Remember that one time my husband nearly lost his mind over hexagon floor tile? I wanted that hexagon tile so badly in our last house – but in the end, I really hated that floor.
Well, we didn’t need to repeat that fiasco. I’ve already professed my love for sheet vinyl – it’s cheap, it’s quick, it’s easy. Plus, I find it easier to keep clean than tile and also feels warmer under foot. And it really does look nice, to boot.
For the new house, I set out to find a great vinyl pattern for our bathrooms – and I immediately fell in love with the hexagon look by Tarkett. We bought the sheet vinyl (in 12 foot sheets) at Menards – it’s the Tarkett Urban Classic Collection. (It’s a special order so I just ordered online and then picked up in the store a few days later.)
I decided to use the same pattern in both bathrooms because I’m boring that way. Plus, we could maximize the sheet of vinyl since it was in 12 foot sheets.
I know there are those of you out there who are skeptical about sheet vinyl. But, this legitimately looks so good I could scream. It is so pretty! The pattern is a mix of gray, white, tan and cream. The “grout” is a creamy gray. It’s a great neutral pattern – it seems to go well with both wall colors (a creamy greige and a blue/green).
My friend was over last week and truly didn’t believe it was sheet vinyl when she peeked in to see the bathroom progress – she thought it was tile.
And the biggest bonus – each bathroom floor cost about $75 to finish. And Ryan could easily finish one bathroom in a few hours. By himself. This is huge, you guys! No spacers, no grouting, no cleaning (and cleaning and cleaning), and no sealing. It’s so easy that it can be a really awesome DIY project for anyone.
If you want to install sheet vinyl, here’s the basic gist:
- If your floor doesn’t have it, cut and install underlayment (1/4 inch plywood) to give it a solid base. It should be solid and level.
- Measure the room and cut the vinyl a bit larger than measurements. (Ryan cut each side a few inches extra.)
- Lay the sheet of vinyl in the room and trim the edges to fit perfectly around the edge using a razor. No need for glue or staples.
- Trim out the room as you will – the trim and other fixtures (like vanities and toilets) will help keep the sheet vinyl in place and keep from buckling.
We have lived with sheet vinyl for years and have never had an issue with buckling – I think it’s less likely to have any wrinkles or buckles when it’s a smaller space without any seams.
In the bathrooms, the sheet vinyl lies flat and doesn’t shift under foot.
(If you want some more detailed information and step-by-step photos, check out the post by my friend Jessica at Decor Adventures. She chose the exact same tile for her bathroom and it’s GORgeous.)
Oh, and Ryan also set up the first vanity in the upstairs bathroom. I love it. Because the space only allows for a 36 inch vanity, I wanted the offset sink to allow for more counter space. It can be super pricy to get a countertop and vanity that actually fits these specifications – with the look I like and plenty of storage underneath. (I love that long drawer.)
So when I spotted this Special Buy at Home Depot for $199, I should have immediately bought it. (It came with the vanity, counter and mirror.)
But I didn’t do that. Because that would have made my life simpler. And I simply cannot allow myself to make life any easier. It would be like cheating. And I’m no cheater.
Instead, 2 months later, I went looking for the vanity and realized that it was no longer available anywhere within 100 miles.
But, it was also only $99 now. Which made it my personal mission to FIND. THIS. VANITY.
I began doing random searches on the Home Depot website to see where this vanity was available. It was worth the hours of searching time because we’re pretty much done with spending money on this house and I was not going to buy an expensive vanity when one could be had for $99.
And, after some good ol’ fashion computer time, I discovered that there were 3 of these babies in a store three hours away. So, I bought two of them online and my in-law’s agreed to pick them up for us.
(Best in-laws ever.)
They held the vanities at the counter for us and now they are ours. Victory is sweet. I mean, I basically saved $2,000 in Kim math, so I’m patting myself on the back.
Raise your hand if you think this looks like real tile?
And if you aren’t raising your hand, you need to get your eyes checked. 😉
Do you have a straight square bathroom? Mines not…how did you cut chunks so the pattern matches up smoothly?
You’ll need to cut the edges – if it’s not perfect, you’ll never notice. Just make sure it’s even on the entrance and the pattern looks relatively straight when you walk into the room.
Has anybody used this is in the kitchen? I have a sample and love it, but wonder if it needs to be a bigger hex pattern in the kitchen.
I was thinking the same my kitchen is very small so maybe the smaller style would not be to bad.
Thank you thank you thank you for this post! I had settled on some nice, classic hex porcelain tile, but after cleaning up after 4 really messy cats in the master bathroom within two days (tmi: but vomit and poo), I realized there’s no way I want to try to keep grout clean. Top that with our 22 degree F weather in Michigan right now and I’m all about vinyl. I had NO idea there was anything other than the crappy, builder’s grade stuff out there.
I just got my sample of this exact same flooring (on sale for $1.50/sq foot at my local Menards right now) and 99% sure I’m going with it. Meeting with the contractor tomorrow…I’m sure he’ll be relieved to not have to do tile work. Plus….cost savings. All of my friends are very much shitting on the idea of vinyl, but they’re not the ones cleaning or with freezing feet, so I’ll challenge them on it once it’s installed.
Thanks for your suggesting vinyl sheeting for the bathrooms. We are thinking about building in the Q.C. again for the second time. We are older now and looking for comfort and low maintenance. We did have ceramic tile in our bathrooms and it was cold and hard! In our kitchen we used a good quality Armstrong vinyl tile that worked fine for the seven years we were there. I found your blog thru Pinterest. I’ll be checking out the rest of your blog for more suggestions. Thanks
So happy it was helpful! Good luck with all the big decisions for your new home.
Do you happen to remember what the price was per sqft? I called our closest local distributor and they said $2.71/sqft, and for my smallest bathroom it would end up being like $128… Eek! Curious if the price went up, or if just need to find a different distributor
We paid $1.10 a sq foot at Menards. I think it was the same price at Lowe’s. Good luck!!
Thank you so much for such a quick response! I will definitely start checking out other options then! Thanks again!
Holy wow! It’s so awesome! Trying to catch up on some blog reading. So late, sorry! It’s amazing
Finding the tools to smash out the hated tiles right NOW! This is fabulous! I am totally on Team Vinyl Floor-it speaks to my Midwestern sensibility.
I love that you saved 2000 in ‘Kim Math!’ Ha, you’re the best. That vinyl looks amazing!
Looks awesome! I love that vanity, too!
This Midwestern also agrees! Tile is too cold!!!! I miss the modern vinyl flooring we had in our old house & hate all the ceramic tile in our current house (put in by the previous owners with zero taste). Thanks for posting about this product! I would put it in my house in a heartbeat! It looks green-ish on the Menards website but from your description – I think your pictures are more accurate color-wise. Putting this item on my wish list!
Love! We put it in both bathrooms, too! It is sooo much easier to care for than tile. We actually ripped tile out of our Master bath to put this in.
I love this!
I’m thinking of using this floor in our guest bath. My question is: Since you don’t glue it down what do you do around the edge of the tub? Is just caulking enough to keep it in place?
Thank You!
In our current bathroom, we installed quarter round around the tub and it’s kept it down nicely!
I’ve been eyeing up that flooring forever. I have nowhere to use it but would totally jump all over it if I had a place. It’s beautiful, and it is so much warmer then tile!! Love!
We put hex tile in our kids bath at our old house a few years ago and while I LOVED the look, I, too, ended up hating it. It just was not comfy under foot – was cold, harder to clean, etc. If I could have found this sheet vinyl I so would have picked that! We moved to a new build and put luxury vinyl tile in our bathrooms – so much warmer than regular tile. I haven’t had to clean it too many times yet as we just moved in but I’m hoping it isn’t too bad to clean. I’m thinking our basement guest bath HAS TO HAVE this same sheet vinyl when we finish it so I’ll be off to Menards to check it out!
This is life changing! LOVE IT.
“I mean, I basically saved $2,000 in Kim math” – haha YES! I do Carol math all the time and ‘earn’ money that way.
Love it! Looks fantastic!!
YES! I’ve had my eye on this sheet vinyl for awhile. I plan to use it eventually!
It’s so great that you’ve learned so much from your other houses about what you like and don’t like, and you’re incorporating it now. I’ll never understand why people want tile in a bathroom – grout cannot be kept clean without constant battles! Your vinyl looks stunning and is SO much easier to clean. The “in” decorating bandwagon can be a slippery slope that leads to spending more money than makes sense, and causing more work than anyone in their right mind wants to do! Yay for you guys doing what you want, how you want it and not following trends that are more expensive and require more upkeep. You’ll have more time for each other and Henry!!
Totally raising my hand. You are making so many smart choices for this house and for your life. I am taking notes over here as fast as I possible can 🙂
2 hands in the air! It looks so good too!
Hand raised. My husband used to work at corporate hq for Armstrong Ceilings and Floors, and there is some darn good vinyl out there. We have tile in our bathrooms now (it was there when we bought the house), and I miss vinyl. I REALLY miss the vinyl floor that had some special quality that made all of the person and cat hair go to the edges of the room (behind the toilet, under the vanity edge, behind the door) so I didn’t have to see it all of the time!
mind blown. wow!
Looks great and I am raising my hand!