Fireplace tile dilemma

11 years ago

Hi there,

We have a new house under construction and had picked out a beautiful hand made tile for the fireplace surround from a local tile store. It's pricey, but I loved it and felt it was worth it. Today, the tile store said the artist changed the mold to make the design lines in the tile different so they would hold up better in production, but I'm really torn. It definitely made a difference. I can't decide and it's an expensive thing not to totally love. Which one do you like better?

Left side

Right side

Featured Answer

hjs

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

The left looks more hand crafted... but both are beautiful. I think I would want to know more about why the newer construction method holds up better in production. Perhaps there is something inherently fragile about tiles made using the first method...and therefore not the ideal choice for a fireplace surround anyway. If that's the case, that might help you feel better about the change in the design.

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Comments (12)

retroearth
11 years ago
Love the left; feel blah about the right.
meghan4803 thanked retroearth
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User
11 years ago
The one on the left looks handmade and I like the tile itself. The grout looks awful though, so I voted for the right one.
User
11 years ago
If you are hesitating, then you don't totally love it the new design, whatever it is. Listen to your instinct.
meghan4803
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks everybody! Can anyone tell me where I can find the results of the Poll? I see there are 12 votes but there's no place to see what the results of the votes are.
hayleydaniels
11 years ago
When I just voted it was 10 for the one on the left, and 3 for the one on the right. How you get the results is it beyond me.
Tasneem Nazrol
11 years ago
For the left side, I love the tile but if the artist said they modified it to make it safer, then maybe the right one is better.
User
11 years ago
If you want to see the results of the poll, you have to put in a vote too.
Judy Mishkin
11 years ago
this happens all the time when i'm shopping for yarn..... i'll grab one that i love but there arent enough in that dye lot.... and the "other" dyelot in the bin, which there is enough of.... just looks blah, even tho they are 99.99% the same yarn.

you'll never like it if its easily damaged after install, and you'll never like it if you don't like the new one at first sight. keep looking. its what i do when i'm knitting a sweater.
meghan4803
Original Author
11 years ago
Super helpful everyone. thank you! For more context, here's what the woman at the tile store said the tile maker said: "The current FLW has slightly wider lines in the pattern, which apparently make it less likely to have problems in production. "
retroearth
11 years ago
slightly???
acm
11 years ago
the one on the left has a sort of Art Deco feel to me, and the one on the right looks more machine-age-ish or midcentury. a huge difference. I'm sorry this happened just before you got the tile you wanted.