?  I am.  She gets a gold star for helping me through it.) because their style was closer to my own… and because they would actually tell me the prices.  Thank G for that.  (Why yes – I did want to know that it would cost me $10,000 to cover my bathroom in the tile I loved the most before the 11th hour – THANK YOU.)   Basically, if you’re thinking about remodeling… find people who will be honest with you.  I realize this entire game is a game of kickbacks for everyone involved, but I don’t enjoy feeling like I’m getting cheated – even if you aren’t cheating me.

ANYWAY.  Back to the good stuff.

Bathroom/Shower floor tile – Arizona Tile PE Paestum – Despite the fact that I had a terrible experience at Arizona Tile and was not a fan of the rep who helped me (she was SO abrasive), they ended up having the better option for the bathroom tile because it was more of a grey than a warmer beige.  I *still* don’t know what it costs, but based on what it is listed at elsewhere, I’m sure it will work with our budget.  (I’m trying really hard to let that go because I REALLY like the tile.)

Shower wall tile – Artistic Tile Savoy Collection in Leaf – I’ll admit that I was rather dubious when Elizabeth brought this over to me – but when we started playing with it and adding accent tile, I ended up choosing it over the Dew (gray) color in a heartbeat.  It’s the perfect color to brighten up a bathroom, not look dirty or dingy, and keep me from going all gray.  We chose 4×12 tiles because I like it way more than the standard subway tile.  (I have a thing about being different.)

Accent tile – Oceanside Glasstile – Muse Blend in Atmosphere – This is a new blend for Oceanside, so it’s not even on their website… but when Elizabeth showed the card to me, I knew it would be perfect.  I was going to go with a standard square pattern, but when I was second-guessing myself, I stumbled upon a blog post on their website that showed it in hexagons (and my color scheme!)… and I was DONE.  Hooked.  (Side note – if you’re really adventurous, Oceanside will let you create your own blend.  As you may have guessed, that’s WAY too much for this girl who second guesses everything she chooses… but YOU SHOULD DO IT!  I had a lot of fun playing around with it.)

Vanity Counter – Samsung Gentle Gray Quartz – We’re using this quartz throughout the house to minimize the number of slabs to cut and buy.  The subtle flecks of color will be brought out by the paint color and the accent tile.

Paint color for Bedroom and Bathroom – Benjamin Moore Whispering Spring – The bathroom opens up into the guest bedroom so I wanted a color that would flow from room to room.  Oh my.  I used an entire sample can of this on Saturday night, and I was definitely unsure of what it would look like in the morning.  I was worried that it might be spring green or some other nonsense.  I had no idea what to expect based on the yellow light in the bedroom… but when I woke up Sunday morning, I was in LOVE with it…. and the Husband loved it too.    (The runner-up was Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray, but it just doesn’t pop as much as Whispering Spring does.)  Done and done.

Update:

See the completed guest bathroom renovation reveal post!