Floor it

When we went to our local flooring place to pick out our selections, we thought, "How hard could this be?" I mean we know what we like, we have a rough idea of our budget and we are willing to consider cheaper alternatives (engineered wood, etc).

HA!

By the time we left there, everything including our budget was out the window (and yes, this explains the "number crunching entry below"). And yet, we were happy as clams.

Flooring


We wanted hardwood and dark hardwood. There were not a ton of great dark options. We actually liked some of the hand-scraped wide-plank engineered wood, but they turned out to be just as expensive as a level 3 hardwood. Our flooring rep also steered us more toward the real wood -- good options for refinishing etc. As we were debating colors and size, she pulled out a non-standard option that she could do for the same price as a level 3 RH pick. It's Mahogany. It's wide and there's a lot of variation in the color of the boards (which we loved). The hardwood will go in the foyer, kitchen and morning room.

Samoan Mahogany Latte 3 5/8 (plus the dark oak stain for our railings)

Carpet was actually an easier pick. We went neutral and did the whole house in the same color -- Bare Mineral. I do hate the feel of cheap carpeting, and once we put this in, I want it to last. So we did the level 3 carpeting, as well as the #6 pad. We sprung for the #8 in the family room.

Bare Mineral carpet with our hardwood

The Tile


Confession: I don't really like beige tile.

After spending so much time looking at fantastic and hip kitchens and baths on Houzz.com, I was disappointed with RH tile choices. We looked at all the tile. All the beige stone tile. Saw stuff that was just OK, but nothing that really spoke to us. We were on the verge of not upgrading anything and agreeing to rip it all out later, when the sales rep told us to follow her. She took us out of the little RH back room and into the showroom. We totally went off the reservation.

For the "luxury bath", we went with Naveli Carrara floor tile (it looks like Carrara marble but it's porcelain) and white subway tile for the walls. The accent tile is black and pewter glass tile with a bamboo pattern in it. We went with the espresso vanity and meteorite granite in there.

Master Bath floor tile

All the components together - Our glass tile is the black and pewter one

Love it

Since we blew the bank on the luxury bath, the other bathrooms did get upgraded, but not quite so lavishly - Toasted Almond Travata tile, with the Andover Square vanity and wheat granite tops. Not my favorite, but it's livable and I'm sure the kids could care less.

Stuck with laminate in one spot: The extended laundry. With two boys, I wanted an easy-to-wipe-up mudroom.

I can't really say enough great stuff about our flooring rep. She turned what could have been a disappointing trip into a fantastic experience. I can not wait to soak in the big tub and look at that glass tile!