Custom Shower w/ Natural Rock Floor

This was a great job for many reasons. Since the "client" is a good friend, I (we) got to get really creative with the design. This is actually a complete renovation. New toilet, vanity, light, mirror and of course tile!

I did this feature band and feature "diamond" with 3/4 inch glass & travertine squares and framed it with travertine pencils the stick out to create sort-of ledge. Adds a lot of dimension to the overall design.

Here you can catch a glimpse of my custom soap dish. I make these out of field tile and face it off with a bullnose. If you've ever had problems finding one of those pre-made soap dishes because they never quite match the rest of your tile, you'll appreciate this technique.

Custom insert box or niche. This whole job started here. I wanted to get this lined up perfect. This took a lot of planning because you have to frame these boxes out with 2x4s in between the studs, then cover the framing with cement board, then water proof that and hope your measurements were accurate. If not, it takes a lot to take all that apart to re-frame it. I got lucky here. Or maybe I'm just good!

Travertine Shower & Back Splash with Glass Feature Band

This is a custom shower tiled in Travertine, a natural soap stone. This shower is in the same house as the Travertine kitchen back splash posted below. This is a masterpiece as far as design goes, in my opinion. And I'm not bragging, because I didn't design it. But, like the kitchen back splash below, the feature tile works perfectly with the field tile. The feature band includes natural stone and glass. As you can see, the feature band works as a back splash for the sink area and bleeds seamlessly into the shower. As you follow the band around to the front of the shower, it opens up to cover a wide open area on the wall. I also used the "pencil" tiles to outline the feature band and border the field tile. Below you can see how the insert box, or niche, is strategically places on the inside of the half wall. Not that it looks bad, it actually looks amazing, but in this spot is doesn't interrupt the flow of the feature band and it also doesn't clutter up the overall design of the shower.

Stone Shower with Glass Blocks & Insert Boxes

This is one of my favorite bathrooms that I've done so far. Design wise it is about perfect. Everything is balanced. All the tiles are all made of the same material and are the same size. I just adjusted the shapes and angles to create texture and pattern variances. And I also got to use a lot of features that have practical applications and work great in the design.

This is the first time I've worked with glass blocks. Because I didn't have to stack them, I can't say that I got the real experience using them. But these came out great for what we needed them for. They provide light and a sense of openness.

Here you can see two corner shelves made out of the 12" floor tile. I cut a 6" triangle, slightly smaller than a half of a 12" tile from corner to corner. Then I use the bullnose to cap the front of the shelf. Because these are easy to make and they are made from the actual field tile, they are guaranteed to match better than any factory made shelf you can buy.

Custom Shower, Garden Tub & Floor

Below is a bathroom that I've been working on "on&off" for about three weeks. Work was broken up by Thanksgiving. I used 12x12 tri-color tiles on the floor and tub deck. I also cut in stone dots randomly throughout the floor. There is a close up of these dots below where I used it above the shower door. Then I used 8x10 wall tile in the shower, on the tub surround and the WC privacy wall. There is also a cool feature band that runs throughout.
This is an example of the dots that are used in the floor tile. This one was bigger than the field tile used here so I allowed the top stone to grow "out of bounds" like a little peak.

Can't go wrong with a Better Bench.

Two custom insert niches and a custom soap dish made out of field tile and some bullnose.