Demo is coming to a close and it’s almost time to start rebuilding our new entertaining dining room, among other things. I’m cautiously optimistic that putting it all together is going to be faster because 1. we’ll have a larger crew here, and 2. we ran into quite a few surprises in the demo process. Learning and correcting how things were built is a lot harder than building it right the first time (or second time in our case). It’s our job to make sure we have all the finishes chosen and on site so once they are ready, they can go, go, go!

The biggest and hardest decision for me has been the flooring for the new dining room. There will be 2 arched doorways leading to the space from the music room and living room. Part of me thought–let’s just make it wood flooring so it all blended (we’ll be updating all of our wood flooring in the future). But as I was researching and pinning I also recognized this as an opportunity to bring in a bold but classic floor choice. Something that leans historical, but I could modernize.  I kept coming back to checkerboard floors. Specifically the ones that were stone and had a lot of variance.

Here are a few that I love:

1. This example from Magnolia is not stark black or white. I especially love the wood tones and contrast trim in the photo (elements that our cottage has) that helps me see that something like this could work in seamlessly.

2. Georgianna Lane worked in some mint and marble in the checkerboard below and although the color palette isn’t right for our home, it really opened my eyes to the possibilities beyond black and white.

3. Like The LifeStyled Company that went a little cool (is that navy?) and I love how it mixed with the mushroom cabinet color.

4. Miguel Flores Vianna did a loose checkerboard pattern with so much variance my mind almost exploded. I love it so much!!

5. Ham Interiors mixed a super soft charcoal with a veiny white marble below. This is when I also started taking note of border vs. no border. And honed vs. shiny. The floors below are honed with no border.

6. While this entry by The Fox Group has a border and is polished.

7. What if we swapped in tan for white marble a la this space by Period Architecture.

8. Light and Dwell was one of my original inspirations for doing the checkerboard floors in the dining room. I love seeing the transition from wood to tile and how the checkerboard almost feels soft and not over-powering at all. The honed soft black mixed with a light grayish marble is perfection.

With all of the information and inspiration gathered, I ordered some tile samples from Bedrosians (all from the Magnifica line, but I may go back for more). I ordered a couple different blacks, marbles, a gray and a tan. They all arrived polished except the Bardiglietto (gray), so I’m trying to imagine what they would look like honed (which I’m pretty sure is my preference).

The first combo I loved was Pietra Gray (which I think would be lighter honed) and the Luxe White (which has a lot of warm veining.

I also loved the mix of the Pietra Gray with Taj Mahal, which is sort of a tan stone.

And lastly the Luxe White mixed with Bardiglietto.

My head is honestly spinning right now trying to decide. I like all three! I’m going to see if I can get a sample of the Pietra Gray Honed to see if it’s not quite as stark. I really want it to be a little softer in tone. But that’s where we’re at right now. What do you think? Have a favorite combination?