Mariela envisioned a home for her parents that was both private and near their family. Fortunately a 1930's home next door was available, but the family knew the renovation would not be easy. The former Justice for Women home-base was completely run down and proved to be a major fixer-uper. With the help of designer, Ginny Schneider of gindesigns, Fireclay Tile and some DIY skills, the family transformed the space into a cozy home perfect for two.
Hi Mariela! First of all how did you hear about Fireclay Tile?
Mariela – There aren’t many Fireclay Tile distributors in Houston, Texas. We visited a store that carried the tiles and saw them there first, but ended up working through Ginny Schneider from gindesigns to make our final selection. Our Fireclay representative was Yvette. She was great. We had a lot of questions since we wanted to make sure we purchased the correct amount of edges and corner pieces. Yvette and I used the chat option on the website (which was a great way of getting answers quickly!) and later exchanged e-mails to finalize the order.
Tile color shown: Rainy Day
What did the kitchen look like before the remodel?
Mariela – We purchased the 1930s bungalow in 2008, and it is located next door to our current home. The house was unlivable – having been the home base for a charity (Justice for Women) and not lived in for about 20 years. We had a vision to renovate the home and create a space where our aging parents could move into. We wanted them to have their own space and independence and still be next door to their children. It was a total transformation from a tiny closed-in space walled away from the rest of the home, to a semi-open space, much larger but still maintaining the integrity of an older home.
What type of look were you going for?
Mariela – My husband and I have different tastes, not completely opposite, but close. I guess you could call our style ‘Transitional’. We’re a little classic, a little modern and a little tribal.
How did you come up with your color scheme and design?
Mariela – Picking out colors is never easy! We had wonderful help in this area from our designer, Ginny Schneider. I would send Ginny links to photos and colors that I liked and we worked together to put a traditional and fun color palette for every room in the house. For the kitchen tile we ended up choosing Rainy Day.
Why did you choose to use our 3 x 6 size?
Mariela – With this 1930s bungalow, I felt it was important to maintain the traditional feel of the home, at least on the original ground floor. The downstairs bath and kitchen are both tiled with 3 x 6 tiles. Another benefit of the 3 x 6 tile is that it is very economical and classic.
How did the installation process go? Did you face any challenges? Did you work with a tile installer?
Mariela – It is tough to get contractors when the jobs are small. In this case, this was our issue. We attempted to contact a couple of tile contractors we had worked with in the past, but they were too busy and our job too small, so we ended up doing it ourselves. We now have a new tile cutter to add to our collection of tools!
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