Willow & Twig

I’m pretty stinking excited about this one. Recap: in 2016 we purchased yet another historic home and have bit-by-bit been tackling projects. When it comes to design I’m a hybrid between a historic purist (staying true to the era) and art teacher (make a statement because…art).

The kids bathroom was on the bucket list and when winter came early-ish this year, we decided to go for it. Simeon tackled the demo and laying new subfloor and cement board. Meanwhile, I scoured the web for ideas. The materials needed to be accessible, but if I saw another white hex bathroom with black flowers (sold at big box stores by the crate) my soul would fall out of my body. Maybe.

Then I found the pattern. It was too good. Classic. Interesting. Beautiful and made from black and white hex tiles. The catch? It was not sold in pattern form. Instead, it was a DIY-at-your-own-risk situation. I’m sure this is what Sim thought when I showed up with $600 of 1” hexagon tiles from the Tile Shop in tow. But, being the supportive trooper even when skeptical, he joined me in the many evenings popping out white tiles to glue black ones in their stead.

Note: the pattern isn’t a 12×12 repeat pattern. Meaning, every sheet is different so you must really think through the pattern in the room and label every sheet to keep the pattern in order.

I used an alpha-numeric system which I recommend (e.g. each row had its own letter, and each sheet had its own number. It needed up being A1-7, B1-7, etc.)

After measuring the room, I laid the tile out showing the width of the room. I selected my starting point and with a black sharpie, marked the tiles that would be replaced with black. I did print some hexagon tile sheets and colored the pattern in full so I could count physical tiles vs the pattern on paper.

Then the fun part. Simeon and I would sit at our table -one of us punched out tiles and the other glued the replacement tile to the existing mesh with a hot glue gun. It worked beautifully, but was a labor of love. We downloaded and listened to The Brother’s K by David James Duncan which has the length and the talent to keep you coming back night after night. Once the pattern was complete, I spent a Saturday ever so carefully laying the tiles to ensure the spacing stayed consistent. It turned out better than I imagined. Every time I walk by the room it makes me smile.