This is the tile I found…

This is the tile I found yesterday at The Great Indoors, hopefully for the guest shower enclosure (we've decided to skip tub entirely for accessibility reasons, so this will be a 3' x 5' shower enclosure, with a large window in the wide wall):

That's actually two tiles; the lower one is in a complementary taupe color and is very simple, so you could combine them if you wanted. The pattern is a few dollars more per square foot. ($13 vs. $10, roughly). They both have a really nice texture to them, which you can see if you peer closely; subtly ridged. I was worried that Kev might think it too flowery, but he actually likes it. The bathroom is so small (barely 5' x 8' total), I'd hoped to do something Victorian-appropriate, but also bright and light. I think this might be exactly it -- if the Victorians had had access to tile that looked like wallpaper, I suspect they would have been all over it! And of course I love that it has a desi flavor.

So now it's just a question of what the budget will allow. We're waiting for final numbers from Pam on a set of unexpected expenses (chimney repair, siding repair), as well as costs for potential built-ins (library shelving). Once we have those numbers, we can make final decisions on tile.

One practicality question? We had thought of doing just a hanging shower curtain -- that way you can pull it all the way aside and have full view of the tall window most of the time, rather than having it hidden behind glass doors. We'd have much better light in that bathroom most of the time, and I think it would also look prettier. But is that practical with a shower enclosure and no tub? Do we bring the front edge of the enclosure up more than just a little lip? How much higher should it come? We still want it low enough to be very easy for elderly folks to step into. (Our parents are heading towards elderly, and so are we and our friends, albeit more slowly.) Do I just make sure the shower curtain comes down a good inch or two lower than wherever the top of the lip is? Will that be sufficient? Help!

Update: Some more pics from the web:

Their Venezia line is also lovely, with a metallic pattern, but a bit glitzier than we want to use:

7 thoughts on “This is the tile I found…”

  1. I have stayed in hotels which had just a shower enclosure and shower curtain. It worked well, as long as there was a barrier keeping water off the floor outside the shower. (In one hotel this was not the case, in the others it was.) But such a barrier might lessen accessibility.

  2. Ok, that is some seriously gorgeous tile. I’d put it everywhere. Have you reconsidered the master bath? Love at first sight.

  3. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    It’s this: http://www.bostondesign.com/showrooms/porcelanosa-by-best-tile/product/silk-blanco

    I think the patterned version is Porcelanosa’s Deco Silk Blanco; the plain is just Silk Blanco. There doesn’t seem to be a Great Indoors in Washington, but the woman here says she thinks they can ship it to you if you’re interested in buying some for your bathroom. I totally will not mind if you use it too! (And we thought about it for the master shower, but I think I want something less feminine there. 🙂

    The pricing they quoted is this:

    Porcelanosa – Deco Silk Blanco (pattern)
    $15.75 / sq. ft. (regular price)
    cartons: 9.36 sq. ft. / carton (3 tiles)
    each tile: 17 x 26
    each carton $147.42

    But it’s 15% off ’til the end of the month, and apparently from the 21st – 23rd, it’ll be another 10% off on top of that. Roughly two weeks from order to arrival of tile.

  4. We have a shower enclosure in our bathroom (smaller than yours, less than 3′ x3′). The front edge is very easy to step over, as it’s raised only 6″ higher than the bathroom floor, and 3″ higher than the shower floor (the edge itself is nearly 6″ wide); there’s a 3-4″ gap between the bottom of the shower curtain and the top of the front edge. There’s a little spray on the floor after a shower, but no flooding or anything like that, and it dries quickly.

    One thing I would say is that, at least in the damp climate of SF, if the shower curtain is left open (i.e. scrunched over to one side) it gets moldy much faster than if it’s spread wide and allowed to dry out fully between showers.

  5. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    Chicago is much drier. 🙂 But I think when it’s in use, with a guest actually around, it maybe should be spread wide to dry. I’m just thinking most of the time, it’s more of a hall bath than a guest bath, and it’d be nice to have the light coming in the window…

    Our floors are wood, so I’d ideally like no spray on the floor if possible. I think my tub curtains have usually overhung only an inch or two without any problem of spray…

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