Flooring 17 | Home Makeover Diva

Tile Ideas For A Small Bathroom

01.27.2010 by Amanda Hartley //

Today, Tina asks:

I have a small bathroom I’m shopping for new tile for, and I just don’t know what to do! What size of tile should I go with? I’ve heard that I should go with small tiles and I’ve also heard that I need to stay with big! Which way is it?

Don’t despair you are not the only one that is confused with tile ideas for a small bathroom! For most of my life I’ve been told that in small bathrooms you are supposed to use small tiles. The school of thought on this is that it makes the room look bigger. As you might have guessed, this isn’t always the case. Now experts are telling us that “bigger is better”, that if we use a huge tile in a small space that will visually add to the dimensions of our space. Quite frankly it makes my head hurt just trying to figure out which is what. So I’ve come up with a couple of simple questions to help you when you go shopping for new tile.

#1 Does your small bathroom have a lot of different patterns, textures or colors going on? If the answer is no, please move on to #2. Otherwise you want to be careful adding more “busy patterns” to the floor. Because that is what small (and by small I mean 4″ x 4″ or smaller tiles) tiles do to your space, they create another pattern. You might want to go with something larger, more neutral and a solid or low contrast design. In a small space with other visual demanding design aspects I’d stick with tile that was at least 12″x 12″. Having less grout lines thereby less pattern will help make your room look bigger. And choosing a grout that blends with the base color of your tile will also keep your patter to a minimum.

#2 Since your small bathroom doesn’t have a lot of patterns, textures or colors then you can go wild. Now you might even want to add a border, but don’t have to be afraid of mosaics options though. You can use all the small tiles your heart dreams of. Heck, you can even use a contrasting grout and it won’t make your room look smaller. The problems with small tiles in a room with other strong design features is that there is just too darn much going on. And your eyes get tired trying to figure it all out. So if your bathroom is closer to a blank slate you can use the small tiles without causing visual chaos.

#3 How many tiles can you get width wise at your narrowest width and how many can you get at your widest? This is an important question because if you are going with really large tiles, say 20″ x 20″ and you can only get 1 1/2 tiles across your narrowest space it may look funny. You need to space them out so that you can get at least 2 whole tiles, preferably 3 in that space. On the other side if your widest spot has too many tiles to count, you might want to consider going with something a little larger. So it doesn’t just look like an expanse of small tiles!

If you take these three questions into consideration, choosing tiles for your small bathroom gets a lot easier. If you’re still not sure and happen to be more of a visual person, lay some tiles down in that space and see how it feels. You can cut the sizes out of paper and lay them on the floor just to give you a visual of the size and shape of the tile. Play around with that until you find something that feels right to you, because at the end of the day it’s your space. So go ahead and put the tile into your small bathroom that makes you happy.

Do you have questions about the selecting or the installation of: tile, carpet wall treatments (window blinds, etc)? Then email me your tale of woe and perhaps I will be able to answer your questions right here at the Home Makeover Diva Blog!

New Bathroom Wood Flooring

01.04.2010 by Amanda Hartley //

Wood flooring for real life! In a bathroom? Seriously? Yes, New Bathroom Wood Flooring from Shaw’s Cosmopolitan Collection hardwood floor is a 1/2″ engineered wood floor made out of maple that when installed properly, is a great fit for your bathroom. Shaw’s Cosmopolitan comes in 2 colors: black and white. With its shiny finish, it produces both a luxurious and dramatic effect upon entry into the bathroom. This hardwood is perfect for an upscale spa look at cost much lower than most might expect.

But this is a bathroom we are talking about, is this new bathroom wood flooring water proof?

Cosmopolitan repels water making it ideal for areas prone to moisture. Finally a wood floor for bathrooms and kitchens!

What makes this a great floor for real life is Shaw’s new wear layer that resists scuffing and every day wear and tear. Cosmopolitan is hand scraped and sanded for an aged look but has very little wood grain. You can use just one color or combine them for a traditional black and white floor. And unlike tile you won’t need to get an expensive under floor heating installed to keep your feet warm when you walk on it. You get all the shine of black and white tile but with the warmth of wood! All for under $13 a square foot. Considering the benefits provided, this is quite reasonable. [Read more…]

Pet Friendly Flooring Help

10.22.2009 by Amanda Hartley //

Today a reader asks:

We have 3 small dogs and also foster an additional dog each month. We have carpet throughout the house even in the kitchen. It is quality carpet and seems to clean well when I use the Bissell and better when I call the carpet pros once a year. However I am tired of the continual cleaning as it is an ordeal to bring the ‘Bissell up from basement, prepare the solution, then use the machine and clean it. WHAT OTHER TYPE OF FLOOR is available that would clean with a bucket of water and yet look nice in a home. I’ve seen rubber exercise mats. But I don’t want black. HELP. John in Omaha.

Wanting to be able to clean the floors with just a bucket of water, eliminates some of your flooring choices. I’d stay away from bamboo and pre-finished wood flooring. I’d also stay away from most laminate flooring. While the boards are interlocking and are warrantied from everyday use in kitchens and bathrooms, they still recommend sweeping and just spot cleaning when it comes to water. I’d recommend a vinyl floor. While vinyl has a reputation for looking fake some styles are very realistic and even have embossed designs to help give depth a high quality look, vinyl will be be able to resist the dogs paws if they play indoors. It’s a great choice.

Another option, while still staying in the vinyl family is the type that comes in planks like laminate, but sticks to itself on the edges or gets glued down instead of interlocking joints. This kind is also water proof. Plus it’s two layers of vinyl and can take a beating if you have large dogs. I’d suggest looking at Armstrong’s Lock Haven if you are looking for an easy installation, or one of the MODe planks which is available in more styles. And comes in a tile look as well.

Another option if you like hardwood floors would be to have unfinished hardwood flooring installed and finished “on site”. This basically means that installers come to your home and install, stain and finish as they install the flooring. Also known as Swedish finish. The great thing about this is the wood flooring edges are protected and you can mop all you want with causing any harm to the wood. Keep in mind though this process can become pricey and you and your pups will have to leave home for a minimum of 3 days while the process is being done.

Whatever option you choose for your new flooring, just make sure you check the warranty. You will want something that can withstand dog’s paws, and water.

Smelly Carpet Problems

09.15.2009 by Amanda Hartley //

Today Diana writes:

Hi Diva,

I just got a new old house and I have a very smelly and gross carpet
problem. When I looked at the house in April there was no odor because
it was still cold, but now, with the warmth and humidity, the smell in
one of the rooms is overwhelming and disgusting. Hard to believe, but
this was a bedroom before!!! OMG!!!

Anyway, I want to make it into a mini-kennel, in other words the dog
crates and grooming table will be in there. I’ve deep cleaned the
carpet twice, which ultimately had no effect on the odor, but did make
it much easier to pull up the squares of carpet ( it’s the tile kind)
and lo and behold, underneath this repulsive layer I found 9×9″
squares of ancient and very brittle linoleum, the likes of which the
fellows from home depot had informed me that they were not allowed to
touch! That was when they installed new carpeting in the rest of the
house. I had thought that since I was going to make this room my dog
room, I would just leave the old carpet. Of course, that was before
the terrible smell reared its ugly head!

What should I do? Can I just seal up the old linoleum with Kilz or
something and put vinyl tile over the lot? I’m out of house fixing
money, so I will have to do the work myself. Is vinyl tile waterproof
(I also have fish in the room) enough at its seams? If not, is there
something you can put on it so that nothing can get through? I would
theoretically be tiling over another hideous floor problem, but I just
don’t know how to get the linoleum off.

Please help!!

So Home Depot probably didn’t want to touch the old vinyl tiles because they could have Asbestos. Did the smell go away with the carpet or is it still in the room? Try removing the carpet if you haven’t already and see what happens. Maybe you’ll luck out and it will follow the carpet out the door!

Clean the floor and then put Kilz over the top of it. Also paint the walls w/Kilz as well, just in case the odor has seeped into the drywall. Then cover the flooring up. Try using something with a floating floor install. I suggest either laminate or vinyl. Since you’ll be doing the install yourself, you might want to look at one of the floating vinyl floorings.

Either the stuff that comes in a sheets that you lay down with glass tac tape. Or the kind that comes in planks that just stick to itself. Home Depot has one called Allure and Armstrong makes one as well. If you have large dogs and they go running into that room, you might want to consider Allure’s Garage line, or the Armstrong product because they are heartier.