Friday, July 20, 2018

Decisions, Decisions


For a long time now I have been wanting to add entryway tiles to the spot in front of our door in our living room.  Having to step onto carpet, especially when the weather is bad, isn't ideal.  The decision to add this to our living room, to me, is a no brainer.  I have plenty of leftover tiles in our garage so the only decision to make was how to design the entry.

One thing we had to keep in mind is that our living room is small so the entry couldn't extend too far into the room, but it also needed to be large enough to be useful.  Surprisingly this is the one design choice that my girls had a definite opinion about.  Here are the choices we've been mulling over.

Easy peasy

Easy peasy, but a little on the small side, I think

More interesting
Requires the purchase of a tile cutter

Will be more complicated, but again more interesting
Also requires the purchase of a tile cutter

Now you just need to wait to see which design the three of us finally settled on.  I'll have that post up next week!  By the way... which one would you choose?


26 comments:

  1. I am thinking that you could rent a tile cutter if you have a rental store close by. Might be a better choice than purchasing one unless you are going to be doing more tile in the future.

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    1. I thought of renting one too. I also thought that if I buy one it will be with the idea that I will do more tile projects in the future.

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  2. My favorite is the top one!

    There are always some things about a house's design that make you wonder what the designers were thinking, aren't there? For me, it's my kitchen. It was very obviously designed by someone who had never spent any time in a kitchen before and thus had no idea what kind of layout would be helpful or useful. I have so little counter space, there's so little food storage space, the door bisects the wall and thus leaves only awkward places for the refrigerator to go (when we first moved in, the fridge was right next to the counter, leaving that chunk of counter space entirely unusable and instead of a cabinet underneath, there was this bizarre block of wood. My husband and I could NOT figure out who would do that or why! We ended up moving the refrigerator to the other side of the door, which makes for a squeeze at the kitchen table- seriously, who designed this room?!?!??!??- installed an extra cabinet on one side where the wood block went, and put in a dishwasher- YES!!!!- on the other side).

    Looking forward to seeing your choice! It's always nice to be able to choose from several options. :)

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    1. Sounds to me like you're right. No one who used a kitchen would design it that way. Ours is tiny, but very functional. No food storage space so we converted the coat closet into a pantry.

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  3. I'd do a modified version of number one. Consider this: do you take you shoes/boots off at the door? DO you keep a spot for them to dry before storing them or just leaving them next to the door? I'd go even wider to accommodate leaving shoes near the door.

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    1. I'm one of those Mom's that makes you take off your shoes and then go put them away. I don't want to look at a pile of shoes at the door. The other issue is that we have limited space and have to keep it from encroaching to far into the living room so it doesn't look weird.

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  4. I like the third option, but me being me, I would probably install the first, "easy peasy" one. What are you putting in place of the old carpet? Personally, I detest carpet, and I don't know why it's so popular in places with wet winters. It makes no sense. One of the first things I have ever done in any home I have purchased is replace the carpet with hardwood flooring. I am not handy like you, though, so I have to hire it out.

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    1. I've waffled back and forth over carpet, hardwood and Pergo to the point I've nearly lost my mind. So many pros and cons to all three options it makes it a tough decision. What I finally came up with makes the most sense for us and our home. I'll be posting more about that (once it is finished) in about 2 weeks.

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  5. I like the first easy peasy one. :) If you decide to go with one needing a tile cutter, you might check if your town has a rental place for tools. We installed tile and that is what we did, just rented. Love all your DIY's. You are very talented!

    Melinda

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    1. Thanks Melinda. I used to have my own tile cutter but got rid of it and all of my other tools because I wasn't going to do any more tile. Famous last words...

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  6. I should add to my comment: with the area options as configured, if you have wet/dirty shoes on, you would be forced to step off of the tile (in any of the options you show) onto the new floor/carpet (not sure what you intend to put here), kind of defeating the purpose of having a tiled entry space. Make it plenty wide so that you enter, step to the side and can close the door comfortably without stepping off of the tiled space. I hope I explained that clearly

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    1. I totally get what you are saying and we tested that extensively when we made our final decision. To me that was a big consideration. Especially if more than one person is coming through the door.

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  7. This may help: https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/25890082/list/key-entryway-dimensions-for-homes-large-and-small

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  8. ALL great designs. My favorite is the first one.

    Enjoy, Janie

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  9. The diagonal -- hands down. Except I'd make it wider vertically, if possible. The more tiles you have, the less chance there is to drip mud or moisture from shoes...even if you and the girls take your shoes off, there's always company.

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    1. Yep. It's hard to control all eventualities so the more I can to to safeguard things now the better. Thanks for the input Cindy.

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  10. I like the first one...but if your budget would allow, i would do all vinyl plank in the entry way and living room. Looks super classy and you could install it yourself!��

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  11. Is it unanimous? I like the first one too, it's simple and classic.

    D.

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  12. I would choose the first one. It's classic, functional and easy. If maybe you wanted to extend the size just a bit more, I'd add a border of a tile that is a color between these tiles and the remainder of the flooring. That way you have a bigger area, but not looking super big because it would gradually blend into the other flooring. Anyways, looking forward to seeing what the final decision is! :-)

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    1. So many great ideas! I just love all of the input. :)

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  13. I have a side door that comes from yard to a carpeted room. Not my choice, but the door is in a corner. This was from a bad design before it got there where an old house was remodeled. Anyway, I had linoleum put where the door opens, and a circular piece. There is no way to quickly close the door without stepping onto the carpet. I solved this by putting a small rug where feet land first on the linoleum. My entire linoleum area is small than your tile areas.

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    1. We've done some "testing" with that in mind as well as every other scenario we can think of. No point in doing all the work if it doesn't function they way we need it to. :)

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