Tuesday 10 July 2012

A TILE DISASTER (sort of ...)

After a run of fabulous decisions where it was like I could do no wrong and I ran with my hair flowing in the breeze upon the silvery joy of Being Right, I’ve hit a bit of a wall.

The Red Star floor tiles didn’t work.  And I ordered £200 worth of them.


 Now, don’t get me wrong, I really like them and the colour's perfect.  But I got them for the kitchen and this is where I fell down: the pattern is small and the floor space is large.  And while I loved the way the colours merged to give a fresh grey/white/red feel, I didn’t enjoy the way that the pattern did the same to my eyes.




I tried them in the downstairs lavvie and it was a completely different story: the tiles looked completely at home and the size of the pattern wasn’t so noticeable.  Instead, they gave a really cool, retro feel to the space. Unfortunately, I’ve already got my heart set on the really fresh red and white of the Rose des Vents which means – urgh – the Red Stars have got to go back.

I’m genuinely gutted because I do like them and also, I hate breaking my golden streak. That sounds gross, but you know what I mean.

In their place, we’re going for the back up which I like but also feel is a little bit ... safe.  I liked the idea of having a funky pattern on the floor in the kitchen which is dated and only getting a new worktop and a lick of paint (lick, lick, lick – HATE that word).  And I hate being wrong.  As I said. Anyhoo.

This is our back up.   It’s from the Colour Flooring Company and is a vinyl floor covering that comes in a roll.  The colour is Antelope.  Will blog more about this company later as was introduced by my lovely sister-in-law who have this in Apple in their kitchen.



To be honest, we’ve had our eye on this for a while and I have absolutely no doubt that it will look lovely.  And the colour was my decision so in some ways, I know I will be returning to the Right.  But I will miss what the Red Stars could have been.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Lucy B,

    Very interesting blog - me and my other half have been perusing it as we're also doing up a house (1930s), and we love the Rose Des Vents tiles you've found. How are they working out? Did they stick down OK? Do they peel up? Should we buy them for our kitchen, do you think? You sound like you're having fun with it, anyway! Thank you, Lucy. Robin

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  2. Hi Robin,

    Thanks for your comment and for reading!

    The Rose Des Vents are lovely - really fresh (as I repeatedly say) - but they haven't been plain sailing. I've not tried to lay them (and secretly think I'd do a much better job, natch) but our decorator's found them a little bit on the tricky side - they haven't stuck down very well.

    He also put a whole pack down before realising the floor needed levelling and had to take them up, thus losing what stickiness they had. He coated the floor in PVA then when he went to relay them, he had lost the direction stickers so some of them don't connect properly.

    I think it was a bit much for him, to be honest, soe're having a proper flooring person lay them when he comes on Thursday to do the carpets. I'll let you know his thoughts on their stickabilty then.

    What's down now, though, do look good so I'm looking forward to the rest. They may be worth the hassle.

    Thanks for reading and look out for finished pics!

    Lx

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