Monday, January 2, 2012

The Last Project: The Paradox Pattern

This past weekend Several weeks months ago we began to tackle the last major project on our house. That doesn't mean that we are finished with the project house. It means that at this moment I think we are finished, but I'm sure I'll realize something else that needs to be done sooner or.... Oh, I forgot about the basement - it is a huge project in itself! Oh, and I forgot that we still need to sand the porch floors and repaint them. Oh... and... OK, so maybe this won't be the 'last' project! Darn!

We visited a few homes that were showcased in the builder's tour of homes and fell in love with the tile floor in one of the homes. I took a picture of it. We visited a number of tile stores but none had anything like what we had seen. Finally we went to a wholesale supplier. I showed the receptionist the picture and she barely paused to think before saying, "It looks like the Paredon pattern to me." We looked at various colors of tile, picked what we liked and ordered it from a nearby retail tile showroom.

The tile arrived and we began to tile our foyer. It is 130 square feet. When we ordered the tile, that seemed like a small amount - well, maybe it felt that way until we paid for the tile! When we were half way through the work 130 sq. ft. seemed immense! I'm so glad the foyer isn't larger!!!

Here we are.... ready to begin.
This should be a piece of cake!

Are we done yet?

The tile pattern is a bear. They call in the Paredon pattern. I have begun referring to it as the paradox pattern... because it is all a puzzle to me! Each box of tile has a diagram on it, thankfully. But trying to figure out what comes next makes my head hurt.... even with the diagram!


When we have worked on tile jobs in the past, my hubby mixes the mortar and makes the cuts. I lay the tile. As we began this job I think hubby began to wonder why it was taking me so long to get going. He came to help hand me tiles... and then he began to realize how puzzling the pattern is.

Here's hubby with "the map" trying to figure out what goes where!

Isn't there some sort of saying about people talking to themselves being crazy? Well, this must be driving us crazy because we are both muttering things like, "OK, if this is an 8"X12" going this way, then next to it we need and 8"X 8" and over here we need a long skinny one. No, wait. That's not right. The long skinny one needs to go here."

When I finished tiling the bathroom floor I swore I would never again tile anything using 16"X16" tiles. Well, now let's add this to the list of 'never again'. No more Paradox pattern!

But.... Ta daaaaaaa! It's finished!
We're done!



Well, maybe not... we still have to put in the baseboards and paint them. Arggghhhhh!!

14 comments:

  1. I love it; LOVE it!! That is absolutely gorgeous, well worth all those therapy sessions you now need. *giggle*
    Wanna come do my house? ;o)

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  2. Absolutely beautiful!!! I'm proud of you two. Now, every time you enter, you will remember the joy of installation...and see the amazingly beautiful results of all that hard work.

    Uh, I need help with my entry...

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  3. Wow! Your foyer is a real showcase. For some much needed R&R and before your skills become rusty, you two "handypersons" need to come to the Lowcountry and tackle one or two or three or ... much needed projects at my house. Yep, I think H$%% is freezing over!

    Anne

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  4. That looks mind boggling, but it sure is beautiful now that it is done.

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  5. It looks fantastic! I love the color & pattern. A lot of hard work, but great results. Project "house" is never finished, is it? :) I know the feeling!

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  6. Arn't all homes "project homes" there is always something that needs to be updated, fixed, or added.

    I LOVE that pattern and would actually like my entire living room (probably the size of your foyer) done!

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  7. Wow, I'm totally drooling. Beautiful, gove yourselves a big pat on the back. I can't imagine going thru all that. But, the outcome looks totally worth the migraine of figuring it out.

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  8. Oh it is pretty and well worth the effort!1 I love it..I am a real fan of tile until it comes to super grout clean up and sealing which I must do this year in the bathroom. Only the floors thank goodness. I laid all the tile in our home too..it is an adventure:)

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  9. What a beautiful job you did! It looked very difficult.

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  10. It's gorgeous! We haven't even started all the projects this house needs.

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  11. You have once again!!!!done a great job. The foyer looks fabulous!

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  12. Well done! It looks really nice! You have turned that house into a very beautiful home.

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  13. That pattern makes my head just looking at it and imagining all the work required to get it just right. I don't like jigsaw puzzles at all. I would hate doing that tike job!

    It is quite charming, though. Reminds me of an English courtyard.

    ~Lisa

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