porcelain tile floor

Back to the kitchen - the floor is tiled, finally! It was a mess of plywood for way too long. We went with a neutral porcelain 12"x12" in a running bond pattern. I'll admit, I was a bit disappointed when I first realized that the floor I wanted was going to cost way more than necessary; I suppose the tile we ended up with is "safer" as far as general appeal. Now that it's in, I'm really happy with the decision. The lighter color helped the room feel even bigger and the fact that the pattern pulls your eye from side to side of the house, rather than front to back makes the kitchen feel fat and happy. An added bonus is that the end result seems to lend itself well to a house in Little Italy with a Tuscan'y feel.

A few items of note:
-When you're working with grout [and not wearing gloves] strange things will happen to the skin on your hands. It dried me out in a fantastic way. I was nothing short of reptilian for at least a week.
-People will tell you to invest in knee pads, but you won't because they're pricey and you think you can handle it. You can't.
-We rented a wet saw from the HD. I'm not sure of the other options out there, but this thing worked great.
-Cutting tile becomes annoying. Because we installed the cabinets first, we had to make more cuts than necessary. Most of the information I've read suggests installing the flooring material in a kitchen first. It's probably a good idea, but there are pluses to installing it last as well (e.g. less tile material). Our schedule dictated this decision.

A few in progress pictures before the final - to prove to Dan that Project Rowhouse is not some covert operation involving loads of contractors and designers.









No, I don't ask Jaxxon to be in every picture. This boy loves the camera - can you blame him?