I can’t wait to show you my master bathroom, but first I’d thought I’d share a post about choosing bathroom tile, which for me was the hardest decision in the bathroom. There’s a lot to take into account when choosing a tile – function, price, material, etc.
The kitchen was much easier and quicker because I knew I wanted to use the same material as I’d used in my condo. But, I’d never re-done a bathroom before so I was starting from scratch. I did know I wanted a clean, slightly modern look and that I’d go with Shaker cabinets once again to keep continuity from the kitchen. I gravitated towards classic white subway tile, but when it came to the accent tile and floor tile, I got stuck.
Initially, looking online, I loved Carrara Herringbone or Hex tile and I was certain that’s what I would end up choosing. My budget for the accent tile was between $15-$22/sq foot so I had some wiggle room (it was the splurge in our bathroom). When I went to my first tile store, I found this great brick style Carrara tile that would be perfect for the shower floor and have good traction. But it was above my budget at $30/sq foot. And then I started to read up on Carrara and got really nervous about staining in the shower – I know some people have no problem with this at all, but being pale, I’m a lover of spray tans/self tanner and was terrified I would put in this gorgeous, perfect tile and ruin it with tanner.
The first tile I found that I loved, but staining made me chicken out on marble in the shower
After I decided not to go with Carrara, I started over, but I couldn’t find anything I liked. I still loved the look of white and gray marble and nothing I found compared. Finally, at a store called MODA in Atlanta, I found a recycled glass tile that was pool grade, which meant you could also use it in the shower, It was a mix of colors and some of the glass had a pattern that was similar to Carrara. Plus, since it was meant for the bottom of the pool, it had texture so was also non-slip. I ended up going with that, and from there, started looking for floor tile for the rest of the bathroom.
I really liked the look of linen tile, but course the first one I picked out was $13/sq foot, way out of my budget. I was so pumped when I found one almost exactly the same for $2.94/sq. foot. But, as things go, of course that one wasn’t in stock and to guarantee it would be here, I would’ve ended up paying double in shipping, which defeated the purpose of finding the lower cost tile to begin with.
The original choices for my tile in the bathroom
Off to Floor & Decor, I went! I had purchased all of our subway tile from there so figured it’d be a good place to look for another floor tile. I really liked the faux wood tile, but since we were also redoing the wood floors in bedroom, I didn’t really like faux wood next to real wood. I finally found this great cement looking tile and for about $2.99/piece. It was lighter than I’d originally thought of going, but it looked great next to the shower accent tile!
Cement style tile from Floor & Decor. It’s a light gray, but I don’t have much natural light in the bathroom so it looks a little more yellow than it does in person.
Sometimes when your first choice doesn’t work out, the final product ends up being even better than you’d originally planned.
Next up, I’ll share the plan for the master bath and a few bedroom updates, followed by the final reveal!
Shared on DIY Like a Boss Link Up.
[…] It’s been one year since we finished the master bathroom. Safe to say, that we love it! It’s kind of amazing to go from having a small, cramped bathroom to something that functions and is so pretty to look at. To celebrate the one-year anniversary of our 2nd major renovation, here are some updated pictures of the master bath now. You can see all the before and afters here, here & here. […]