Ceramic Tiles

Monday 5th July 2010

I've been trying to go through my Prestart checklist and make sure that I'm on top of things before my Prestart interview. I've selected my vinyl floors and blinds. Today it's ceramic tiles for the bathroom, laundry and kitchen.

I went to Crosby Tiles on Albany Highway in Kenwick. I was met by a lady by the name of Jan (who proved to be very friendly and helpful) and shown to the builders standard range. I knew this wasn't going to be easy but I thought I would have a head start with the photos of the colours from the display home. Aside from knowing that I wanted a darker brown for the floor tiles, everything else that was in the display home was pretty much discontinued.

I started off by ruling out the colours that I did not want. Like the greens, the blues, the blacks, the light browns. I narrowed my choices down to three shades of dark brown.

left: my lighter brown choice
right: this one sort of had two tones

I think I am going with this one though. MOCHA.

Next...I have to choose the feature tiles. These are a way of dressing up your bathroom and there are so many different tiles to choose from, and endless ways that you can position the tiles to create different effects.

I fell in love with these tiles - different hues of brown. It looks like a packet of chocolate bars. Delicious!

I also need to choose benchtops and cupboard colours. I'm probably going to carry the same colour schemes through both bathrooms and the laundry. I'll probably just have the feature tiles different in each room to give them a bit of individuality.

I think I spent a good two hours there. I eventually left with these as my preliminary choices:

MOCHA floor tiles
DONKEY feature tiles
TUSCAN MARBLE benchtops
BIRCH cupboards

I still can't decide what colours I want for the kitchen cupboards and benchtop - I think I will have to have another look at the samples tomorrow.

The more I look at the colours, the more I worry that if I make the wrong choice, one element could really throw off the whole balance of the room. I hope it all works out alright!

Another consideration is that if I stray from the builders standard range, there are additional costs involved. There are also restrictions where there are certain ranges that I cannot select from. While it would be fantastic to be able to go in and choose whatever I want and not be limited to choices, at the same time I really appreciate the time I am saving in not having to go from store to store to find out the absolute best choice. Knowing me, I would go for the most expensive tiles. I am already going to be paying a bit extra for the feature tiles.