Hot and Tiled

It’s been a while since I posted anything.  Things have been happening so fast, I barely have time to keep up.  The last two weeks we got all of the tile work done.  I was very busy running to various tile stores to get a little more of this tile or another soap dish for that shower.  Now we are all tiled.

Here is darling daughter’s bathroom.  I think it turned out really well.  The view from her bedroom is great.

And then once you get into the room, it really opens up.

It looks a lot different than it did earlier last week when Builder Gary was using it as an office.

Her brother’s bathroom got the same tile, as you can just barely see from his bedroom.

I like all the angles and jogs in his bathroom.

Her other brother’s bathroom abandoned the black and white theme.  We had this vanity with a travertine top and a travertine floor to work from.

So, we went with a classic bone and taupe shower combo.

We really kept the tile saw humming all week!

The mudroom and family entrance got a herringbone pattern.  I guess with a 12 x 24 tile, it’s really a HERRRINGBONE pattern.

Hopefully the brown tones will just flow right into the hardwoods.

We thought about doing the herringbone in the master bath also.

It just wasn’t working for me.  There were too many conflicting lines with the bead board.

We tried a diagonal, also, but, again, the lines just got too busy.

So, we just laid a running bond or brick pattern the length of the room.

I thought it looked great without grout.

And even better with it.

Here’s a peek back into the shower.

And a better view of the shower.

Our tile man, Gaudencia, had me run get some marble chair rail for the edge of the bench. I think it is a nice touch.

Now do you see why I am hot and tiled?

Durocking On

On Monday I got the news.  Gary didn’t want to ruin my weekend.  The tile guy would not be starting on Tuesday, because his wife surprised him with a two week trip to Mexico – leaving Tuesday.

We simply couldn’t wait, so we decided to conduct a cultural exchange.  We found a replacement tile guy from Mexico.

We didn’t really plan it that way, but it’s the way it worked out.  We asked everyone for the name of their tile guy. We called a dozen or so tile guys and the one that came highly recommended by Gary Luke (The Town Carpenter), was able to start on Wednesday.  Rock on!

More specifically, Durock on!

And by Friday evening, tile on:

The upstairs laundry room is tiled and awaiting grout.

The rest of the bathrooms and laundry/mud room have the tile stacked up and are ready to go.

The tile guys had to uncrate the tub in order to move it around and complete the Durock.  I was so excited to walk in and see the tub almost in its position, the bead board up and the frames for the mirrors completed.

We mimicked the window casing for the mirrors, making little grooves for the mirror to slide into and leaving one side loose.

I like the way it looks, but I’m afraid I’ll scare myself to death padding into the bathroom in the mornings.  I’ll look up and think some wild haired creature with sheet prints on her face is peering in the window at me.  Good thing I don’t sleep with a mud mask on.

And speaking of mud, Garcia the tile guy mudded the floors of the shower stalls,

and put down the shower pan, filled it with water, and is awaiting the inspection on Monday.  Let’s hope the beagle doesn’t drink any more water out of it.

It’s kind of like having an indoor swimming pool.

Some of the tile selections took a lot of work.  In this bathroom, we started with a great vanity in a dark grayish/taupe or taupish/grey that has a travertine top.  We struggled with a floor and shower tile.  Then Builder Gary remembered that he had some travertine floor tile left over from another job.  Armed with that, I finally decided to keep the shower simple and classic with bone tile with a taupe accent and a mosaic floor.

Meanwhile, back outside the brick masons have been working away on the retaining walls.

I actually like the rough smeary looking stucco better than the final product:

Truth be told, I like the grey thin set (to the left below) more than the stucco.  Maybe I should’ve gone a little darker or grayer.

I’m not too concerned, though.  The goal is to have it covered in vines like this wall that has a very similar color:

Maybe we’ll even venture an espaliered fig tree like this:

Now that would be something!

In the meantime, it just looks too clean and almost sterile:

Up close it does have some variation and character, but you can’t see it from a distance.

I suppose all of the cool old crumbly walls that have so much character didn’t start out that way.  Time will have its way with these walls, and I’m sure they’ll be mottled and vine covered and wonderful before we know it.

Painting Myself Into a Corner

Things have been moving right along since I last posted. It has been a whirlwind of activity.

The trimmers have been trimming away.  Here’s a view complete with baseboard and door and window trim.  Try to ignore the two toned effect.

Now how about a little crown molding?

Not enough for you?  Well, here’s a little more.

Or how about this?

Now let’s add a pair of pocket doors and really get things going.

All this fancy stuff around the doors has gotten Louie’s competitive juices going.  He wants a part of the action.

Oh, wait!  This one’s a better action shot.

He’s kicked the bucket habit and is standing up here.  And you can see the interesting detail  he has been doing around the doors.  Take that, trim carpenters.

And speaking of carpenters,

The Town Carpenter, aka Gary Luke, has been busily making our cabinetry.  I stopped by for a visit last week and took a sneak peek at the cabinets for the master bath.

This is one of the vanities.  There one will be one on each side of the clawfoot tub, which will sit in this bumpout:

And on the opposite wall will be the linen press:

There will be drawers on the bottom and cabinets and open shelving below.

While I was at the cabinet shop, I pulled out a sample of my granite (actually Crystal Pearl quartzite) and started the tricky business of paint selection.

Of course what looks good in the fluorescent lights of the cabinet shop (or in the flash of the camera), might not look good in the actual room, so samples had to be brought out. and looked at on site.

This paint selection business is tricky. 

I hope I don’t end up painting myself into a corner like Ol’ Isreal did when he primed the porch floor.