CHANGE IS GOOD
This year marks 25 years since we built our home in Wellington and it was time for a remodel of our master bath and bedroom. The old colors, carpet, tile, countertops, and vanities had to go. Being in the tile industry for over 30 years and working at D&B, we have an almost unlimited selection of ceramic tile, stone, and installation systems. But that didn’t necessarily make the choices easy. We poured over samples, magazines and trends for months it seemed. We knew what we liked, and it was a matter of putting it all together. We were starting from scratch.
We decided that we wanted a classic look, not too modern, not too rustic, but rather a blend of both styles. The color palette is basically tones of grey & white. Immediately, we knew we wanted a wood look tile floor throughout, so that’s where we started. We chose an Atlas Concorde Doga Tobacco 8x36 porcelain tile and decided to set it in a classic herringbone pattern, running throughout both the bedroom and bath area.
Schluter Ditra was used on all floor areas to insure the installation. The shower is a 6’ square walk in, with no doors or curtains, but has two tiled wing walls. For this area we chose a 12x24 glazed porcelain tile from the EPC Calacatta Series. The tile has a grey & white marble look and was installed using an off-set brick pattern. Atlas Concorde porcelain tile was preferred over natural stone in most areas because of the ease of maintenance and durability. A 6” accent band of grey natural slate slices from Bati Orient was chosen for all the tiled walls. The entire shower area was waterproofed with Laticrete Hydroban before any tile was installed and all tile and stone were installed with Laticrete 254 thinset and grouted with Custom Fusion Grout.
Opposite the shower, are twin vanities with rectangular white sinks. This is a large area, so we decided to ditch the original wall to wall mirror and replace it entirely with a beautiful crosscut natural stone in the XL size from Norstone in the Ochre color. The bath counter tops are honed natural Calacatta marble, and the vanities were supplied by Nile D Nard. Large white medicine cabinets are flanked by wall mounted lighting. All fixtures are satin nickel finished and the plumbing fixtures are also wall mounted vs. sink mounted. To tie it all together we used a true slate grey paint on the walls, just a few shades off black which really makes everything pop.
The entire remodeling process, electrician, plumber, tile setter, vendors was daunting. Even though I have been in the construction business for over 40 years I gained a new appreciation for what our customers encounter when they remodel. The cost, scheduling, clean up, and disruption we experienced has given me compassion for our customers' needs.