Sealing Grout to keep it pretttty!

Sealing the grout in my bathrooms and laundry was a must for me, up there with the most important jobs. I had done a lot of research and knew it was my best chance at preserving my grout, keeping it in the best condition I could. I believe nice clean grout makes a huge difference to the look of tiles. Everyday living can get grout pretty grubby.

I selected white grout in my ensuite bathroom, which is the worst colour to keep looking clean, and my main bathroom and laundry have a light grey grout. So it was important to me that I at least try to keep it nice. Over time yes, it might not look as good but at least I would know that I did all I could.

I’m no expect in the matter. I don’t have any special knowledge of grout or bathroom design. I don’t even have any family or friends in this area. So all I could do was turn to trusty google in search of a product that would suit my needs.

From my research the best product I could find here in Australia, was a product called Sealers Choice Gold by AquaMix. I think this stuff must be made of gold because it is pretty pricy. I think I paid about $90.00 for 473ml. But hey, that’s a small price to pay if it works. It’s a penetrative sealer which soaks into the grout.

I made sure all the grout was clean before I got started but giving it a good scrub with warm water, I didn't use any detergents as I figured it may affect the sealer.

I decided to apply mine with a tiny paint brush, I didn’t want to get it all over the tiles in case it left any residue. It does say on the label that it can darken, or lighten some surfaces. I also didn’t want to waste any of it.

I applied two coats, it took quite a while I won’t lie, but definitely wasn’t a difficult job. I think if you had smaller tiles it would definitely take a lot longer as there would be more grout lines.  I had a cloth handy and wiped away any runs straight away.

It dried completely clear, you can’t tell that anything had been put on it at all. I wouldn’t say it has a strong smell either. I didn’t have to open windows or anything for ventilation which was good because its freezing here at the moment.

So I guess only time will tell if it does the job. Hopefully, fingers crossed it will. I do have quite a bit left over so I’ll pop it in the cupboard and do another coat in the future if it needs it.

If anyone has any great tips for regular cleaning and maintenance of grout I'm all ears x

Bathrooms are in!

The same time the kitchen went in, the cabinetry for the bathrooms also went in, and then it wasn't long and I had a tiler on-site. The wall tiles went up first and then the floor tiles.

 

I don't have any great photos of the bathrooms yet. So once again you may need a little imagination.

 

With the main bathroom in 'selections' I took the risk and decided to put the same tile on both the floor and the wall, a grey tile. I've been very anxious to see how this would turn out but I must say I am very happy. I love the seamless look, although some might say the dark tiles make the space smaller, I tend to disagree, it think it gives the space a moody, intriguing feel.

I paired this with my dark vanity cupboard, with a white bench top. Overall I love it.

 

 

The only thing which I would possibly change, which was sort of an over sight on my behalf is the tile on top of the bench. I probably should have gone for something different here. but honestly I remember being in my selections appointment with a million and one things to decide on, my brain kinda shut down and I said to just go with the same tile. I'm still very happy with it, but I guess I may change that down the road. I do have some ideas, but that would be way, way down the track.

 

You may (or may not) recall me talking a while back about my white ensuite bathroom plans here. Well its been great to see that come to fruition. Basically, just like my kitchen, I wanted it all white. The floor tiles, wall tiles and grout. Yes white grout. Call me crazy. I know its going to be a nightmare to keep clean but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I have sourced a grout sealer which I plan on using to help, I'll talk about it further another time.

 

So once again I have white cabinetry, this is the exact same doors as my kitchen, and exact same benchtop colour except its not gloss, just a matt finish.

 

I'll also be adding my Ikea mirror cabinet in the ensuite, which I blogged about here.

Ensuite Mirror Cabinet

My Ensuite bathroom is pretty small and the vanity cabinet is tiny, I think only 750mm wide. I like storage in a bathroom... you know, to keep all those lotions and potions we all hoard (or is that just me :/ ). I like being able to put everything out of sight, rather than sprawled out all over the place and frankly that tiny vanity cabinet of mine just won't be enough. Therefore I want to add in a wall hung mirror cabinet to solve my storage dilemma.

My builders standard is to supply a regular builders grade mirror stuck on the wall (you know, those plain ones with no frame), well my plan is to ask them to leave this off so I can install a wall hung mirror cabinet after I get handover of the house. This will provide so much more storage for all my bits and bobs and keep the bathroom much tidier.

I had a few cabinets in mind and originally was leaning towards a more traditional style with a wooden frame etc. Like this one below....

but after thinking it over and considering the size and style of the bathroom I decided to go in a different direction with a more minimal and sleek look.

I've been eying off the IKEA Godmorgon Mirror cabinet for a while now. Its mirror on all sides and also has a mirror finish on the inside.

The picture really doesn't do it justice, its very pretty I promise.

At $300 for the 600mm wide one, I think that's a fair price.

So last weekend I journeyed to IKEA with Mum and Dad to get my cabinet. I don't get to IKEA very often so its always a fun day out. I think we spent about 3 hours in there just looking at different things.

Once home, I pulled a few bits out just to make sure it looked right and there wasn't any cracked mirror. It will be packed away now until the house is complete.

 
Hoping it won't be too much of a drama to hang on the wall as it is pretty heavy, 22kg I belive. I don't think I'll be able to tap into the house frames because of their location so I'm going to have to go straight into the gyprock and am considering cavity fasteners, Ramset make some which might do the job. I would love to hear from anyone who has used cavity fasteners to hang something heavy, what was your experience? any tips or tricks?

Selections Overlode

I did my internal selections for my house back in November 2013, which already seems like a lifetime ago... anyway thought I'd better put an update on here of everything I picked.

So to explain to those who haven't built a house before, everything gets picked at your 'selections appointment', this appointment only goes for a couple of hours,  and you need to decide on everything - tiles, grout, cupboards, benchtops, handles, tapwear, doors, appliances, sinks, basins, the list goes on and on. If you want to make changes later, it can be a big hassle and usually will cost you. Doesn't sound too hard right? haha well maybe for some, but for me, someone who dreams of interiors all day, every day, its a big deal! I had to get it right.

I did do the smart thing and visit the display rooms numerous times prior to my appointment to get a good idea of what I wanted to go with. I pretty much had everything picked before I even went into my selection appointments which I definitely recommend. I've heard a lot of stories of people who wait until their final selection appointment, then basically go in blind and attempt to pick everything at once. Crazy people! ... I wouldn't want to be in their shoes.

I couldn't just pick anything in the selection center however, as there was a standard range that my builder uses and anything out of this is an extra cost. I managed to find most items in the standard range that I was pretty happy with, with only a few things which I paid extra for. In some ways it makes the process a lot easier as choosing from a smaller selection makes it a little less overwhelming.

The official names for everything I picked is listed below for those out there who are interested. Otherwise just enjoy my not-so-good iPhone photos :/


Kitchen
Cupboards – Silk LX White
Bench top – White Valencia (Diamond Gloss finish)
All door handles will be installed Horizontal
Splashback to be done post handover

                   


Main bathroom
Floor and wall Tiles – Santorini argento natural with Magellan grey grout
(went for a bit of a risk here choosing the same tile for both the floor and walls, hoping it'll turn out ok)
Vanity Cupboard - Asphalt
Vanity bench top – White Valencia (matt finish)
Linen cupboard – LX white

Ensuite Bathroom
Wall Tiles – Concept Ice
Floor Tiles – Concept Ice plain matt
Vanity cupboard – Silk LX white
Vanity Benchtop – white Valencia (matt finish)

Internal wall colour – Winter Sky
Doors/Skirts/Aves – Winter Sky
Ceiling – White

(sorry no pics)



So what do you think? all very safe, neutral colours but I think it'll look great!  Fingers crossed.

White Again

So it seems I have a love affair with white!! 

Just like my white kitchen I have planned, which I talked about here previously. I also have been dreaming of an all white bathroom...white tiles with white grout.

I know it's not practical at all. It’s going to get grubby without a lot of maintenance. With this in mind I still can’t change what I want.  Believe me I've tried to talk myself out of it but no luck. 

I have two bathrooms in my house so have decided I will be practical in my main bathroom and go with darker colours but have all-white in my ensuite bathroom. It’s a tiny room, so hopefully I can maintain it. 

 Image Source

 Image Source

Image Source

I’m currently on the lookout for a vanity cabinet mirror with storage. There’s a few at Ikea, but I’m still not sure which style I’ll go for. Plain mirror, or something a bit more traditional looking. I'm still looking around in case I can find something better elsewhere.

Do you know of anywhere that sells great little mirror cabinets?