I swear this is the last tile shopping post (You can read about the other two here and here.) and I can't wait to show you guys what we actually ended up buying! I'll give you a preview: The total cost of all the tile, mortar, grout, heated floors and even a couple of pre-fabricated shelves rang in at just under $1,300! We were thrilled, since the tile was the largest purchase in our budget and we had expected to pay more. Let's chalk it up to some smart shopping (if we do say so ourselves) and the lovely girl behind the counter at the tile shop who offered us a significant discount after we expressed appreciation for all her help and were laid-back about her answering the phone a couple of times while helping us.
Our last stop in our tile search was actually a Home Hardware Tile Outlet that we passed on our way out for dinner one evening. I noticed some really funky and modern tile displays in the windows, but a u-turn can take time in Toronto traffic and by the time we had parked, we realized that the store had closed about a minute earlier. We headed back the next day though, and were greeted by fabulous displays and many of our favourite tiles (like the mix-and-match hex tile in the top photo) as well as some new contenders. Sorry in advance for the cam pics. :)
I sort of fell in love with some of the clearance granite tile. It was so shiny that it was almost mirrored and the clearance price even fell within our budget! The caveat was that the quantities were very limited and we knew we would need to decide quickly.
Of course, there were plenty of trendy subway tile options, but I really liked these soft bevelled tiles, which seemed like a good compromise between the visual interest of the bevel and the clean lines of plain tiles.
They also had fabulous porcelain tiles that actually looked like marble.
And Corey contemplated carrying our hardwood look into the bathroom with tile...
The owner pointed out that some of the polished porcelain looked almost identical to the granite... and it was priced even lower than the clearance granite tile.
I liked the black and the light grey. Corey preferred either the black or the charcoal.
They also had a fabulous array of retro-inspired tiles at good prices!
... And some pretty shades of glass.
We were also tempted by some of the more colourful porcelain options.
And the displays (which initially drew us in) made it easy to picture ourselves making some very bold choices...
Wow, right??? Those bright colours tease me, but I really do want to try to keep our bathroom a little more subtle in our colourful house. The real estate broker in me screams "THINK ABOUT RESALE!!!" and I find myself heading back towards a basic palette of white, black and greys.
I really loved the black granite and the polished porcelain tiles and I dug up this inspiration photo, which had actually been my mother's favourite.
And that is how we found ourselves lugging home a couple of samples (black and charcoal polished porcelain) to test drive.
What do you think?
