Shopping for Bath Remodel

Hola! Not my bathroom - Ann's bathroom! We didn't make it to Kegel's for that drink that I thought we might be able to do, but we got everything else done! Mission successful and a well-satisfied Ann. Ann, if you ever read this, I am very proud of you, Girlfriend! She has more design sense than she gives herself credit for, she just doesn't enjoy shopping for house-stuff like I do. It's always more fun, though, to shop with a friend. Tonight as we braved the below-zero windchills after work. Our first stop was a higher-end tile place someone had recommended to Ann where, after wandering around unattended for a full 15 minutes just looking at stuff and admiring it (and I was goggling all the while at the prices, knowing this would never fly with Ann, who wasn't paying any attention to prices at all, she was just looking at the colors), we finally approached by a salesman. After Ann explained what she was looking for, he told us that Ann's plan (upon recommendation of Kevin the Super Handyman) to use 6 inch square tile for the walls was, shall we say, less than desirable because, to paraphrase, the Italians (tile makers) are driving the market in a different direction and everything is now rectangles! Six-inch tiles are going the way of the dinosaur. Most of those subway tiles were gigantic that would look - well - ridiculous in a bathroom the size of Ann's, to tell the truth. Those tiles would not fit the scale of millions of bathrooms of similar vintage across the country! But, of course, most Europeans (and the Italians, in particularly, who seem singularly insulated from how real Americans live) think we are all either millionaires or live on Welfare. Those designers, they design for the millionaires. Ann and I took one look at each other and exited as quickly and as gracefully as we could. Gee, he was willing to give us 25% off 6-inch tile costing $6.99 each! It was so ridiculous that other than a few terse comments and a few hearty laughs, we didn't bother to discuss it. We headed to Menards "your one stop shopping for ..." further south along Highway 100, a main Milwaukee drag filled with anyplace you might ever wish to shop, and there we hit paydirt. Ann had previously spent time visiting various home-improvement centers and had spent a long time looking before selecting three tile samples with colors she really liked. We didn't find a match to her favorite, which was a bit deeper in color, a lovely light taupe-family color, but we DID find a lovely cream color with a nice glaze called something like "Biscuit." It doesn't remind me of a biscuit color at all, by the way, but it is very pretty. It is soft, and warm, a true cream that, to our eyes, had no overt overtones but was very balanced among brown/orange/red/yellow. It is definitely not white or the dreaded "antique white," which is a major decorating jump for my ordinarily color-conservative friend. The tile Ann settled on is colored between her favorite and second favorite samples she had spent a lot of time zeroing in on the weekend before (without me, speed shopper extraordinaire). After checking to make sure there was enough in stock for her job, we piled up on the number of boxes we needed along with the necessary accessories. Two very nice and helpful Menards clerks loaded the requisite number of heavy boxes of tile to a trolly and wheeled it to the front of the store for check-out while we continued to shop (each box of field tile weighed between 30-40 pounds each; not too much for me, Me Strong Like Bull, but for the petite and delicate Ann - way too heavy!) They also checked a master computer inventory list and told Ann exactly at what other Menards locations she could pick up the three other corner shelves she wanted. Ann was now on a Mission from God. She turned to me and said okay, let's see if we can find some flooring to go with! We already knew where to go in the large warehouse style store because about a month ago we were there picking out resilient vinyl sheet flooring for my own bathroom redo, and Ann actually showed me the flooring I ultimately purchased for my own bath redo. Again we hit pay dirt! Wielding a sample tile, we painstakingly compared it against nearly all of the rolls of flooring and attempted to view the justaposition of colors from as many different angles as possible. We found several potential matches but eventually zeroed in on one natural field-stone pattern, the "grout lines" of which are nearly a perfect match for the wall tile color. It is varicolored (probably five different tints and tones), and a deeper color than I thought Ann would ever go for!, but neutral so she will have a wide range to play with paint color and accessories such as linens. Nice! It is the perfect flooring for the effect she is after. The most complicated part of the visit to Menards was the paint selection. We looked at many samples and generally agreed on what looked too yellowy or too orangey. We were looking for true neutrals with no overt undertones. Ann seriously thought about a light green for a time (green is her favorite color) but darker greens that provided the degree of contrast she wished for between tile and painted surfaces were too dark; the lighter greens, while lovely (I even found some that I liked, and green is not a favorite color), did not provide the necessary degree of contrast that she was aiming for. In the end, a medium "sand" color called something like Moonlit Sand, won the day. It is very pretty! I think the tile, flooring and paint colors that Ann picked out are outstanding, and will give her a splendid bathroom. She's going to love it! Here's the absolute best part: the tile is on unadvertised sale because it's on clearance, so to be safe Ann will probably pick up an extra box of 40 tiles. Kevin had advised her against buying anything on clearance, but I know that's because as a true professional, he is concerned with the ease of replacement tiles down the line, should that ever become necessary. I told Ann that because we could only buy the tiles in full boxes, she already had half a box of tile that owuld be left over that could be used for repairs/replacements in the future. Ann determined that at the extraordinary price of the tile, she could well afford to have Kevin pick up an extra box for "just in case." The resilient sheet vinyl flooring is also on sale! The Designing Goddess was sure smiling upon Ann tonight. What's more, we did it all in one store. I had thought we might be travelling from place to place tonight, picking up the tile here, and the flooring there, and the paint in yet another place. Ann also picked up a ceramic towel rod, two ceramic soap holders, and a ceramic corner shelf unit - tomorrow she will run to another Menards location to pick up the other three corner shelf units she wants. Kevin will pick up the flooring and take care of ordering the "inside and outside" corner tiles - he will know exactly what he needs to get much better than we do! Ann knew she had to get some of these inside/outside tiles, but she either didn't write it down or she wrote it down but on a different slip of paper than those she brought with us this evening for our shopping expedition. Rather than guess and buy the wrong thing that cannot be returned because it's on clearance, Ann wisely decided to let Kevin do that part of the shopping when he comes to pick up the flooring and the paint. All in all, we are very pleased with our great haul - and the cost! Ohmygoddess! The field tile cost 0.43 each! Quite a bit of difference between that and $6.99 (even with 25% off of that ridiculous price) at the high-end tile store. And frankly, looking at the tile we purchased tonight at Menards, side by side with the same color of tile from the fancy place, I would not be able to tell the difference. Paint has to be purchased, I think Ann can get by with two quarts. She won't need a gallon because most of the room is going to be tiled. Ann has the color info, so Kevin will pick up the paint soon. He begins work this Sunday - the demolition! I'm so excited for my friend! She's going to be without a bathroom tub/shower for some days, though and has a plan for how to deal with that, but Ann will have a new bathroom bef!ore Christmas, her present to herself! I can't wait to see it. Way to go Ann!