Square

Dang! Missed it. I'd told the tile guy to put this floor square unless he heard otherwise this morning. Unfortunately, tradesman's "mornings" are different from ours, and we missed the boat. It was done by the time Dave arrived with the message.

I'm in such remodel overload that this sort of minor setback is devastating. I really, really, REALLY wish we'd caught this. The floor tile is awesome, and it would really stand out if it were a diagonal-set. But really, aren't there greater things in the world to stress about than the direction of floor tile in a guest shower?

The good news is, the rest of the tile looks absolutely fantastic. I love that glass tile, and the diamond in the niches worked perfectly

Square or Diagonal

I stopped by the house this morning after a long dentist appointment. This was the 3rd morning in a row I stopped by, and the 3rd time in a row my visit was productive. Today, I reminded the carpenter hanging doors that a bathroom door was one of the few "normal" thickness ones (most of our doors are 1-3/4" thick, heavier than standard), and talked to the tilesetter about how to put down tiles in a shower floor.

Square or diagonal? Square makes more sense, everything in this bathroom is square, but I like diagonal. This is why I need interior designers.

Tile and mason

The mason's been here! Preparing the original wood fireplace for the new mantle and tile surround. Unfortunately, it turns out the drywall and framing above the mantle is so distorted it has to be replaced. More extras.


You can see the test-painting I was doing. The future color will be Kelly-Moore "Dustry Trail," the greenish color on the left.

The first bathroom's tile is in! Grout still isn't in, so the lines look a lot darker. I love that onyx border. We'd long since settled on these materials and design when I learned that the onyx border is $18.50 a foot -- and this design has a double border! Agh!

But, I've also learned, that a detail like that is worth putting a few extra hundred dollars into. This bathroom will be Grand Central Bathroom, where all the fingernail-clipping, bandaid-applying, allergy-medicine-finding, morning toothbrushing, last-minute hair touch-ups, toddler-potty-training, pre-dinner handwashing, mudbath-rinsing and countless other functions will take place. I'll be spending a lot of time in here.

The kitchen cabinet installation continues! Here, the kitchen designer, the cabinet installer, the project foreman and the countertop templater discuss the farmhouse sink installation. Seeing this collaboration makes me very, very, VERY happy!


I'm really happy with our kitchen designer, for numerous reasons. Not only did she design a beautiful kitchen, and keep aesthetics in mind while working with a very functionally-oriented client (me), but she's also well-versed in the countless details of installation. She's been onsite many times answering countless details about the installation that I'd never have thought of: how the countertop edging works with the sink edge. Where the countertop seam should go. How to conceal a triangle gap at the ceiling. How to reposition light fixtures that were misplaced. More and more I find myself answering questions with, "Whatever she says." I'm not even choosing the knobs, other than to rule out the bin-style cup ones because they force you to twist your wrist to open a drawer and that's just not functional enough. See what she's up against?

Tile-picking

Tile! My nemesis! Picked tile for 2 bathrooms today, with my interior-designer-nee-architect. I'm thrilled. Photos unexciting, but the glass accent tile in the first bathroom (floor) will be charming.

(note: we didn't end up using that glass accent tile after all, and I regret it! glass tile accents in floors is great.)

Downstairs bathroom #2 (guest bath):