Kitchen Counters

For years I thought I wanted butcher block counters. But I always seem to have puddles of water around my sink so it probably wasn't realistic. My next thought was the new kind of tile that mimics wood - I think it's really designed for floors. But once I was in the tile showroom, I was drawn to the other stuff. And because of the vanity, I had done lots of searches in Google Images of "tile countertops" and I was seeing some that I really liked. Once I decided to use a more traditional tile, choosing it was easy - Stonepeak Limestone in Walnut.

I first thought I wanted large tiles (24"x12") with grout to match the tile but after talking to the staff in the tile store, I decided on 6 inch tile with bone colored grout. I found a couple of pictures with the smaller tile and I think it does look wonderful.

My Bathtub

The area around my bathtub needed some updating too. The "arrangement" behind the tub featured plastic ferns that I bought in the Kress Five and Ten in Millville, NJ in 1969! I think 40+ years is long enough so they went to the dumpster and I filled in the area with stuff I had around the house.

Selecting the Tile

With my swatches, I went to the Traditions in Tile showroom. The nice ladies there didn't seem to mind that I was spending hours in there looking at everything. At the end, I decided on practically the first tile I saw. It doesn't come in six inch squares but they assured me that's not a problem - it can be cut down. The tile is Stonepeak Marble in Bone with white grout to match the sink. And it's got to be honed!

Pulls and Sinks

Since the cultured marble had integrated sinks, I needed new ones. Undermount or self-rimming? Undermount has that clean look but they're more difficult to install, limits your tile selection to a degree, and would require new faucets. I decided on this Kohler sink:

And since I have a "heightened awareness" of how bad the current area looks, I couldn't stand the old plastic pulls another day! I found exactly what I wanted at Lowes and swapping them out was a snap. Thankfully, all the holes lined up! On a side note, why can you only buy toothbrushes in hideous, neony colors?

Home Improvement

I'm not sure why, but every year right after Christmas my thoughts turn to home improvement. This year's hot spot is my vanity area...cultured marble that's scratched, stained, and 20+ years old.

I would love marble but after some research I became convinced that it wouldn't work in a place where hard water makes white vinegar one of your main cleaning products.

Then I found this picture on the Internet and it totally changed my thinking about tile countertops. It looks so clean and modern and I love the six inch tiles!