Monday, August 20, 2012

Subway Tile: Stacked or Brick Pattern?

The planning for our yet another bathroom renovation is well under way, and stress is slowly creeping on me. Bathroom is in general a pretty sophisticated project, especially at the planning stage, as it involves a lot of decision-making. Here are the questions I usually ask myself before a bathroom reno:

  • Shower System: How many functions do I want out of a shower system? Shower head, hand shower, tub spout or all the above? Do I want volume control? In which finish? Modern, classic or transitional-style levers?
  • Recessed Shelf in Shower: in which wall or how big?
  • Sink Faucet: single-hole or three-hole installation? Style of the lever? Finish? 
  • Vanity countertop: natural marble or engineered stone and their pros and cons?
  • Vanity paint color and hardware.
  • Tiles and patterns.

Another challenge with any bathroom renovation is to be able to cope with changes and surprises. We don't have x-ray vision so we could only hope for the best once the dry walls get cut open. My plan to have "waterfall" tile pattern on the middle wall was toppled because of a ventilation pipe on the right wall. Our contractor doesn't believe he has enough room to wiggle the pipe so I probably need to have the recessed wall shelf in the middle wall which would then break up the waterfall pattern I had in mind, see illustration below. Nothing crashes a design plan faster than structural integrity.


So I am now back to the drawing board for another tile pattern that doesn't involve a waterfall.

Option 1: I could use the 3x6 white subway tile throughout, similar to what I have in my master ensuite shower and basement bathroom. I will likely run one thicker Carrara accent border across the C-shaped wall.

Option 2: I could use a change and set the 4x16 subway tile in either stacked or brick pattern. My only concern is that the "stacked" pattern might look too modern for my bathroom. Here are a few examples of the stacked setting:

Via Houzz
Via


Via

So which option would you go for? 3x6 or 4x16 subway tile? Stacked or brick pattern? Please help!!!

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