Just GORGEOUS! Original, chic and fun.

It makes me grimace to think what I paid for my kitchen backsplash!

It looks good, but I don't know if it looks $682 worth of good. Part of the appeal of the penny tile floor is the cost as well as the lustre.. this is a duller finish at significantly more cost.

It is nice.. but I don't think I'd go to that effort instead of getting $682 worth of stone.

Very intresting floor. I wish you guys would have gone all out in the rest of the bathroom too. Everything else looks very standard but the floor.

I disagree. I think it's a beautiful floor for a beautifully upgraded bathroom. Not a bad price compared to what some people pay for flooring half as attractive. Also, I admire the work you put into it yourselves! That clearly took epic patience. Good for you guys!!

Well Done!!!!

The bathroom is beautiful! And this looks way better than the penny floors. I love this.

5x as expensive as a penny floor.

I wish all the heads were facing the same direction.

Just kidding! This site can be so judgmental, LOL.

Who cares if it cost more? Not like they took those nickels out of my piggy bank, if they like the look then so be it. The bathroom looks very modern and cool.

This is awesome, I have featured it on Craft Gossip this morning. http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/unique-flooring-tiling-with-coins/ Thanks for all the great inspiration.

Lol, mattster, my thoughts exactly.

Very well done. I like this better than the penny countertop and the penny floor at the Standard. Great workmanship and more subtle color scheme.

I'm sorry but... money is a dirty thing... who would want it on a bathroom floor?

It's a great, unique look, however is this legal?
http://YourInterior.wordpress.com

Legal, smegal. Live dangerously.

"I wish all the heads were facing the same direction.

Just kidding! This site can be so judgmental, LOL."

INSANELY judgmental! Drives me crazy!

But on a friendlier note, I LOVE this! It looks fabulous. I'll bet all the hard work makes the end result even sweeter, too.

I have a large stash of foreign coins that I've been collecting while working at a Credit Union that I'd like to do something similar to this with, however I'm not sure how the varied colors of metals will look as opposed to using just one coin. I'll have to ponder that!

"Money is a dirty thing"? Um... what makes you think they don't WASH the floor?? LOL.

This looks fantastic! I thought about doing this same thing when I saw the penny-tiled floor. Love the pennies, but my bathroom is dark red with black/white/silver accents so I thought nickels would look better. I ultimately settled on white hex subway tile with black grout but I was >< this close to doing the nickels.

this gives me an idea. I can use the coins I've collected from my travels.

... but instead of the floor. I can put coins on the wall.

I'm not comfortable with stepping on money. I't's cool and beautiful but I don't think I could get myself to do it. ... though I love the idea of coins on the wall .

Thank you so much for all of the kind words about the tile. We made an effort to polish some of the nickels (with Tarn-X) and leave the patina on others. Really gives the floor some great depth.

I too thought about tiling our Powder Room walls with nickels. The problem -- the tiles are just too heavy and cumbersome to install.

And for those who are concerned about stepping on money, add a heated floor element under the coins, and you will feel otherwise.

How does one go about acquiring 13,650 nickels? The bank? How much did they weigh?

Yep. Visited the bank probably twice a week. The tellers knew what to expect when I walked into the bank -- I was the crazy nickel lady.

Not exactly sure how much each tile weighed, but there was really no stability to each tile (the mesh was quite pliable), until installed with grout on the floor.

I like it. Anyone tried it with Quarters yet? hehe

Not being a killjoy..really. I love it! I was just curious and looked it up

Title 18 United States Code, Section 331

Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or are in actual use or circulation as money within the United States;
or
Whoever fraudulently possesses, passes, utters, publishes, or sells,
or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or brings into the United States, any such coin, knowing the same to be altered, defaced,
mutilated, impaired, diminished, falsified, scaled, or lightened -

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both

I love it! Penny tiled downstairs powder room... Nickle tiled master bath. Excellent.

Hiya-
I did the penny tiled bathroom that was featured about a year and a half ago. I Still have not completed the rest of the bathroom (pregnancies, babies, other unfinished projects, laziness.... ya know...) I think this looks great. Did you seal the coins? I didn't initially and they all got dark (some became teal) and I polished them.
Did you actually install heating under the floor, because they DO get cold...
And FYI- it is less than 5x the cost of the pennies.... they're larger, use less per square foot... just saying...
Tova

Gorgeous! More subtle than the pennies, but just as interesting.

Guys, the title involving the destruction of American coins was written when we used actual precious metal in our coins such as gold, silver, etc.

At this point in time, the metal of the coin mattered. Shaving gold off of a gold coin was a common form of fraud, since you could pass it off to someone who would think it was still a solid coin, and yet easily build up enough gold to make a good bit of money.

Title 18 Section 331 was created to combat this form of fraud.

Since we are no longer on precious metal standards, such coin mutilation has far less impact today. Because of this that law is INCREDIBLY toothless and might as well not exist.

Ask yourself this - if the government cared about the destruction of money, would you find those goofy penny-squishing machines at damn near every tourist attraction?

Actually, the nickel floor is not five times as much as a penny floor. A nickel is bigger than a penny, so you need fewer nickels to cover the same area. It's more like four times more expensive than the pennies or less, depending on the spacing you choose. Now, a dime floor would be more than 10x as much as penny floor... Sorry, I can't help it.

It doesn't seem to me like the nickels are destroyed, actually. I can imagine some future 12yo getting the job of fishing them out of the grout after they've been scraped off the floor in a future remodel (bet it will be long time, though) to take to the bank. I also don't think $700 for tiles for that space is crazy expensive. We saw (although didn't consider) tiles much more expensive per sf than that during our kitchen reno.

I think it's amazing. Nice work.

Tova,

We have not sealed it yet, but were advised by our installer to do so. We plan to! Yes, we do have a heated floor underneath....really nice.

I didn't think less that $10/sq ft was excessive, considering silver-plated nickel tiles are around $20/sq ft.

I love this!!! Great job and so much better than penny floors. I will be trying this in the future.

Not trying to be judgmental, just to give my personal opinion on the aesthetics vs. cost.

Again, it looks good - I just personally would have put the money into a different finish if I was going to spend that much.

--> "I wish you guys would have gone all out in the rest of the bathroom too. Everything else looks very standard but the floor."

On what planet is this bathroom "standard"????

Awesome all around, the floor is insane. ALso, note that the US Coe says, whoever *fraudulently....* Fraud requires intent to deceive. So pretty much no application here.

How funny is this! I was there last night.............

You're taking money out of circulation...isn't this illegal? Might have a problem when it comes to selling.

You can sell it to me. Love it!

And my kid's coin collection takes money out of circulation, too, but I don't think it's illegal.

Beautiful work... original. I love it. It kind of reminds be of the Silver Dollar Queen in Virginia City, Nevada. Her gown is a collage of US silver dollars.

really beautiful!! how difficult is the floor to clean & maintain?

We just moved in this weekend and still have to seal the floor. Once it's sealed, it's as easy as cleaning a floor with mosaic tiles.

Again, thanks for all of your gracious comments about the floor and bathroom.

love!! the haters are just jealous

I want to see someone use a mix of coins, more like a mosaic-type of thing. I think it would be hard to mix the different sizes (to get them to line up, etc.) but I'm sure someone could come up with some kind of attractive design.

I worship at your feet -- great design and no one will ever know how much hard work. This is fabulous.

I agree - the haters are jealous!

My husband is putting in flooring in a garage -- what about washers instead of nickels? I've stolen your idea already.

I love this and wish I could do it! I don't think we ever will, so I will just admire these photos.

And I wish my bathroom was as "standard" looking as yours! haha.

Very judgemental site. If it's not for you...move on! Obviously the person who did this in their home loves it, and that's all that really matters, and others who enjoy similar things can be inspired by it. If it's not your taste, go find something that is. sheesh.

EllieMae- love the washer idea too!

I love squished pennies! and nickel flooring!! Just a matter of time until all these coins are worthless anyhow. Seriously what will we do when pennies are taken out of circulation via the govt??

The mesh idea was genius!

Wow. I wish I had a fraction of your patience!

Is there a specific reason why nickels were used? Is there a problem with pennies,dimes,quarters,foreign coins?

Seriously how do you clean the floor now? All the dirt and grime will get trapped in between the nickles. If you scrub or mop too hard, do the the nickels come off?

I love it! Even more than the pennies... the silver tone is gorgeous. I do not have the patience to tackle this, though.

I love the dedication and the over all design.
It's your house- wanna use coins, go ahead!

Great job - it really looks fantastic. I love the variation of the nickels - some heads, some tails, different directions.

The floor really gives the room subtle sparkle and a quirky twist.

I don't mean to be a killjoy here, but I'm pretty sure that doing this without the permission of the US Mint illegal. I talked to someone at the Standard Hotel who told me that the designers got permission from and paid a fee to the US Mint for the "use" of those pennies.

I really would not be bragging about this on the internet, if I were you.

I like, but don't love this. Would like it more if they were closer together as ppl tend to put their pennies, but of course it would cost more... might prefer them in a black surround or w/e as well? But with the grout and sinks I see why that might not fly.

... I wish ppl would actually read the entry....

@subwayknitter

In light of the penny-squooshing machines and other things ppl have brought up to defend these endeavors, I am inclined to imagine that the designers paid the mint at least in part because they were professionals incorporating a particular element into their design, if that makes sense. (And they may as well cover all their bases, anyway....)

I agree that it could affect resale value, but many risky design decisions do that. The only way I see it particularly affecting your chances at resale are that some ppl apparently don't want to step on the word "God", and nickels have "in god we trust" on them. I wouldn't think they were that many, though....

I would really love to see a surface covered in a foreign coin collection! That would probably render the "defacing American currency" law invalid.

The only thing I can see being an issue for resale is if it's ever a HUD home or something, the city could get involved and they might say something about it. On the other hand, if coin becomes obsolete, what a quaint gem it would be to buy a home with a coin floor.

I keep coming back to this page. Thanks for that :)

What a beautiful renovation. Beautiful vanity and window and shower—and floor!

The sanitary issue of the nickel floor is a non-starter, and simply bogus. One handles change in one's wallet or pocket, but it's too dirty to step on? Even after cleaning and sealing? Find something else to highlight your fake-fastidiousness.

I think it looks fabulous, and may do it for a teensy powder room I have. The washers are a great idea, too, esp. for a work room.

I'm rather tired of this prevalent fear-mongering when it comes to creative use of near-worthless coinage. As long as you aren't smelting nickels and pennies for profit, you don't have to worry about being hunted down by the Secret Service. An exception in 31CFR82.2 says that the pertinent reglations "shall not apply to the treatment of these coins for educational, amusement, novelty, jewelry, and similar purposes as long as the volumes treated and the nature of the treatment makes it clear that such treatment is not intended as a means by which to profit solely from the value of the metal content of the coins."

Yay dokein! Thanks for putting that matter to rest.

I think this floor looks wonderful, but I'm sad if they renovated a wonderful 1950s bathroom.

Save the pink bathrooms!

Maybe a geometry teacher could have her class calculate which would be cheaper, dime or quarter tiles.

Love, and love the idea of using washers!

I can see a child transfixed on that floor trying to pry them off

cool concept but I think it's a waste of money in my opinion. What happens when they grow tired of it and have to sift through broken cement to get all those nickels out?

I think this is great. Creative, different...and a nice addition to a rather nice bathroom (my own has green and black tile from the 1930s, so that's my 'standard). As for a waste of money...I think that phrase fits best when referencing McMansions.

I dont want to nit-picky or... demanding? but it would have been awesome to get a wide-angled shot of your floor, to truely capture the scope of this project. i can only iamgine how time consuming and meticulous this muct have been. This would have truely placed your hard work on display.

well done.

All right. I get the pennies, I really do, even though I do think it's wrong to take them out of circulation permanently that way. But nickels? That's getting into some real money. Do you have any idea how many gumballs that floor would buy?

Beautiful! And this is not a "standard" looking bathroom.

Where are the sinks from?

First of all, I have to say I think you are nuts! (The idea of gluing all those coins down totally exhausts me to even imagine!!) ;^)

Second, I'd say these coins are just "stored" in a unique way, not defaced or destroyed. Like a really weird piggy bank!

Third, money is germ ridden because it's handled by many people without being cleaned or sanitized. Once it becomes a floor, I'm sure the owners do both.

Fourth, sealing. If you use a product to seal the floor that chemically reacts witih the metal, you can get patina effects that change the color. (I would guess the "teal" pennies happened because of that -- possibly from ammonia in something liike Future floor finish.) Nickle mostly just darkens, but it's something to look into before choosing the material you coat it with.

Fifth, walking on money??? Really? This bothers somebody? What about those heavenly streets "paved with gold" -- plan to walk on the heavenly lawns instead??? This, to me, is beyond absurd! Your mileage may vary.

I like it better than the penny floor, mainly because this is more subtle.

I don't think it is 5x as expensive as a penny floor because nickels are bigger than pennies.

I suppose this is better than sending the money to China?

Well... when they move, they can just drill it all up and collect the $600+ and lay down some basic cheap flooring and call it a day!

Holy crap...I love this!

Looks amazing! Great job!

@ dokein -- Hmm...$600+ worth of nickels isn't "near-worthless coinage" at all. It's actually $600 worth.

Just because people aren't feeling the floor doesn't mean they're being judgmental. Opinions vary - grow some thick skin.

Thank you, dokein, for bringing some reason to this thread. People who worry about this being illegal are not only uptight, they're just plain wrong.

I think it's a good look, and it's unique. It's not very cost or labor effective, since it costs about as much as a good floor tile per foot but with a lot more labor, but it's what these people wanted and were willing to work hard to do so let them enjoy it.

I actually recently became fascinated with a pre-made tile that is similar and tried to fit it in to my redesign but it just didn't work. And it cost $30/ft.

Very nice.

But for my tastes and the color palate I lean toward, I prefer the penny floor. The Standard Hotel in NYC has a penny-tiled floor in their bathroom.

Two words: Empire Records.

Beautiful, but they should have used N Days Mesh instead.. http://streuter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=140&Itemid=238