We did it. Since this morning’s post we made one more trip out to the tile store and finally made a tile decision (we ordered over 50 square feet of it to do the entire wall above the stove where we’ll add open shelves and a vent hood as mentioned here). Our process was visiting a bunch of small local shops and big box stores just to see what was out there. And we had the most luck finding stuff that we loved at a local tile store (The Tile Shop). The only problem was that many of their gorgeous offerings were nearly $20 a square foot, which can work if you’re doing a standard backsplash – but can definitely break the budget on a whole wall (50 square feet x $20 = $1000!).
Here are a few things that we loved, but the prices just weren’t right for our budget (this smoky gray skinny tile was $17.99 per square foot):
This moody gray glass subway tile was $18.99:
This pretty cracked glass tile was $16.99 (it looked like a mixture of marble and ice cubes):
This soft tiny glass mosaic tile was $14.99:
Then in the back of the store in the clearance section we came across the prettiest softest gray penny tile with such a smooth finish and such clean circular shapes that it definitely felt modern but not too cold – just clean and sleek enough while still saying soft and reading more as a texture than a big repeating tile on the wall.
And priced at just $5.59 a square foot it was definitely a lot less of a budget breaker (50 square feet x $5.59 = $279).
But we should tell the whole Tile Shop story. At John’s dad’s recommendation, we used The Tile Shop as a resource when we did our bathroom remodel in our first house (they were really helpful when it came to finding the right grout and supplies) and they later became sponsors of ours. So the coolest thing about finding our tile there was that they offer all YHL readers (including us) a 10% off discount on anything in their store (or online) with the code YHL10. So we scored an additional 10% off.
Since it’s going to be a main focal element in the kitchen, we figured it wouldn’t be a drop in the bucket project, but we’re happy to come in way under $300 for the tile and save money on labor by installing it all ourselves (with details as we go of course). We definitely think it’s going to be one of those makes-the-room choices. So excited.
Oh and here’s how Clara reacted to it. First she walked by and coyly glanced over at it…
Then, naturally, she petted it.
It’s very smooth. She’s a fan, just like mom & dad. Incidentally, it’s porcelain – so it’s completely non-porous, which means it is extremely stain resistant and we’ll be using stain resistant grout and sealer so it’ll all be nice and protected against any kitchen spatter. Because I would not wanna be the sucker in charge of scrubbing all that grout all the way up the wall with a toothbrush for years to come. Thank goodness for no-maintenance sealer. We used it in our last bathroom and didn’t clean the shower tiles for over a year – no kidding. More on that here (you can even reapply it once a year to keep things über protected).
But back to Clara. After we went to the front counter and paid for everything she said “all done” and took my hand and led me right back…
… to the tile display in the back of the store. For one last pet-session. Is she a good tile salesman or what?
But let’s rewind. Before pulling the trigger and whipping out the ol’ wallet we ran home with our sample and googled “penny tile” just to check out a few other kitchens with something similar. Here’s a nice photo that shows how it might look behind floating shelves. And here’s some all-the-way-to-the-ceiling penny tile (of course this stuff is a lot bolder and more metallic than the finish we chose).
Here’s some penny tile that looks nearly identical to the one we picked (found here). Ignore the fact that this is a bathroom and try to picture some dark cork floors, white cabinetry, and chunky white open shelves paired up with it. Yum. See what I mean about it becoming sort of a texture in the room instead of immediately reading like a big shiny wall of tile? I love that it’ll layer in with all the other stuff (open shelves, range hood, cabinetry, counters, cork floors, soft grellow walls, the fireplace, art, window treatments, lighting, etc).
Here’s our tile sample getting cozy on the faux-sheepskinned ottoman in the living room. Looks right at home, right?
And here’s our sample tile paired with the cork flooring sample, the swatch card with our kitchen wall color, a Klean Kanteen (to represent our stainless appliances) and a white ceramic tile (to represent the white cabinets – once we paint them). Can you see it coming together? We couldn’t be more excited.
But before we can get our tile on (and share all the as-we-go steps), we have to do pretty much everything else in the kitchen (the backsplash is one of the last things that goes in after cabinets are set and appliances are installed and counters are in, etc). We’re planning to do some other demo/appliance moving tonight though, so if all goes well we’ll have those pics to share tomorrow! Slowly but surely. Or as Clara says “slowly, slowly” (if you ask her what a sloth says, that’s her answer).
Has anyone else bought tile (for the backsplash, floor, bathroom, etc) lately? Did you also hit up at least five stores and even check things out online before pulling the trigger? We never spend this much time on things like paint (which can easily be redone) – but things like tile and flooring and counters definitely seem to take us some time! How do the people on Design Star make all these decisions in five minutes? Maybe because it’s not a room they actually have to live in for years to come? Maybe that’s where the pressure comes in? Then again, they do have Vern and Candice and Genevieve judging them on national television. So yeah, there’s that kind of pressure…
LauraC says
Really wanted to find a way to use penny tile in our bathroom remodel we did this spring, but wasn’t able to. I’m seeing a whole lot of pink undertones in the ones you chose, but less so in the photos you took of the sample at home. And as much as I love those gray glass subway tiles, it’s probably best you didn’t choose them as they will date quickly. Congrats on your progress!
ESBlondie says
SO PRETTY! Are you still thinking about concrete countertops?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, we’re sad though. We’re not sure they’ll work with our existing cabinets and floors. More details as soon as we call a few more experts for their advice…
xo,
s
Kelly says
LOVE the tiles! The color palette is so clean and modern, but without being too stark. I’ve never seen penny tiles used that way, now you have me thinking about it for our someday kitchen remodel.
stephanie says
I am so excited I can hardly stand it. That is going to be amazing!
Michele says
We used the exact same tile in ou bathroom makeover and LOVE it!
http://theamenwithats.blogspot.com/2011/03/doing-happy-dance.html
You really need to do a House Crash on us soon! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Couldn’t love it more!!!! Can’t wait to come crash!
xo,
s
Missy G. says
I didn’t love it until the very final shot of the mood board of samples for your kitchen. The penny tile looks awesome next to the stainless steel! Are you going to consider stainless steel shelves now, or are you still leaning toward white? I think metal would look amazing.
YoungHouseLove says
Not 100% sure but we’re thinking about leaning towards white so they feel like they go with the cabinets (so the penny tile can be the star along with the range hood).
xo,
s
Lara says
I think this is PERECT for you guys! So excited for you, & what a price!
Woohoo!
Nicole Turnbull says
penny tiled our bathroom floor last night! but with real pennies :) Love the pattern, good luck with your backsplash!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh, I’d love to see pics!
xo,
s
Nicole Turnbull says
of course! will send them in once the rest of the bathroom is finished :)
Ilana says
Soooo pretty. I really like the vision you have for the kitchen. I bet it will be one of your most improved rooms (along with the office). Can’t wait to see what evolves.
Lindsey says
COUPON CODE A NO GO….
We purchased hex tile from the tile shop, we went there because I ready your posts everyday and love the products you have received from there. When we went and mentioned that we get 10% off for knowing your blog (we gave them the code) They said it was for online only. Is this true? We went ahead and bought it at the store so we wouldn’t have to pay shipping but we were pretty disappointed that we couldn’t use the discount, it looks like you were able to use it in store…
Just wondering!
Thanks, love love love the tile!
Lindsey
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, that actually may vary from store to store (the code is meant to work online, but we mentioned it in our store and they honored it). Maybe try asking to speak to a manager and being sweet about wanting to do things locally and support their store instead of taking your business elsewhere (and ordering online instead of from their store?). Hopefully they’ll go for it!
xo,
s
Carissa says
Penny tile is our favorite too! We’ve been wanting to redo both of our bathrooms tile but it’s gonna take a while because penny tile is definitely out of our price range!
Giulia says
Thought you might want to read this blog post that I found regarding properly installing penny tiles. Looks like she had a few hick-ups because the sheets were not lined up correctly – just to give you a heads up :) Lovely tiles that you chose.
http://lifebeginsatthirtyright.blogspot.com/2011/04/on-bloggingand-honesty.html
YoungHouseLove says
Yikes! What a nightmare! Thanks so much for the link- we have heard the tip that she outlines with the diagram (to lay them in a staggered pattern like subway tile) so hopefully we’ll have a happy ending!
xo,
s
Wom-mom Ethne says
If you said before, you should say it again: what are you thinking for the color/pattern/material for the countertops?
YoungHouseLove says
Not sure yet! We really wanted to do concrete but we’re not sure it’ll work in our kitchen (might need to be poured extra thick for the peninsula, which might be too heavy for our floor joists). Will keep ya posted!
xo,
s
Jen says
The color of the tile (and the shape, kind of) looks like your blog background, so I think this choice was meant to be! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha- so funny!
xo,
s
Frieda says
Love, love, love the penny rounds! In fact I recently saw a Season 2 rerun of Sarah’s House where she used marble penny rounds in the kitchen, and was debating it instead of subway tiles. Great choice!
Renee S says
Love it! I’ve had a small sample of those same tiles in my drawer for 4 or 5 years, taken from a dumpster at a job site I was painting a mural at! I’ve been drooling over them that long, but they just weren’t right in our bathroom or kitchen…maybe in the next house! :)
Samma says
Great price, and will make for a nice texture! Are you thinking about doing any kind of backsplash focal point over the stove? And are you thinking white grout? I dunno how it would look, but I could totally see a darker grout like a charcoal or black bringing in a little more ‘bold’.
Too bad about the concrete, if it doesn’t work. But seems like there would have to be a way to ‘faux’ it so that the concrete is more of a veneer over a lighter base substrate? So you get the look without the weight?
We went unconventional with our counter-tops (cokebottle green glass) and we love it! Surprisingly durable & easy to clean.
YoungHouseLove says
We love how the sample in the store looks so much we’re planning to get the exact same grout to duplicate that look exactly. I think we’re into keeping it tone-on-tone and not too contrasty (for fear that it might get too busy). As for a focal point over the stove, we’ll be doing a range hood, so that will be a nice big accent on that wall too!
xo,
s
Monica says
I really like the penny tile you picked out. It looks great in the inspiration pics. I am having a hard time imaging what it is going to look like with the actual paint color. And I always laugh when you call your wall color a “soft” grellow. I guess it just looks so much brighter in your pics. Can’t wait to see how it will all come together. Do you have a timeframe you want to be done by? The holidays? Have you thought about what you will use as a counter top for the bar area? Can you order matching granite? Good luck with your appliance moving…that must mean you might be getting a delivery today!
YoungHouseLove says
We hope to be done by early Jan (since we’re DIYing a ton of it, it’s going to be slow going). As for the counter, it all has to be replaced (since we don’t like it, we didn’t want to pay for more of it for the peninsula we’re adding – but we’ll hopefully hone in on something that we love soon!
xo,
s
Rachel says
Ahhh! Great choice! I adore penny round tile! Can’t wait to see it in all it’s glory once it’s installed! I’m sure you can’t wait either:)
Sarah says
Luuuuuuuuurve!!! It’s all coming together – minus the actual work, which is not much fun anyways. Happy dance :)
Elizabeth says
Ooooo! I like! I was starting to stress for you when I saw all the glass tiles at first because I just saw an episode of Design Inc. where Sarah Richardson had to redo someone’s bath tile because you could see all the trowel lines through the glass tiles. Knowing you were going to DIY it made me nervous. Though it shouldn’t have because you all are always so super cautious and careful about researching how best to do things.
YoungHouseLove says
No way, that happened to Sarah? It happened to Jeff Lewis too! Seems like a problem with the glass tile stuff! Although the kind The Tile Shop sells has some sort of adhesive strip on the back that supposedly helps with that (so you don’t see trowel/thinset through them).
xo,
s
Kate says
I think the shape and pattern make this a very classic choice. I would also like to echo another commenters advice on spacing. We had our master bathroom redone and used hex tile on the floors. It looked great before it was grouted, but afterward all the seams were so obvious. You can tell where all the sheets began and ended. Now I’m just biding my time until we can have it torn up and replaced because it looks so bad :( Fortunately, the bathroom is about the size as the bathroom in your last house so it won’t be too expensive.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man that stinks! We plan to be super careful and even work it so seams are covered by floating shelves whenever we can!
xo,
s
Susan Peltz says
Love the tile. We installed a black and white penny tile in our main bathroom (floor). One thing you may want to check, our installer had a wee bit difficulty when he was grouting. Seems the penny tiles are thinner the “regular” tiles and he a difficulty getting the grout to “stick” His solution was to use two thin applications of grout and it worked like a charm. Good luck!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the tip!
xo,
s
Rebecca says
My husband just installed out backsplash last week. We scored glass tile in 1 foot sqaures for only $5. It makes our small kitchen look ALOT bigger. Can’t wait for it to be all finished though. We have put alot of time, $$ and effort into it.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- what a deal!
xo,
s
Kim says
Love the penny round! You say that it’s ceramic, but the sample you show says porcelain. I have heard that porcelain is better and more durable, but does that depend on what you use it for?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah- you’re right! Typo.
xo,
s
Robin says
I love the Penny Tiles! I would love to have them in my bathroom, the thought of not cleaning for a year albiet, semi-gross also glorious!
Ps- Clara could not be any cuter! “all-done!” haha
Michelle says
We have the Tile Shop in KC and that’s where I bought the tile for my recent bathroom reno (paid a local contractor, it was too important to leave it in my hands, I did the painting). We had decided on the darker blue version of your crackle and the day we walked in to buy it changed our mind. It took 5 minutes to totally scrap plan A for plan B (creamy varigated marble subway tiles). I’m so glad we did. The people at my TS store are super helpful, love them. Have fun and I can’t wait to see the pics!
Linda says
Love the tiles. I got some last year for a kitchen backsplash on sale at Home Depot for $5.00 a square foot but haven’t put them up yet. Mine are small glass tiles in tan neutral colors. Will be looking forward to your step by step instructions! :)
Aron says
Love penny tile!
melissa says
the kitchen is going to be GORGEOUS. can’t wait to see it done :)
Beth says
It’s perfect and way better than the more expensive options. I can’t wait to see it!
Dana says
I like the look! Can’t wait to see the progress…and finished project :)
kara says
Totally loving the penny tile decision!!
For our (not DIY) kitchen remodel in 2008 we used subway tile. I’ll never get tired of it, it’s so classic. For our remodel, we kept the tile flooring, but that’s about it, and changed the layout quite a bit.
The brand spankin new (2008), with no accessories added, obviously we have a few things on the counters now.
http://suburbanfugitive.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/kitchen-complete-im-completely-exhausted/
YoungHouseLove says
Gorgeous! What an amazing room!
xo,
s
Joanna says
I was JUST looking a penny round tile the other day online. For anyone else who is interested, I found some very affordable penny tile at Overstock.com. It comes in a pretty seafoam green and a royal blue color (and I believe a few other colors as well). Can’t wait to see the finished product!
Anika says
LOVE penny tiles! (I especially love the green ones in your last example picture.) Definitely more interesting than subway tiles, which everyone has, and the soft gray is beautiful! Great find as always. Can’t wait to see how it all comes together.
PS Thanks for including some behind the scenes Clara moments – it’s such fun to hear about how she reacts to the whole diy-home process. Has she done any more paintings for the frame walls or anything else diy recently? I’m sure she’d be willing to help prime and paint in the kitchen!
YoungHouseLove says
We actually just planned another painting project with her! Can’t wait to share it!
xo,
s
Ms. Bright says
L.O.V.E. the penny tile that y’all {Clara?} selected! I especially love the bit of border around them. It looks fantastic with your other selected finishes! And you’re correct, snap design decisions are easy when it’s not your own space. As a designer, I always say I can easily decorate anyone else’s home, just not my own!
KatyO says
…literally drooling over that tile…
Redoing the countertops/backsplash is on my agenda for next year. We have been looking and looking but nothing seemed right for the backsplash. And then you show me penny tiles. I may be in love. :)
Michelle says
LOVE the tile & I want some! We are remodeling our kitchen ourselves as well (although it will be more slow going then yours as we have some big money we need to save up) and are just taking on little projects at a time. I am painting our cabinets now and it is not so fun- but it will be worth it!
Veronica says
Hi Guys,
We just used that exact same tile, same color, same store in our bathroom! You will love it…everyone raves about how much they love it! It’s super easy to clean as well! Can’t wait to see it up…
YoungHouseLove says
So glad to hear that!
xo,
s
Manda says
Love the choice — everything really looks like it’s coming together. I loved the moody grey glass subway tile, but think you made a great choice for the budget.
Can’t wait to see the re-facing the cabinets post, as I’m in the market for buying an older home and know that I’ll want to paint all of my cabinets white.
Elizabeth says
LOVE IT!
Sarah says
I think you guys made a fabulous choice!!! I love the color and shape!! And what a bargain! Can I use anymore exclamations?!! <—- guess so. :/
Melissa @ HOUSEography says
Don’t Sarah Richardson and Tommy always joke about how they love penny round tile but the client never picks it in a line-up?! I think it will bring a lot of interest to your kitchen.
Ann says
What a good deal! I like Penny tiles because they make me think “scales” but the good kind; like belonging to a lizard, not like the kind you have to stand on in horror and dismay! Also, I can’t wait to see the grout process, moving all the time we definitely never get to benefit from quality grout in rentals so many a scrubbing toothbrush have been sacrificed in vain…
Erin says
amazing deal! I’ve seen penny tile used before on HGTV. I think Genevieve used it in a kitchen. so pretty. you guys are getting me all excited about adding tile to my kitchen. there is actually just a tiny wall that would need it so i could splurge on something totally dreamy and it would hardly cost me. I love it!! Too bad i’m at work and my house is still under contract. One day soon, tile, you will be mine!! (sorry for the crazy mood i am in. He he!!)
Erin says
have you ever thought of that rock on your hand… how long it sat in the earth until the time was right to be cut and shined and set on a beautiful solitare? that’s how i feel about my new tile. I don’t know what it will look like – but it is out there somewhere – just waiting for me. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- love it.
xo,
s
Justine says
loooove this tile! it makes me very jealous that i don’t have a kitchen or bathroom to redo right now. will file it away for inspiration….
tracy a says
love it! and am maybe thinking about moving in that direction…a little more subtle than the hex tile i was considering. great find!
Valerie says
When I lived in Rome, I tried to learn a bit of Italian to speak with the locals, and when I said “Mi dispiace! Sto imparando!” (I’m sorry, I’m learning!)they would OFTEN reply, “Piano piano!” … which means “Slowly slowly!”. So every time I read about Clara saying that about her sloth, I picture it in a nice thick italian accent! =)
On a more-related note the penny tiles look amazing! Great taste and great find – as usual!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahaha- I love it!
xo,
s
Robin @ our semi organic life says
I love the round tile but had noI idea that was a thing. Can’t wait to see it go up !!
Trisha says
Swoon! So beautiful, love the preview of all the colors and textures together.