Hop on the Subway Train

Ok, people love white subway tile.  Just look at any page on Remodelista and you'll see it everywhere.  But I don't care how ubiquitous it's become, I'm still crazy for it.  A couple reference pictures were straight up inspiration for the bath and the half bath at Huron.  First is a still from a movie I really liked.  If you didn't like it you didn't see it twice, like I did, and spend time really appreciating the layers and metaphors and how pretty Jennifer Aniston's hair is.  That movie was "The Switch" and there's a pivotal scene that takes place in someone's bathroom. And that bathroom became the template for the tile layout upstairs.  Here's Jason Bateman who's about to make a very serious, alcohol-fueled, life changing decision:

And here's how that wall tile translated to Huron's upstairs bathroom:

Storage space is tight so there's a shelf nook in the corner to hold towels and whatnots.  The tub decking, which you can kind of see, will be covered with marble - just a taste around the edges and on the front of the tub wall.

I really like how the chair rail runs through the middle of the shower wall.  That was Bill's design and the way it gives your eye a break on that expanse of tile feels really nice.  The floors are a Carrera marble, or maybe Calcutta, I don't remember.  It's polished, white hexagonal marble tile and I got it for a decent price over at Tile Outlet Center on Fullerton. My friend Sharon has a theory about who's running the operation over at the Tile Outlet that, in one fell swoop, explains their extremely competitive prices, why there are cops hanging out behind the counter and why a tile store would be open til midnight.  On a Tuesday.  Each on its own is slightly unusual, taken all together things smell distinctly fishy.  I totally agree with her Al Capone speculations, it is Chicago after all.

(Did this floor tile fall off the back of a truck? Sharon thinks the chances are pretty good that it did.)

The ledge on the half wall and curb into the shower will be covered in the same marble as the tub deck.

And here's a fun little extra that just makes me so happy.  These little niches are the perfect size to hold a couple rolls of toilet paper.  The inspiration for these came from pictures of another bathroom.  More on those pictures and the downstairs bath next time.