Porn shops.

Waterworks showrom in Seattle.


If shelter mags are my porn, then going to marble showrooms and places like Waterworks is the equivalent of putting on a trench coat and shades and hitting up my favorite porn shops.

Because I get to travel a little bit, I do get to see great decor stores like ABC Carpet & Home, John Derian, and LA/SF home stores. But I never go shopping for bathroom hardware or countertops because I have never renovated anything. My idea of big home improvement so far has been, "Oh my god, this lamp is going to change my life."

So imagine the joy of checking out giant slabs of marble and even taking a sample home. Totally thrilling.

So while I love design, I don't really know much about the particulars. I think Joni from Cote de Texas was the first person who introduced me to not just marble but honed carerra marble. Honed? Carerra? I felt so ESL. I had no idea there was so much variety out there.



Carerra is so popular that it's almost unnerving to select it because, well, you don't want to have the kitchen of the moment. I fell hard for a Greek marble called Thassus. It's a very pure white with sort of glittering tiny bits in it. It nearly sparkles. I would select it in a moment if I didn't think it would be wiser to pick a counter with some striation (is this the word I am looking for?) in it to hide our sins (like acid stains and red wine accidents).


Thassus, again.




This tile, above, isn't too compelling here because I am not giving you any indication of scale, but they are slender little slivers of marble. I think a whole backsplash in this would look too busy, so I am scratching my head trying to figure out how you could use it, but I just loved it.




This not handsome photo was snapped merely to remind me to ask everyone what is the preferred edge for a counter? My better half liked this, and if it were in a Deco-y bathroom with Deco-y hardware, I think it would be mighty sexy. I am not sure how it would look in our kitchen. Thoughts?




Waterworks has the most amazing everything, including bath accessories and even laundry hampers (but, of course, none as amazing as THIS one...). I loved these crystal jars. At $40 and up, they seemed like a bargain compared to everything else there.




I was fond of this mini subway tile.




And we laughed about this, which I keep seeing shelter mags refer to as a "tub filler." What's the difference between a faucet and a tub filler? $3000. They would be better named "wallet emptiers," but whatever. We're not in the market for something so fussy-looking anyway. But it's all interesting to see. I think the best part of any home project is this: everything is possible when you're still in the dreaming/planning stage.