Need help making remodel decision!

[firebirdgold]

We need to re-tile the area around the tub/shower in our master bathroom and I''m totally stuck on which route to go! Please, PSer''s help this terribly indecisive member!

Our masterbath is very small and windowless but well lit. When you come in the door there is a bright baby blue tub on the right, the toilet straight ahead, and on the left a wall-to-wall built-in vanity with 4x4 black tiles and white grout on the top. (I don''t care for it as it''s massive, painted navy, and inefficient with little doors.) The door and wood trim is clear vertical grain fir with a clear finish. Oh and the floor is a creamy white vinyl with little blue and white flecks in it.

I''d like to eventually re-do the entire bathroom with a new floor, and a new smaller vanity that looks like furniture. (legs, made of pretty wood, maybe open shelving to make it look lighter, and a granite top with an undermount sink). I hoped to do it now since we''re redoing the bath portion anyway do to water damage, but DH doesn''t want to spend the money, thinks nothing is wrong with the vanity, and doesn''t want his bathroom out of commission any longer than it has to be.

So I''m torn between re-tiling the bath/shower area in a way that fits the bathroom now, or one that works with the future bathroom I want. Due to labour costs, the price difference between the two is minor.

Option 1) Big 13 x 13 fancier tiles. Our contractors say larger tiles would make our small bathroom look larger, has less grout to care for, and cuts down on labor costs. I''m looking at creamy ceramic tiles with the swirly bits that look like stone. It''d have embossed flowers randomly placed and a decorative stripe just below the border that plays on the blue tub. (this tile takes 5 days to arrive so our bathroom wouldn''t be back until next week)

Option 2) 4 x 4 tiles from Home depot in a ''retro'' style. I''m thinking glossy almond/white tiles mixed with blue glass or ceramic tiles. H.D. has pre-cut squares in white tile where you put insert a decorative tile in a diamond orientation in the center. (do you know what I mean?) I''d scatter those around, and have a black ceramic decorative stripe/border (maybe a rope?) right below the top edge of the tile to tie into the black tile vanity. (The tiles are cheap and on hand so the bath could be finished this week, but the labor costs would be higher.)

either way, I''m repainting that vanity to a lighter color!

 

[somethingshiny]

I have a family member who was recently in a similar predicament. The house they bought has two bathrooms, one with all lavender (tub, sink, toilet) the other with turquoise. They went completely retro, and it turned out so neat! In the lavender room, they did white and frosted tiles and in the turquoise room, they did two shades of turquoise accent on white.

 

[Erin]

I imagine black and tan tiles with a baby blue tub. That way, if you ever wanted to enamel over the tub or replace it, you always have a neutral pallet to start over.

 

[lyra]

I''m confused. I think you should think of the long term. It will be very expensive to do one thing now, and change it later. If you''re removing tiles, you''ll be replacing the wall behind them guaranteed. (we''ve done this) Your option 2 sounds suspiciously like what we did with the bathroom in our basement 3 years ago. Ours is white tile with a 4" border of greeny/bluey random glass tiles with a white rope on either side of that. The border is just around halfway up between the tub and the ceiling. The tiles go all the way to the ceiling. It''s a nice beachy look in that bathroom, but not what I''d do in a master bathroom. In a master bathroom, I''d go for a stone look, with varying tile sizes probably. We have large 12"x12" tiles in our MB now, and I hate it because I hate the tiles. If I were redoing it (which we won''t ever be doing!), I''d go for a very neutral stone look (limestone, travertine light), just anything that wouldn''t look dated or require absolutely matching everything. Does that make sense?

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Hi Indie-- any chance you can snap and post some quick photos? It would really help.

Date: 1/21/2008 1:00:06 PM
Author:IndieJones

... I'd like to eventually re-do the entire bathroom with a new floor, and a new smaller vanity that looks like furniture. (legs, made of pretty wood, maybe open shelving to make it look lighter, and a granite top with an undermount sink). I hoped to do it now since we're redoing the bath portion anyway do to water damage, but DH doesn't want to spend the money, thinks nothing is wrong with the vanity, and doesn't want his bathroom out of commission any longer than it has to be....

If it were me, and because bathroom remodeling can be a PITA, I probably would use today to do some quick research on pricing what you REALLY want for the bathroom. Bathroom vanities start at surprisingly low prices and go upwards to prohibitive pricing. I don't think you mentioned what the cost is of the tiling options, but sometimes if you've hit a tipping point and can do the rest for a relatively inexpensive sum, it's worthwhile to to make the push-- both in remodeling the bathroom as well as having the discussion with your husband. I hate to be so generalist, but *most* men will argue for "don't spend the money on home decor" because it is NOT their passion, but that doesn't mean they're right. If all those home shows on HGTV show us anything, it's that sometimes even a small additional expenditure can have a drastic effect so that your contentedness levels rise not to mention the value of your home.

To grab random numbers: if the tile project is $1000 and your current bathroom is so ugly and user-unfriendly that a $250 basic vanity from Home Depot is a vast improvement, it'd be worth it even if you have to spend another $150 on a new vinyl floor; changing the floor from that interim flooring at a later time when money is better is easy, and odds are the updated inexpensive floor will look a lot better than your old inexpensive floor. If, however, the vanity you want is $4000, and with that sort of vanity you really need the travertine flooring now and the walls would need to be redone thus meaning you should get an electrician in to put in that lighting you like from Restoration Hardware and you'd have to schedule drywallers as well, then I can see your husband's point about making the $1000 basic re-tiling into a far greater hassle than it needs to be. Also, the hardship to bear the cost will also probably influence the time you'll have to endure the "partway done" bathroom, so that's an important consideration on even the basic "Which tile?" question, you know?

So, I'd think the important counter-Qs are:
(1) Just how awful is the bathroom now/do you have pics? and
(2) Since $$ is what's holding your husband back, are his money concerns really valid after research?

f-d-l

 

[eks6426]

I live in an older house with a bathroom that has the larger tiles. It does indeed make the bathroom look much larger...especially if you set the floor tiles on the diagonal.

That being said, I'd push to get the remodeling done now...or at least more of it than just the tub. I'd do it in stages:

Stage 1:

1. Do the larger tiles like you envision the bathroom to be in the future. A nice neutral stone look will last for years. Don't do tile that you will want to change later.

2. Get the tub reglazed to a neutral color...perhaps white, beige etc...whatever will work in your color scheme. Est cost $400

3. Paint the vanity a color that blends. If you hate it anyway, a little paint won't kill it. Get it neutral so it blends. Buy a few new knobs. You can even take off the doors entirely to give it a more modern look. Organize your stuff in cute little baskets. (Don't forget to paint the INSIDE of the vanity if you take off the doors).

Stage 2:

1. Rip out the vanity and replace. This would be a good time to get your new granite counter top & sink too but if not, perhaps an undermount with a formica top that looks like stone...and granite could be done later.

2. Put down new flooring...tiling is relatively easy. Rip up the old stuff yourself. Go to Home Depot or what not and ask them to show you what needs to be done. You'll need to rent a tile cutter for a weekend. Laying floor tile isn't too bad. It really isn't hard..honest

Good luck!

 

[firebirdgold]

Well, turns out DH really likes the vanity as is and the navy color is is favorite part! So no new vanity in the near future.

Your votes really convinced me that I should go more upscale than homedepot. But I just couldn''t picture the faux stone tiles in our bathroom. So in the end I ordered 3x6 glossy white tiles for a brick ''subway'' pattern. The decorative accent will be navy. We''ll have a thin 1/2" strip of Navy, an inch of white and then an inch of Navy, followed by another inch of white so the whole decorative block is the same height as the 3x6 tiles. It''ll go in a horizontal stripe that''ll probably be around eye height. Those tiles are also flat and glossy.

I''ve done the ''subway'' tiles before and they look really good.

I ran into some real problems with timing and color. It turned out to be almost impossible to find an accent blue that didn''t clash with the tub let alone match it. All the things that did look possible for accents had 6-8 week ordering time! Not going to happen.
The navy trim is really simple, looks great with the tub and the vanity, plus DH likes it.

I promise to take pictures when it''s finished! Thank you all for your help!

 

[lyra]

Date: 1/26/2008 4:31:41 PM
Author: IndieJones
Well, turns out DH really likes the vanity as is and the navy color is is favorite part! So no new vanity in the near future.

Your votes really convinced me that I should go more upscale than homedepot. But I just couldn''t picture the faux stone tiles in our bathroom. So in the end I ordered 3x6 glossy white tiles for a brick ''subway'' pattern. The decorative accent will be navy. We''ll have a thin 1/2'' strip of Navy, an inch of white and then an inch of Navy, followed by another inch of white so the whole decorative block is the same height as the 3x6 tiles. It''ll go in a horizontal stripe that''ll probably be around eye height. Those tiles are also flat and glossy.

I''ve done the ''subway'' tiles before and they look really good.

I ran into some real problems with timing and color. It turned out to be almost impossible to find an accent blue that didn''t clash with the tub let alone match it. All the things that did look possible for accents had 6-8 week ordering time! Not going to happen.
The navy trim is really simple, looks great with the tub and the vanity, plus DH likes it.

I promise to take pictures when it''s finished! Thank you all for your help!

That''s funny, because the bathroom I described above with the glass tile accents required that we wait 6-7 weeks for that stupid strip of accent tiles too! It was kind of maddening waiting all that time to finish the job. The accent tiles cost more than what all the white glossy tiles cost altogether too! Good luck with your project! It just so happens we have a plumbing problem in our master bath right now that may require an extensive tile repair. UGH!!! Not looking forward to that process at all.