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!

posted by art on March 24th 2008 at 6:12am
view art's profile

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.

posted by eddivegas on March 24th 2008 at 8:48am
view eddivegas's profile

@eddivegas,

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

1. Andreas' Greektown loft

2. Arthur's Riverwest loft...

posted by art on March 25th 2008 at 8:30am
view art's profile

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.

posted by denverdigs on March 25th 2008 at 12:49pm
view denverdigs's profile