Home Front: Colorful Tile, Bathrooms Decor and Much More

Every week, Washington Post Home Section writers Jura Koncius and Terri Sapienza help you in your quest to achieve domestic bliss. They were online Thursday, July 9 at 11:00 a.m. ET to take your questions and suggestions.

You may also browse an archive of previous Home Front discussions.

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Terri Sapienza: Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us on this beautiful day in D.C. Looks like you guys have lots to discuss already, so let's get started.

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Fairfax, Va.: Hello...hoping for your expertise. We are modernizing with the plan to try and sell our 40+ year old home. It is a small home with a good lot in a good area and with good schools. We want to make it marketable but have no illusions it will ever be "up-scale." The bathrooms are old, one pink and one blue. What are your thoughts on re-glazing tile and tub versus tearing it all out and re-tiling. We are trying to do a lot of the work ourselves but would probably hire someone to re-glaze if this is a good option. We would probably tear out and re-tile ourselves (needing help to remove all tub and bring in new one most likely). Money, time, effort are all factors. Thanks for any insight/suggestions/caveats.

Terri Sapienza: Hmmmm...I would say that if re-tiling is an option for you, I would go that route (and do it in all white - I assume the toilet is already white b/c you don't mention replacing it like you do the tub). Once you consider the cost of reglazing and the cost of doing a tile job yourself, the prices might not be that far apart. But if I were buying a house, I would much rather hear that the bathroom had just been re-tiled than re-glazed b/c re-glazing would mean that I would have to re-do it in a few years.

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Bethesda, Md.: Hi-- We are thinking of remodeling our upstairs bathroom (circa 1966). When we called a contractor, he said to find some photos of what we would like in a new bathroom. I looked on the web and was surprised to find very little. There were a few sites with photos of ultra fabulous baths, but no site (that I could find) with sample photos of just a regular nice, updated bath. Do you have any ideas where I can find such sample photos?

Terri Sapienza: Magazines and books. Go to a bookstore and you'll find plenty. Places like Lowes and Home Depot also carry home improvement books and mags, some specifically dedicated to bathrooms.

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Ellicott City, Md.: Large Letters: Two weeks ago someone asked about Decorative Large Letters. There are a variety of letters available, color and size-wise in Ballard Design. I also wanted to purchase two chairs for my family room. I want a very comfortable, down/inner spring model. Has anyone had experience going to shop in North Carolina for furniture?

Terri Sapienza: Thanks for the input on the large letters. I can't recall if this was mentioned last week or not, but doesn't Anthropologie carry something like that? And Pottery Barn kids?

As for buying furniture in N.C., I have no personal experience. Can anyone else chime in here?

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Annandale: New to your discussions and really appreciate it. I'm wondering if there are reliable, useful web sites/online forums/discussions you can recommend - in addition to your valuable one of course -- to help the do-it-yourselfer who is not a complete neophyte but who needs some support and information as we tackle some repair/fixing up projects. Thanks for any ideas.

Terri Sapienza: I think the This Old House website has lots of DIY links and discussions.

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Fairfax, Va.: Paint color question: bathroom tile (halfway up wall, tub surround, etc) is light/med gray with tiny flecks of medium blue and brown. I was thinking about painting the walls above the tile a warm coffee color to pick up the brown and downplay the blue/gray. There is a window so the bathroom does receive light. Can you recommend a paint color? I tend to prefer the Behr line at HD (much success with it in the past!).

Terri Sapienza: I don't have our Behr paint deck at the moment, but don't you think the combo of brown paint with the gray tile might be a little dark? Have you considered picking up the blue in the tile and painting the walls above a light blue? I always thinks pale blues look so clean and refreshing in a bathroom.

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Re: bathroom photos: I find the This Old House website informative, and it features more "real" projects versus high-end, expensive design. Also try retailers sites, such as IKEA, Home Depot and Lowes. They often have photo galleries, and since they are budget-friendly places, the photos aren't too out there.

Terri Sapienza: Good suggestions. Thanks.

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Alexandria, Va.: Hello,

We have plantation shutters in our bedroom. Look good but let too much light filter through in early morning. We really do not want to wake up at sunrise... Am concerned that adding curtain panels on each side might not look good. (We usually go for modern, minimalist looks.) Also one window is close to the wall; there would not be room to hang curtain panel on this side. Maybe we could add thin, temporary blinds inside shutters? Any suggestion to keep the sun out would be welcome. Thanks in advance

Terri Sapienza: The plantation shutters are allowing too much light in? Have you tried closing the shutters louvers in the opposite direction that you currently shut them? I forget which way is supposed to block the light more (up or down), but I know one is supposed to be better than the other.

And I think panels would look nice (window treatments always look nice when they are layered), but with your modern aesthetic may not like the look as much. I don't like the idea of the blinds. If they are only temporary, then what's the point?

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Re: Bathroom Photos: Check out www.houzz.com. They have tons of "idea books" online with pictures that can be searched by room or style.

Terri Sapienza: Thanks!

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Pigtown: Hi Ladies...

I just want to remind everyone that this is the last weekend for Restoration Hardware's Warehouse sales at their place just north of Baltimore. Prices are 75 percent to 95 percent off. I am heading up on Saturday morning to see what treasures I can find. Once they close this space and move to the new location, they will no longer be open to the public.

http://pigtown-design.blogspot.com/2009/07/final-restoration-hardware-warehouse.html

Terri Sapienza: Thanks for the reminder, Pigtown.

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Buyer's perspective on tile: I'm currently looking to buy and can tell you that I have found "perfect" places... until I see the gross pink/black tile in the bathroom. While I know it's something I could replace myself, it was a HUGE turn-off and I just kept looking. So if you can afford it, it might be worth your time/money to re-tile in white/neutral tiles.

Terri Sapienza: I agree. It would be a turn-off for me, too.

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washingtonpost.com: Q&A With an Expert on Window Treatments (Post, May 7)

Terri Sapienza: There's lots of questions about window treatments today, so I'm re-posting this story we ran recently with local decorator and certified window treatment specialist, Claire Schwab. Lots of great info and advice.

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Window treatments: My living room has a big bay window on one end and French doors on the other and windows along the wall. I want wood shutters for the bay window and drapes for the French door. Would it be too many different types of treatments in the same room to go with roman shades or fabric blinds for the other windows in between?

Terri Sapienza: See my answer above with the link to the window story. I believe Claire addresses this very question.

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Pennsylvania: Ok, after all these months of reading the chats...where IS Pigtown? :)

Terri Sapienza: Baltimore.

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Woodbridge, Va.: Just bought a foreclosure home. Need to get the shower in usable condition. Do not have the funds for a major, complete renovation, and would rather not do one of those bathfitter surrounds. How much can I expect to pay for a BASIC shower rebuild (tear out old tile, replace with new tile, upgrade non-working fixtures?) Thanks!

Terri Sapienza: It really depends on many, many things including: the size of your bathroom, what kind of tile you use, what fixtures you choose, what contractor you go with. The best way to figure out the cost is to get estimates from several contractors and compare the prices.

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House numbers: I'm looking to replace the old, hard-to-read numbers on my house exterior. Any idea where I can look for a variety of options? Online is very preferable. Thanks!

Jura Koncius: Design Within Reach and Restoration Hardware come to mind.

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A Different Buyer's Perspective: The house we bought a little over a year have three hideous '70s-era bathroom. One is pink. One is yellow. The other is peach. Horribly dated, yet we still bought the house. Why? The old real estate adage: Location, location, location. Dated bathrooms don't necessarily spell certain doom for the seller.

Terri Sapienza: No, they don't. But they can be a turn-off to someone not looking to renovate and bathrooms are a big expense.

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Enterprise, Ala.: Pottery Barn bed and bath catalog has good bathroom photos

Jura Koncius: Yes. That's right.

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Arlington, Va.: Any idea where I can find a round, leather ottoman for my living room? I've looked at Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, World Market, Pier 1, and West Elm. Thanks!

Terri Sapienza: How about Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams on 14th Street?

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Dublin, Va.: I have lots of newspapers I would like to save without cutting out the articles. Does anyone know of a good source for archival storage boxes that would also look good on display? Thank you.

Jura Koncius: Martha Stewart makes a great line for Michael's. Also Container store.

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Do It Yourself: I find diynetwork.com to be a rather useful site as well. This Old House sometimes has a tendency to assume that you have a Norm Abrams-like workshop.

Terri Sapienza: True. Thanks for the suggestion.

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DIY sites: I'd like to put in a plug for my favorite site. The house forum on the city-data message boards. They folks there are very helpful and will general tell you how it is and several good folks in the trades will pipe in with answers. And the interface is much better than this old house!

Jura Koncius: Great tip.

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Morehead, Ky.: I need help in finding the right window covering for French doors in my kitchen that lead out to the deck. Both doors open outward from the center, the inset windows are arched at the top and the door is metal. My temporary fix has been to user magnets to hold expandable curtain rods with white sheers. Please help.

Terri Sapienza: See the window treatment story link above.

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Arlington, Va.: Ack-please help me find a better khaki color! We've painted several rooms in our 1930s colonial with Restoration Hardware's Cappuccino. It is too yellow and gold-ish, if that makes sense. We were hoping for more of a paper bag khaki, that is heavy on cool tones and not on yellows.

Thanks ladies!

Jura Koncius: Potsticker from C2 is good and Boardwalk from Benjamin Moore Classic Colors is good.

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washingtonpost.com: Triage for Dated Tile (Post, January 27, 2007)

Terri Sapienza: Lots of questions about vintage colored bathroom tiles today, too. Here's a story we ran a few years ago that includes tips from designers on how to work with the color your bathroom is blessed with.

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RE: house numbers: Here are a couple of Web sites:

http://www.housenumberconnection.com/index.html

http://www.crafthome.com/subsidiarypages/HouseNumbers/HouseNumberMenu.htm

I think the two businesses are related.

Terri Sapienza: Great. Thanks.

I think if you search around the Web you'll find lots of resources for house numbers.

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Pennsylvania: Ah. So is Pigtown an area of Baltimore or what Baltimore is called (like Chicago is called Chi-town)? Thanks for indulging my non-decorating questions...I just couldn't stand the suspense any longer.

Jura Koncius: As Terri and I are D.C. girls, we could not do justice to a definition of Pigtown. Let our pal and frequent chat contributor Meg fill you in - her blog is www.pigtown-design.blogspot.com/

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Washington, D.C.: We try to keep it bright, so our townhouse is painted mainly with neutral, off-white colors. However, our bedroom is on the south side and has five large windows, so we thought we might be able to give it a little more color. Still, we don't want to make it dark or contrast with the rest of the house. Do you have any suggestions? We are considering a grey-green tint.

Jura Koncius: If you like grayish-green, think about Duron's Liveable Green or Sagey.

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Springfield, Va.: Hi gurus! I'm on the hunt for a pair of armchairs for my living room. I like a more traditional style, and I hope to keep the price under $800 each. Pottery Barn doesn't have anything that reasonably priced, and West Elm only carries 1 armchair and it's not my style. I plan to look at Crate & Barrel this weekend, but other than that, where can I look? Unfortunately, I need a retailer with stores in Va. or D.C. (so not overstock.com), because I want to be able to sit in a chair before I buy it. Do you or the chatters have any recommendations?

Jura Koncius: Have you tried Belfort Furniture in Sterling?

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Denver, Colo.: I will add to the pile of window treatment questions. Do you have any suggestions for how to deal with what my mother calls "prison windows" in an aesthetically pleasing way? These windows are about 4 feet up on the way and about 2 feet high by 5 feet wide. They are in two of the bedrooms in our 1950s ranch.

Terri Sapienza: Yeah, those are difficult windows to work with. We didn't address those in the story I posted, but I wish we would have. Here's an idea: I once saw this magazine story that included a clever designer idea for dealing with that type of window. The designer hung a pair of plantation shutters on the wall beneath the window. The top of the shutters concealed the molding on the bottom part of the window, so it looked as if the shutters were covering the bottom part of the window, but it was actually the wall. The designer also hung a pair of curtain panels to finish it off. It looked great and completely tricked the eye and made it look as if the window was normal size. If you end of trying this technique, let us know how it turns out.

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RH Warehouse: There's no address or hours on the blog post - can Meg write back with details please? Thanks!

Terri Sapienza: Here's the info:

BALTIMORE WAREHOUSE SALE

1701 Trimble Road

Edgewood, MD 21040

410-671-9687

FINAL CLOSEOUT SALE

JULY : WEDNESDAY, JULY 8 - SUNDAY, JULY 12

WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY 9 A.M. TO 7 P.M.

SUNDAY 11 A.M. TO 5 P.M.

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Alexandria: Good morning. I am looking into buying my first set of bedroom furniture. My question is this - what is the most versatile stain of wood? I ask because right now, I lean towards a lighter, pine-colored, stain, but much of what I see on Crate and Barrel, etc, is either dark stains or white. I'm getting married, and I'm deciding on duvet colors, etc., and I want it all to go together. Any tips? Thanks!

Jura Koncius: It seems as if the design winds change every decade or so from a love of light/blonde/pine furniture to mahogany/espresso/wenge. I think either way you go, you'll be okay. I think white furniture is great for people starting out, beach houses, kids rooms and guest rooms but I don't think you'll want to keep it the rest of your life in a bedroom.

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Really Quickly - Stainless vs Black Appliances: Renovating kitchen and will have light maple plain cabinets, hues of grey in tile floor, light grey (nearly white) countertops. Is stainless too trendy?

Jura Koncius: No. A classic.

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RE: Bathrooms: I realize I'm in the minority, but I happen to like the colored bathrooms. I think the current bathrooms with white and beige are just so boring and homogenized. I live in a 1940s house with yellow tile and I really like it. So you may want to consider that there are a few of us out there that like houses with character. I would however, replace the sink/vanity with something a little more up to date if it's particle board or something similar.

Jura Koncius: Well said. My 1937 bathroom has the original tile - although I was lucky enough to get black and white. That way, I can use any color to go with it in the towels and shower curtain.

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Rockville, Md.: can you give me the name of a Benjamin Moore Blue paint that would be good for a porch ceiling?

Jura Koncius: Terri did a story on this subject and we will try and post it before the end of the chat. I like Mystical Blue by Benjamin Moore. You can pick any blue you want and cut it with white. A few of Terri's favorites are Sherwin Williams Atmospheric, Meander Blue and Waterscape.

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to tile or not to tile: There are those of us out there who, given the choice between a buying house with a dated/needing renovation bath/kitchen and a quick I-need-to-sell job, will choose the older in need of rehab. I personally -hate- a cheap upgrade, which is someone else's taste, that is expected to up the price I'm going to pay for the house. I'd much rather live with the old/prepare for my own upgrade. Surely I'm not the only person out there who feels this way.

Terri Sapienza: I agree. If homeowners are considering a bathroom upgrade before they sell, it's always smart to do it in white and leave out anything (colors, tile, fixtures) taste specific. I don't think there is anything cheap about having a bathroom re-tiled in white subway tile before a sale even though it can be relatively inexpensive.

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washingtonpost.com: These Homeowners Are Happy to Have the Blues (Post, August 7, 2008)

Jura Koncius: Here's some blues.

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Anonymous: Traded in a black glass front refrigerator and dishwasher for stainless when I remodeled the kitchen. Just love it...looks fabulous.

Jura Koncius: Thanks.

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Ashton: Suggestion for windows with shutters leaking light: get inexpensive roller blinds in a room-darkening fabric and hang behind shutters. They could 'disappear' in the daytime...

Terri Sapienza: True. Thanks.

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North Dakota: re: Prison Windows. I actually did a similar technique in my basement family room. Everyone thinks I put in new full sized windows. Easy to do and cheaper than the alternative of having to hire someone to put in new windows, etc.

Jura Koncius: Love it North Dakota.

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Lightproofing windows: I had the same problem as Alexandria. My bedroom's enormous window faces east and I was waking up with the birds. I finally bought curtains with a "black-out" lining from Calico Corners. They had to be custom-made, and because the lining weighs so much, I had to buy a special ceiling rod. But they absolutely block out direct sun in the morning, and they are worth every penny I spent on them. I was able to mount them outside the window frame so I could keep my mini-blinds which are mounted inside the frame.

Jura Koncius: Great idea.

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Southwest Florida: A few years ago, renovators tore through a 1970 12-condo building across the street.

The owners took advantage of the opportunity to redo all the bathrooms, and the resulting pile of toilets and tiles on the street was a rainbow of light blue, pale yellow, fleshy peach, harvest gold, mint green...it looked like somebody threw up a roll of Necco wafers.

Jura Koncius: What a funny story. Here in D.C., you can buy toilets, sinks and bath tubs in all those colors at Brass Knob Back Doors Warehouse at 57 N St. NW. Some people actually will pay money for them!

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Alexandria, Va.: For Ellicott City, I am from High Point, N.C. (the furniture capital of the world, you know), and I can attest that you can save a lot of money by purchasing furniture there. Specifically, I suggest that you contact Furnitureland South (866-436-8056 or www.furniturelandsouth.com). They have designers who will help you over the phone, or you can drive there in about five hours and go to the huge showroom so you can actually sit in various chairs to see how they fit. I'm not connected to FLS in any way, just a very satisfied customer.

Jura Koncius: Thanks, Alexandria.

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Ann Arbor, Mich.: A voice for the other side: my partner and I stayed away from boring, recently redone bathrooms and kitchens when buying a house. In general they were not our style and we felt guilty redoing it when it was so new. Just my two cents!

Jura Koncius: Two cents from Ann Arbor.

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Pennsylvania: A cautionary tale about intending to remodel: We bought a house with dated bathrooms and a dated kitchen because my contractor husband intended to remodel them. But then it took a YEAR to sell our other house, so we carried two mortgages. And in the meantime we had a baby, which is very expensive (although we love him dearly). So now we have to wait to remodel everything, and I'm stuck with all these outdated rooms (as well as WHITE carpets) in the living and dining rooms. It will probably be four or five years before we can do anything about our rooms.

Don't get me wrong--I'm very happy to have a roof over my head and the house is very livable, but sometimes remodeling plans don't work out.

Terri Sapienza: Thanks for sharing your experience. Yours is a good example of why bathrooms in need of updating can turn away buyers. Finding the time and money to take on such projects can take years that some people aren't willing to wait around for.

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Terri Sapienza: We're all out of time, folks. Thanks for chatting with us today. Now go outside and enjoy the weather. talk to you next week.

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Re: khaki: Try "Relaxed Khaki" from Sherwin Williams, so a shade or two lighter on the card. Good tan color, great name too!

Jura Koncius: Thanks

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blackout lining/curtains: You can buy these at places like Bed Bath and Beyond, too. The Calico Corner ones are no doubt much nicer, but you don't have to spend a lot if you don't want to.

Jura Koncius: Thanks.

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