This post is sponsored by The Tile Shop. Weâre sharing every last tile choice weâve chosen for our Two Flat renovation, ranging from bathrooms to kitchens to laundry rooms (no small feat!).
Hands down, our most time consuming design decision to date has been choosing tile for each and every bathroom, kitchen and laundry room in the Two Flat. (Thatâs 3 bathrooms, 2 kitchens and 2 laundry rooms, if youâre counting!) Needless to say, renovating a house from top to bottom is very different than renovating one room at a time. Being that we have always been planted firmly in the latter camp, weâve had to stretch and flex our creative muscles harder than ever before! And when the time came to dive deep into the world of All the Tile, we had a choice to make:
Will the tile be the feature in the room? Or will it play a supporting role?
We couldnât be more excited to partner with The Tile Shop to cover every angle â from shower surrounds to kitchen backsplashes to laundry room floors â and luckily, The Tile Shop has a solution for any design dilemma that may come your way. Marble or porcelain? Yes. Shower curbs? Theyâve got those. Bullnose and pencil and skirting? They have that, too! In fact, the options are so wonderfully plentiful, that the hardest part will be narrowing down which direction you want to go. But with over 100 retail locations, a full online shopping experience and samples of any piece your heart desires, theyâve got you covered.
But back to the question at large: To be (a showstopper) or not to be (a showstopper)? Scott and I are both in agreement that less is more when it comes to design, but thatâs not to say that you canât have an element that makes you stop in your tracks. Whether thatâs tile or wallpaper or a bold paint color, we think every room needs a touch of quirk! Above, you can see several samples we collected and tested in the Two Flat. We considered everything from deep greens to honed marble to geometric pattern, and over the course of many, many days (weeks?), we narrowed it down to the perfect mix of classic and quirk, we think.
Without Further Ado, Our Final Tile Selections!
Iâll break down each tile choice by room below, but I first want to mention that our main goal was to create a palette for the entire home. We stuck closely to a black and white palette, but we were sure to inject polished marble, blush and pattern!
Unit 1 | First Floor Bathroom
Unit 1âs first floor bathroom is the very definition of classic. Polished white subway tile on the walls will meet a marble basketweave floor, and weâll be threading a black marble pencil throughout. Instead of the same millwork weâve used in the rest of the home, we couldnât resist a black marble skirting, which kicks everything up (at least) ten notches!
Oh, and did I mention this is the bathroom where weâve salvaged the original pink tub and sink? Yup, weâve decided that the tile will play a supporting role in this room, allowing our pink fixtures to really shine. Even still, I canât resist a black pencil detail, so who wants to take bets that this will end up being my favorite room in the whole house?
Unit 1 first floor bath selections: Hampton Niles marble mosaic 12â³ x 12â³ | Imperial Bianco gloss subway 3â³ x 6â³ | Black Marquina polished marble skirting | Black Marquina pencil tile | Imperial Bianco Barnes (cap) | charcoal grout
Unit 1 | Den Bathroom
The den will have a full shower, and we couldnât think of a better way to tie together the two bathrooms than with this pretty blush tile! Remember this inspiration? The floor, walls, ceiling and niche will all be bathed (see what I did there?) in this glossy blush 1â³ x 1â³ mosaic tile. The subway tile you see will be used for trim and niches.
Unit 2 den bath selections: Imperial Blush gloss 12â³ x 12â³ | Imperial Blush gloss wall tile | Hampton Carrara shower curb
Unit 1 | Laundry + Kitchen
The laundry room is located in the den, which recently received fully polished concrete floors, and weâve decided to leave the laundry floor alone. And the kitchen? We have plans for vertical planking (we think), so we opted to nix a tile backsplash in favor of something new-to-us.
Unit 2 | Bathroom + Laundry
As soon as we spotted this mosaic floor tile, we knew it was The One. Weâll be using this on the floors for both the bath and laundry rooms, but are you ready for the kicker? Itâs not marble! Rather, itâs a durable porcelain tile that mimics the look of aged marblet, and even up close, we can. not. tell. Minds have been blown.
The walls will receive a similar treatment to Unit 1âs bathroom, but in marble form and on a larger scale! 4â³ x 12â³ marble tile will be accented with black pencil and matching polished marble skirting. Weâre thinking of choosing a dark and moody color for the bathroom vanity, and allowing any greenery or artwork on the walls to be a little âpunchâ in the room.
Now to answer the question: Should we lay the tile in a diamond or square pattern? (Help!)
Unit 2 bath + laundry selections: Cassettone grey mosaic | Firenze Carrara 4â³ x 12â³ | Firenze Carrara skirting | Firenze Carrara capital | Black Marquina pencil tile | natural grout (floors) | standard white grout (walls)
Unit 2 | Kitchen
Because Unit 2âs kitchen has a pitched ceiling, we arenât able to utilize upper cabinets in the space. And because the room will be visually lighter as a result of this, we knew we could take a little risk with some pattern! We surprised ourselves by falling for these 5â³ x 5â³ patterned squares. Arenât they adorable? They have a handmade look and quality, and we think that a standard white grout and soft greige pencil (for the edges) will tie it all together.
Unit 2 kitchen selections: Stitch Indigo 5â³ x 5â³ | Grey High pencil liner | standard white grout
Tile installation starts this week. Whoâs excited?! (I donât have enough limbs to raise!)
I suspect the dining room with the built-in hutch will still be your fave! Or maybe the cute bedroom with the slanted ceiling! Or maybe Iâm just projecting my favorites onto you!
Hahah, maybe I should just start saying âmy top 3â?
Love how cohesive it all is! You can definitely already see the benefit of making all the design choices together, even if that seems crazy daunting (to me). Itâs going to look amazing. I canât wait to see.
Iâd vote for diamond pattern, I think. It almost always seems to promote flow in a space/carry you forward. Makes a room feel more spacious b/c of that visual movement. (Though maybe Iâm putting a lot of pressure on the poor tile!!)
Thatâs a good argument for diamond! Iâm leaning square⊠but we keep going back and forth. Argh!
I just saw the square mosaic insp photo you shared on your IG story, and seeing that, I now totally love *love* the square. I really think you canât go wrong tbh!!
Itâs the photo that had me making up my mind too!????
I love every single choice except the blush color. On my screen it reminds me of flesh colored band aides from my childhood and Iâve never liked it. Iâm sure once its done it will look lovely. There is a classic cohesiveness to your the choices that to me will stand the test of time. Iâm most excited to see your pink tub room. Glad you saved that. Someone will be delighted by it. Excited to see how it comes out. Also, my partner and I are jealous of your polished concrete floors. We have always loved terrazzo floors and this reminds me of that.Â
Agreed, Susan. The blush is such a trendy color right now and will lose itâs appeal very soon & look datedâŠ.donât do it!  Stay with fresh classics just as the two-flat is!
Iâd have to argue that pink (or blush) IS classic, in that bathrooms were once outfitted in it from head to toe! Itâs a subtle nod to the pink fixtures weâre salvaging from the first floor bathroom. Of course we know it wonât be for everyone, and thatâs okay!
I know blush is very popular right now, but online it looks like a dirty white. The rest of the choices WOW!
The online color doesnât depict how beautiful it is. Hoping my photography will do it justice!
Blair Eadie is a fashion blogger who really embraces color in a fun way. She recently shared her home tour and did a very similar blush square tile in one bathroom. Iâm personally not the biggest blush fan so I was surprised how much I loved the outcome. Scroll to the âpink bathroomâ section of her home tour post for some heart eyes:Â https://www.the-atlantic-pacific.com/2020/04/11/my-home-tour-continued/
I canât wait to see all this tile installed! Great choicesÂ
Oh, wow! I love everything about her home. Thank you for sharing!
Diamond! Diamond!!!!
We just decided on square today! We think itâs a canât lose situation?
Diamond!!
Thereâs something about your color ability that astounds me. Especially in your ability to layer creams and whites. Itâs going to be so good!!
Thank you, Caitlin!
I love this post. Tile gets me every time and you both are so so good at choosing the best tile. I love the basket weave pattern that I want to use in our teeny tiny entry way (split house problems). Itâll shine. My vote is squared with bathroom & laundry tile. It looks so good (yes, I turned my phone so I could see it lay from both angles) and pleasing to the eye squared (IMO). I canât wait to see where you end up!Â
I am so glad that we donât have time this summer to do a full bathroom renovation in our new/old house before moving in so we can see how the unit 2 bathroom and laundry turns out. That tile is my soul mate ????
Choosing tiles is never easy. I am encouraged by how elaborative you are