Yesterday I escaped from work (and braved the bitter wind - what, winter?) to make a trip to the tile store a few blocks away from where I work. We are coming up on a few possible tile projects - the new 1/2 bath, the entrance way, fireplace repair and ultimately the kitchen (floor and walls) and I wanted to survey the possibilities.

First I started by showing the salesman a filthy, broken tile I had plucked from the parlor level fireplace (pink - might I add, much like the bathroom). He proceeded to screw up his eyebrows and tell me they have nothing even similar to this. The owner of the store did point me in the direction of a different tile store that might carry them but in the meantime we're living with a crumbling fireplace. Whatever - we have bigger problems.

As frequently happens in "Jesse Land," I had a clear picture of exactly what I wanted for the entrance way and was merely dropping in to the store to find what MUST already exist. Sigh.

I explained to the salesman what kind of tile I wanted in the entranceway and he sent me to the "warehouse" (around the corner) where they had the traditional hexagon tiles in a range of colors. Try black and white. But I found a few that I liked and asked Lenny (who runs the warehouse) how much clearance I would need to install these in the entrance way between the two front doors? And could I do it myself? (To this he shook his head "not really that great of an idea. but if you want to try...")

Lenny then told me that I had selected tiles that were not really conducive to an entrance way and would likely become wet and very slick. Did I want to die? Our conversation went something like this:

You really need a tile that has no glaze in an area that could potentially become wet.

I'll put down a mat.

How will you close the door.

Oh. (pause) But those aren't pretty. They're dull. I want the glaze.

Who lives in the house? Just you.

And my boyfriend.

Do you love him?

But it's just going between two doors. What could happen?

Do the doors have glass? (I nod) I recommend you fall away from the glass.

I brought the samples of the pretty tiles home anyway and explained the situation to Thom. He refused to see my logic and said simply that we could not have slick tiles in the front of the house. My whiny shrieks of "Yes, we can!" had little effect.

In the end, I think we'll be making a trip together to tile store. Perhaps then Thom will see that I am right. Beauty ahead of pain (and a potential broken leg).

Our entrance way (icky concrete painted red)...
The tile samples I brought home. The white hexagons are "ok" according to Lenny (not glazed but not as rough as he would recommend) and the penny tiles are highly glazed and reflective (though you cannot tell in the picture). I couldn't find a light blue in the hexagons.