Today we stopped by Fire Clay Tile , a local manufacturer of hand-made "eco-friendly, beautiful sustainable ceramic tile". They have some very nice stuff, albeit pricey for our budget ($24/sq. ft. and up). Their Boneyard selection of overstock, 2nd quality, etc. appeared to have some of the black river rock we spotted in the photo from this post. We like the look, but just wonder if this tile is comfortable on bare feet. Anyone out there have experience with this style of flooring?

Inspiration from Heath Ceramics: vertical tile above a tub.

We like the deep-in-the-jungle/bamboo grove experience. Very cool. We also really like the wood surround on the tub, but wonder how practical this is for a combination shower-tub. Maybe if a lot of matte urethane is involved...

And right now I just noticed the black river rock for the floor. Nice.

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Found: via Google maps search for tile in Bay area...although the name Heath Ceramics is familiar, for reasons unknown.

Just documenting some tile that caught our attention at Home Depot. Prices are $9, $14, and $16/sq. ft.:

We visited friends this weekend and I really like this combination of glass-and-polished-slate(?) tile in the kitchen of the house they're renting:

We're also pondering gloss-finish cabinets for the kitchen...

Bathroom layout ideas:
We might not need to use this bathroom layout, but our friends' hall bath had many conscientious decisions that we liked. Things we noticed included:

• an efficient but not too-snug layout of vanity facing long side of shower with toilet in between, which faces the door.
• partially glass-walled shower without door, which gives the shower a nice, open entrance
• toilet paper holder mounted under vanity countertop
• translucent pocket door lets light in and doesn't need swing space inside the bathroom