I Found Teal Tile!! (And Other Bathroom Details)
Y’all, I thought there was no possible way this was actually going to happen (which is why I was gearing up for another huge resin tile project), but it happened. I found THE PERFECT teal tile for our upcoming master bathroom remodel!!
I had looked at sooooo many teal tiles (and supposedly teal tiles) and nothing was right. Don’t get me wrong. You can combine blue and green in just about any ratio, and I’ll love the color — everything from the lightest of aquas to the darkest of teals. But it’s one thing to like them, and a whole different thing to find the exact perfect shade that I want to surround myself with in a room that I’ll use multiple times a day. And that’s the problem I was running into.
The tiles were either way too green, or way too blue (almost navy blue), or so dark they appeared almost black, or too rustic. But then, after days of searching both online and locally, I happened upon this beauty…
I can still hardly believe how perfect it is. It’s the perfect amount of green combined with the perfect amount of blue to make the perfect shade of gorgeous dark-but-not-too-dark teal.
As far as other details, I’ve decided not to tile the vanity wall. The tile will be used on the walls (floor to ceiling) surrounding the bathtub, and then as a lower wainscoting in both the shower and the water closet. In the shower, the upper part above chair rail height will be tiled with the same tile in white, and in the water closet, the walls above chair rail height will be painted to match the white tiles.
Anyway, the reason I decided not to tile the vanity wall is because in looking at the ideas I’ve saved recently of my most favorite bathroom remodels, the one that stands out the most to me is Cassie’s new bathroom over at Hi, Sugarplum! If you haven’t seen it, you need to check it out. It’s nothing short of amazing. Here’s a peek…
Be sure to check out the whole thing (just click the picture or the link under it) because it’s amazing.
But anyway, that wall! The wall behind the vanity! Isn’t it gorgeous?!
She used a Schumacher wallpaper, which is absolutely gorgeous, but there’s one thing missing — teal. The wallpaper comes in two other colorways, but they don’t really appeal to me. And while I want to be inspired by Cassie’s gorgeous new bathroom, I don’t really want to copy it. So I set out to find a wallpaper that would give me a similar look while incorporating lots of teal.
Spoiler alert: I didn’t find any. But I did come across this Segovia Tile stencil that I absolutely fell in love with as soon as I saw it.
It looks really busy in black and white, but the sample pictures on the Amazon listing show one sample in turquoise, light gray, charcoal and gold that really caught my eye. So I purchased the stencil and tested it out last night. Ummmm…yeah. It was a huge fail.
I mean, what the actual heck? How do people do these stencils with so much detail while also using multiple colors? There’s no way. And I can’t even imagine doing an entire wall with such a detailed stencil that would require three or four different colors. It would take me working full time on it for a month just to get one wall done (with the tens of thousands of touch ups it would require).
And why the heck would I ever consider a stencil in the first place? My last stencil project just about killed me. Remember that? That’s when I stenciled the music room walls and got that pinched nerve in my neck, shoulder and upper back that took me out of commission for something like two weeks. I don’t need that torture again.
But I haven’t given up yet. I have another idea of how I can get this design with multiple colors with a much easier process — by turning a stencil into wallpaper. When I try out my idea, I’ll share it with you.
Anyway, I just used my photo editing program to do a couple of mock ups using the image of the stencil from the Amazon post. On the first one, I used two shades of teal (the lighter of the two matches the tile), a light gray (Benjamin Moore Classic Gray, which is my favorite barely-there gray paint color that I’ve used throughout my house), and a slightly darker gray/greige color.
I originally tried the gold color from the Schumacher wallpaper, but it was way too harsh for my taste with this particular design.
I also tried adding the reddish coral color that I used on the studio vanity (Behr Roulette) as an accent here and there…
I like the idea of reddish coral accents, but I don’t love how that looks. Of course, we’re also looking at very small pictures, and the actual pattern is really big (24 inches square) so that makes a huge difference as far as how busy they look in pictures.
Of those two, I prefer the first one without the reddish coral accents, but I’m not quite sure that the first one is where I want it to be. I’m going to keep working on it until I hit upon the perfect color combo.
But there’s absolutely no way I’ll be stenciling the vanity wall in my bathroom, so I sure hope my other idea works out. I’ll let y’all know. 🙂
Today is the last day of October, so we should be about two weeks away from starting our bedroom/hallway/bathroom remodel!! I’m both excited and nervous. 😀
*This post contains affiliate links.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Love the tile! Personally not sure about the stencil/wallpapered wall. It looks great in photos, don’t get me wrong, but not sure I would want to look at all of that while trying to wind down at the end of the day. It will look gorgeous, for sure, but might not be what I would want in a haven. Love the ideas! It’ll all be amazing!
Not much of it will show on that wall. It’ll mostly be an accent because that wall will have two large mirrors and a big window in the middle. 🙂 So that’s quite different from looking at a big, full, uninterrupted wall covered with that pattern.
How have you been doing getting the rooms cleared for the remodel?
Love the tile. After ordering a bazillion samples, I used Tilebar tile for my backsplash and kitchen floor and was very pleased. And great customer service.
Are you designing your own wallpaper? The sample with the red accents looked very Red, White, and Blue on my computer. I love America…but not THAT much! LOL Good luck on your bathroom designing!
I won’t be designing it, but I’m going to try to turn that stencil into wallpaper. And you’re right about the “patriotic” look of the second one. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t appeal to me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
I love the tile and the stencil idea!
Make a vector pattern out of it and print it off just like you did in the studio!
I’m not crazy about the colors in the sample with the coral highlights but that little pop of color seemed to give dimension to the pattern where the sample with out the coral seemed flat to me.
Yes, that’s what I was going to say! 😁 Redraw it in a vector drawing program and scale it the size you want, color it in the program and then create the wallpaper as you did before!
Random observation … I really like the vertical chevron style of the shower tile reflected in the mirror of your inspiration bathroom … 🙂
Also, your stencil seems a lot busier than the one in your inspiration bathroom. It’s pretty, but it seems like the overall look might be quite a bit different. That may be in part due to the size difference … I’m not sure. The one with the coral especially strikes me as a very “Swedish” (or Russian?) look. I get the mental image of traditionally dressed girls dancing in big, colorful, poofy skirts and ruffles. 🙂
Regardless of the pattern you go with, though, turning it into a wallpaper is MUCH better than trying to stencil it. 🙂
I thought the same, but Dutch Colonial!
What if you had the look you want and designed the wallpaper. Like you did with the flowers. I like the other stencil job you did.
Maybe a slightly simpler stencil pattern … kinda like this: https://images.app.goo.gl/ECgLAius2DW8JZjF9
I don’t envy you choosing one though. There’s a million of them out there!
I’ll be the odd man out and I love the one with red/coral accents. But in full disclosure red is my main accent color throughout my home. Can’t wait to see the final version. I think it’ll be a fun detail to the room!
Both the tiles in the inspiration room and your stencil are beautiful. Not sure why, but when I looked at Sugarplum’s wall my first thought was that it needed a frame along the edges.
Love the idea of the wall paper in the gray and teal. It’s awesome.
That would be too much pattern for me. I hate that wall in Cassie’s bathroom. But different strokes for different folks. Love the teal tile you found. In the shower will it be hard to keep clean? I would think that black tile would show every water spot. I know whatever you do will be beautiful because it always is.
I love your stencil as wallpaper idea which sparked something in my brain. Please check out spoonflower. If you can make one perfect stencil….and digitize…and upload…you can have them print wallpaper for you! I don’t think it will be super inexpensive but compared to the price of wallpaper at places like Anthropologie….it is a steal! I look forward to watching your projects coming together!!!
You’re brilliant! It’s absolutely stunning. I can’t wait to follow your progress!
I’m a fan of Cassie! I’ve followed her for a long time now. I found her when we were house hunting and she had her last house on the market. I’ve loved following her current house remodeling. She is another bold lover of color too. I love the idea of the custom wallpaper and the tiles and the plan sound lovely! I hope it works out perfectly for you. I love the idea of color, but not in areas where I have to clean soap scum and water spots. White tile all the way in those areas. I’ve wondered how Cassie could possibly keep that black tile in her shower looking good, but maybe she has a housekeeper. Some of the designs in my house make me think the original homeowner who made those changes must have had one.
Since you can photo shop with minimal inconvenience, what if you took the design of the stencil and magnified it instead of a smaller repeat pattern? A giant stencil pattern instead of the little one?
Love your creativity!
That stencil is already two feet square! I was thinking what if it were shrunk to 12 inches square? Two feet seems pretty big to me, but it will be a big room so maybe it can handle that large size. I love the pattern, and the first is my pick for color choices. I liked the coral, but the more I looked at it the more I disliked it. I know that being the brilliant decorator Kristi will work it out. Btw, love the teal tile you found!!!
Easy soon as I read the word stencil I thought, “Oh no she isn’t!”
I like the red, but maybe coral?
You could hire someone else to do the stenciling! Someone who loves it!
You could do the hard work of picking the color combinations.
The teal and gray wallpaper without coral is gorgeous!
Agreed. Love the chilies in the forest sample. No red though for this one.
Two weeks before the remodel starts – how exciting! I’m sure there will be bumps in the road…there always are, but I know the finished results will be awesome, and you and Matt will be so happy with the choices you made. Looking forward to seeing it all. Love the teal design so much – I am a fan of teal, aqua and everything in between as well.
Could you have it printed with spoonflower again? For a bathroom a vinyl is much better for the walls with moisture and stuff. Plus you can wipe it clean!
Oh I absolutely LOVE the bottom one! Would you be willing to share it and your knowledge on how to get it made into wallpaper?
The first thing I thought when I saw the wallpaper in the first photo was, huh, kinda reminds me of the tile my daughter (who’s also named Cassie, BTW) is thinking about using in HER upcoming bathroom remodel. And then, as I continued to read, I remembered that you created your OWN wallpaper for your studio, and I’m betting that that’s what you’re going to do! Whatever route you take, good luck! I’m sure it’ll be awesome. Really like the idea, BTW.
Curious what your intended decor is for your adjacent master bedroom is going to be? Are you going with more teal?
maybe you can create a wallpaper with spoonflower in that pattern/colorway!? Cant wait to see!
I just love the teal tile you’ve found. It’s going to look gorgeous in your master bathroom. I really like the stencil pattern with the teal, grey color combination and what a genius idea to make it into wallpaper. Your ideas are truly inspirational. How exciting!!!!
Teal tile, in a chevron pattern, with the tile in light teal, darker blue, the dark and light grays, as a touch of coral for contrast, and Voila! a Kristi bathroom! What does Matt like?
Ooh, I’ve been waiting forever for your shower plans. Can’t wait to see how it’s done!
Stenciling is way harder than it looks if you do it right! And so many people don’t do it right. It takes an almost dry brush ( I don’t recommend a roller unless it’s a one color stencil) and repeat applications with a light hand. It’s really hard to do a “bleed in” because you have to have all your colors that touch blended on the brush as you go to the wall. An artists’ touch (which you are!) it’s like painting on canvas as far as the blending goes, with VERY LITTLE paint involved. No two blocks will come out the same either. I love the wallpaper for complicated design!!! So much easier!
Have you checked out Spoonflower. A gazillion patterns to choose from or make your own design. Then Spoonflower makes the design into wallpaper.
I saw several comments about the difficulty of keeping the dark colored tile clean in the shower from soap scum and water spots.
Here is something that I learned from my friend’s housekeeper: If you have white grout, regardless of the color of a ceramic or porcelain tile, you just spray TIlex on it and let it sit for a few minutes. It will dissolve all that stuff, and your tile wall will look just as it did when new. It works on glass shower enclosures, too. The stuff is miraculous.
But since my last two houses only have marble in all hard surfaces, I can’t use it. But those with tile can.
Of course, you’d want to check with the manufacturer or test out on a sample board, but it works like a charm for cleaning grouted tile.
I actually love the one with the red. But I can see why it’s my style than your style. 🙂
I LOVE IT. WHEN YOU SAID YOU USED CLASSIC GREY AND GREIGE, WHAT COLOR WAS THE GREIGE. I LIKE THE COMBINATION