Concrete flowers
Stoneware that looks like concrete… There has been many industry advances on the design, texture and format of tiles. The options had exponentially increased and today there is no wet dream left unfulfilled. 
That came out wrong… The point is if you can dream it, you can do it. Wait! Somebody already said that. But when it comes to tiles, it is really true. Below is how the tiles look in the online simulation (not our bathroom), with the difference that we selected a darker floor.
Tired of white, blank rooms without personality, we wanted our bathroom to look modern, minimalist and also timeless. Our plan of creating a spa feeling for bath and shower required simple lines, light contrasts and a more neutral palette. Concrete is the natural direction to go if you are aiming at modern. At an Italian stoneware manufacturer I found this neutral pearl on white cement tile, which would make the room brighter than the usual concrete gray while giving it character. In addition, in order to bring some softness and create a natural atmosphere, the beautiful tile with flower patterns complemented the ambience. If you could look really close, you’d see that it mimics a painted canvas, at the same time with waves on the surface, as if it had been sculpted by hand.
The tile format ordered and displayed here is 120 cm x 120 cm (3.9 x 3.9 ft). The laying pattern is the same we chose. We were really curious to see how it would look like in our space. If it’d feel too cold or empty. We began to consider what else we had in the room to add warmth and comfort.
Moment of truth
Most of our work was done in the night so the photos were not the best. Besides, being in the middle of the winter left us with little daylight or sun color to show what it really looks like. When summer comes, we are probably going to add better pics.
Tiling the walls was really hard, much harder than doing the floor. The biggest challenges were getting the measures right to the millimeter, getting the grout always to be the same size even between different types of tile, then cutting the holes for the bathroom fittings and, worst of all, to cover all the small corners and spaces of niches. It took us many days till late hours. I get tired only remembering it. And, although we closed the room with plastic, the house was full of the sawing dust, it simply wouldn’t get away, it kept floating on the air for days. Cutting the tiles outside in the snow was a no go, specially at the hours we worked and on Sundays – the neighbors would start throwing stones at our house in no time.
But we made it! We didn’t break too many tiles – we even ended with a few spare ones left. For beginners that wasn’t so bad. But it’s not over yet: the shower and sink area were not done. Did you notice it? We have to choose our battles and divide and conquer seemed reasonable. Next we are tackling the plumbing of the double shower and assembling the hanging ceiling. Who said it was going to be easy?
We did however get our big freestanding bathtub inside. It had been in a wood box outside, waiting for months for a warm, beautiful bathroom to invite it in. And it was just the right time, as the snow hit us in full force at the same weekend.
Stay tuned to see how our spa/wellness/modern/concrete-flower/minimalist bathroom turns out!
