CHI Good Question Revisted: Karen Decided on Dark Tiles

After

Karen asked a good question last November and has completed the job. She sent us an update on how she feels about the final results, along with a thank you...

...for your suggestions and advice.

Karen wrote: A while back I wrote in and asked about dark versus light tiles. I wanted to give you an update on my tile decision. I went with black. It's Armstrong ceramic tile that looks like slate. I really like the way it turned out. The dark floor really grounds the place. By the way, I also leveled the floor from being a sunken living room to all one level. Thanks to everyone for their ideas. I especially found putting trash bags on the floor helpful.

Before

During

We love the look of the new dark floors with the white painted brick in the top after photo - great choice Karen! The installation looks really well done and the slate-like tiles add a nice natural but dramatic feel to the room. Thanks for the update!

Comments (4)

Looks good!

Karen,
Can we see more pictures of your white brick? I have an exposed brick loft, all we're contemplating painting it all white! How did you do it? How much? etc. BTW, the floors look superb.

@eddivegas,

check out 2 Chicago house tours for info on this process:

1. Andreas' Greektown loft

2. Arthur's Riverwest loft...

Hi there,
Regarding the brick, this was no easy task. You can fix up any holes if you want with caulk. Then I applied several coats of primer, the kind specifically for brick that I bought at Home Depot. I ended up doing it mostly by hand because the sprayer and roller did not get the holes. I just kept adding primer until nothing was showing through. I finally added a couple of coats of super light pink paint called Scented Candle by Behr. It took me a few weeks to complete but I'm happy I did it because it really makes the place look and feel lighter and the paint seals in all the sand that was making a mess.