Special Delivery

Guess what arrived yesterday?

Hints: Inspired by the bathroom remodel. For the kitchen. Special ordered from The Home Depot. Bundled in four approx. 400-lb boxes that made me feel like my Jeep was doing a wheelie the whole drive home. Sticky. Oh, and rhymes with Lyle.

I might have been exaggerating about the 400-lb. thing, but each package contains 30-sq. ft. of resilient vinyl tiles, and I did get quite a workout holding the box up and as steady as I could while I took these shots myself with the self-timer. Maybe it’s about time that I built another deck. My arms were damn muscular that summer. Don’t drop the whole box, girl.

Side note: Still have that blue tape up on the dining room wall. Clearly, I’ve made no progress in getting some kind of shelving installed since I did my trial last week. Hopefully soon, big decisions take time, especially when it involves gouging into my precious shiplap. Also, haven’t yet unpackaged the yoga mat gifted at Christmas, whatever.

Yesterday’s reveal of the bathroom floor (using these same groutable tiles) was the first that you guys have seen of the tiles in place. We were admittedly skeptical about how well vinyl tiles would work. Both Pete and I are folks that would prefer to use something a little more… hearty. Strong and substantial. Like ceramic. Or porcelain. Or marble. Or flagstone. We’re “real tile” people at heart, but life is-a-changin’. I’m the first to admit that I had preconceived opinions about vinyl based on it’s look and feel and most of those diner-esque 49-cent 12″x12″ black and white tiles that I always see stacked along the back wall of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, and then again, most times I’ve seen vinyl installed, it’s in older homes or apartments that need some flooring TLC anyways. Not a fair way to judge tiles that a lot (a really lot) of people invest in.

What I’m getting at, vinyl lovers, is that I’m sort of converting to your side of the fence for this home, it’s value, it’s state. No sense in spending $600+ when I could spend $200 and have a better chance of recouping the costs if I ever sell. (Totally not planning on that right now, I’m just always forward-thinkin’.)

When we saw the grouted display at the store and read reviews on how it held up over time, we were willing to give it a shot. And after seeing and feeling how it was in the bathroom, I knew I wanted it for the kitchen too to help the house feel that much more cohesive. We’ve had them installed now for a couple of weeks, and it’s pretty amazing how much of a difference a new floor can can make in helping the room to look finished. Also, it’s more enjoyable than stepping out of the shower onto a splintery plywood subfloor.

For $1.69/sq. ft., I now have enough in house to do the kitchen, so that’s one of the next big things on the to-do list. The bathroom is almost finished, donchaknow, that means I need one more nice indoor improvement project before springtime hits and I’d prefer to be working in the garden.

More to come.