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Settle a debate-- bathroom tile is this too style specific for resale?
DH and I have been in our house for 6.5 years. We moved here for both of our jobs (we work for a huge mult-national). We don't know when we will get transfered again, but could be as soon as 3 years or as long as 15 years (we will not stay here forever however).
We are putting new tile in our master bathroom. It is a small bathroom, so we want it to be pretty light. The house was built in teh 40s and is pretty much entirely redone except this bathroom. We hate it, so we are for sure remodeling it, we are just having a disagreement about what to do.
We both agree we want mostly all white wall tile for the shower. He wants subway tiles, I want big (like 10 x 12 or 12 x 16, laid in subway pattern) to minimize grout lines and make easier to clean. Additionally, I just want plain white (or various shades of white) accent strip in mosiacs, he wants to add an accent strip in tiny cobalt blue, black, or gray mosiac tile.
It would be with either a floor like this with the coordinating color
http://www.tileshop.com/floortile/stonemosaics/Basketweave-White-Cobalt/1670.aspx
or if we did it my way, we would do a plan white basketweave floor where instead of the blue color it was all white.
We both agree on mid tone blue/gray walls, so there will be some color if we did all white. All of hte wood work is white.
So-- do you think having the cobalt blue or or gray or black accent on the floor and the strip of accent in the shower is too style specific for most buyers?
Is the all white plain too boring?
Which would you go with and why, all white, white and cobalt, white and black, white and gray or something else??
Re: Settle a debate-- bathroom tile is this too style specific for resale?
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I know its trendy but I personally really like the accent tiles in a shower. I think otherwise it might just look like one big white monster. I'm not a huge fan of the cobalt blue in that setting but I think blue is a nice option.
If you went with a black on the floor, a white in the shower and then maybe something like this or this (<--clicky) as the accent in the shower, I think it would coordinate well.
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Nothing dates a bathroom like colored tile in specific patterns. I say this as we're planning on tearing out the cornflower blue 80's nightmare that is our master bath.
tile is a huge, expensive PITA. I don't know when you are planning on selling but we are picking out tile that will hopefully still look good in 15 or so years when we are moving out. So I'm looking at neutrals. I haven't decided yet so I'm sorry I can't of help but I'm steering clear of anything overly trendy such as the super skinny subway tile, any accent tile, anything blue or brown. No way will that not look dated in 10-15 years.
Even if tile looks dated, there's dated and then there's screaming-dated, ya know?
I don't think white is too boring. I think the interesting parts of a bathroom should come from the paint, shower curtain, accessories, not the tile. Maybe mix a little gray with the white to break it up, but overall, I don't think tile should be the thing to make a statement with a bathroom, unless a person has the money to update every 10 years.
JMO, best of luck.
Honestly, I would do all white tile (or shades of white, like you said). I would skip all accent tile. It just looks dated too quickly. Whereas in our old house, the original bath from the 60's still looked pretty decent bc it was just plain cream tile.
Bring in color with towels, shower curtain, and paint. Skip it in the tile which you are stuck with forever.
Most likely it will not date it in the next several years but in 15 years? Probably. Frankly in 15 years you might be ready to change things up anyway.
I'm not fan of the black but generally like your scheme. Keeping in mind that you have a 40s house - I think if you can give nod to style and pattern from the era the house was built - it is nice and helps it from looking like a 40s house with a 90s/2000/2010 etc look.
Good luck!
My parent's have cobalt blue accent tiles on the floor of one of their bathrooms and it is extremely dated looking for only being 10 years old. I would never use a bold color like that in such a permanent and large piece of the bathroom. Black maybe but not a color. That would be a big turn off for me as a buyer.
My suggestion is go to a number of tile stores (the tileshop has a limited selection and is pricey). Find some mom & pop stores.
For easier cleaning bigger tiles are better. Since you will be selling make sure you routinely seal your grout every 6 months to keep it from getting stained and dirty looking. Darker colored grout is easier to keep looking good.
Solid white on the floor shows every speck of dust and dirt. Try something with a grain pattern of some sort. Or a totally seperate tile choice to add contrast and interest to the space like a light gray slate looking tile for the floor and white tiles on the wall. Gray and white tile with a blue wall color are a very popular color combination.
Keep the blue color to the wall. It's easy to repaint...re-tiling is a whole different story.
In our current home we have white tile on the floor and tub area with an accent of blue glass tiles (see link in signature)
We also had white beadboard, teal paint on the walls and white cabinets. It was WAY too much white.
Before we listed our home for sale I painted the beadboard beige. It is much nicer.
The good news is that the walls/beadboard can be painted, tile is harder to replace.
We closed on our next home on April 21st. We are in the process of having the entire bathroom renovated. We have chosed wavy white ceramic tile for the tub area and dark grey tile for the floor. I don't think we will do any accent tiles this time around.
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Do you have a link to the wavy white tile you using in new bath? that sounds interesting and would like to see!
I am having trouble following what you want to do.
I personally think plainer is better when it comes to tile. And I would choose subway tile or something that would fit with the period of the house--1940s looks intentional. 2012 in 2025 looks dated.
i wouldn't go with the blue, but the grey or black will look great and work very well for resale.
Live in the now! Do it if you like it.
I like the blue tile but I also like granny-fied 50's tile and such.
I don't think all white is too much but it depends on what kind of tile you use.
I think something like this:
http://www.koreltilestore.com/floor-and-wall-tile/carrera-white-floor.html
On the floors and on the shower walls would be beautiful - the veins in the tile would add just enough texture to make it interesting. Decorating with silver accents would be beautiful and you could bring in color with your towels and such.
We used a white terrazzo on the floor and in our shower. Specifically, this one:
http://www.koreltilestore.com/floor-and-wall-tile/white-grey-big-chip-aggregate-en.html
It doesn't at all look too white because there are hints of blue and green. We had the tile installed as big 24 x 24 squares on the floor and 12 x 24 in the shower.
As far as the tile with the colbalt blue.....you need to do what you love, resell be damned. But, me, personally, I would rip that out.