So Andrew and I have spent a few of our weekends searching out tile. For those of you in the Chicagoland area, let me provide some recommendations for tile vendors. The four vendors we've visited are:
Lewis Floor and Home
Locations in Chicago and Northbrook (Northbrook is much larger)
They have a great selection and offer "Stock" tile at a great price. The are currently running a promotion offering 20% off all stocked tile and 10% off all non-stocked tile through the end of February.
Terrazzo and Marble Supply
Locations in Wheeling and Chicago (Wheeling is much larger)
Wonderful natural stone resource. I would definitely recommend making the trip to Wheeling to see their amazing collection of stone.
Stone City
Located in Chicago.
Offers a huge selection of all types of tile and has a great showroom for inspiration.
Tile Outlet - Discount tile at a great price.
Located in Chicago.
Offers tile at a discount price - only downside is you cannot hand select your material as you would at the other tile vendors listed. This really makes a difference when choosing natural stone as each stone is different and the variation can cause one tile to look completely different from another. I wouldn't recommend purchasing natural stone from this vendor, unless the variation will not bother you. It is definitely a wonderful resource for porcelain or glass tiles. Their price was $2 cheaper per square foot than Lewis.
We have narrowed it down to the following selections. I know which one I'm leaning towards, but please weigh in with your opinions.
Botticcino Fioretti Marble
Vanilla Marble
Botticcino Fioretti Marble
Vanilla MarbleSince our bathroom is sooooo small, I've decided that the best way to create the illusion of a larger space is to keep the color scheme fairly monochromatic. For this reason, I've decided to repeat the marble from the tile in the vanity countertop.
An interesting note about natural stone vanity tops. Many vendors will sell marble or granite slabs, but are not fabricators. A fabricator is a contractor that cuts the granite or marble slab down to fit your cabinetry. Since this is such a small job, it does not make sense to purchase an entire slab from a vendor only to ship it to a fabricator to be cut down. Therefore we will be buying our marble directly from the fabricator. If we are lucky we may be able to find a remnant piece, which is essentially the "leftovers" from someone else's counters. These pieces are cheaper as they can only be used in small spaces. This does make our job a little trickier as we will have to make sure that the tile and the vanity top match and have the same coloration, however the options we chose are not too unique and should be carried by most fabricators.
My one gripe with the entire natural stone industry is that there really isn't much standardization when it comes to colors and their names. One vendor will call one marble one thing, and another will come up with a completely different name for it. I believe they do this to keep customers from "shopping around", but it can make choosing tile a frustrating process!
The Bathroom renovation is hopefully going to begin at the end of March, but there is a lot of decisions to be made before that! Hopefully we can get moving!
An interesting note about natural stone vanity tops. Many vendors will sell marble or granite slabs, but are not fabricators. A fabricator is a contractor that cuts the granite or marble slab down to fit your cabinetry. Since this is such a small job, it does not make sense to purchase an entire slab from a vendor only to ship it to a fabricator to be cut down. Therefore we will be buying our marble directly from the fabricator. If we are lucky we may be able to find a remnant piece, which is essentially the "leftovers" from someone else's counters. These pieces are cheaper as they can only be used in small spaces. This does make our job a little trickier as we will have to make sure that the tile and the vanity top match and have the same coloration, however the options we chose are not too unique and should be carried by most fabricators.
My one gripe with the entire natural stone industry is that there really isn't much standardization when it comes to colors and their names. One vendor will call one marble one thing, and another will come up with a completely different name for it. I believe they do this to keep customers from "shopping around", but it can make choosing tile a frustrating process!
The Bathroom renovation is hopefully going to begin at the end of March, but there is a lot of decisions to be made before that! Hopefully we can get moving!
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