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“There are no grades of vanity,” Mark Twain once wrote, “there are only grades of ability in concealing it.”  I find it entirely amusing that we choose to call the work center where we make the best of our physical imperfections a bathroom vanity. I would guess that the first bathroom vanity was created when Ruke, a hairy cave dweller, dragged a stone next to a water basin where he could cut fat to smear on his face. The Encyclopedia Britannica poses the theory that it wasn’t until the middle 19^th century that people had bathrooms in private homes. You can bet that by then, people in palaces had mirrors and vanities galore.

Today’s vanities range from the outrageous to the historical—from gaudy to simple. There are even diminutive, battery-powered vanities created for camping! Here are a few design ideas for us vain folk:

Spies R Us

Alape’s “Metaphor” vanity looks as if it was designed by the weapons team for James Bond. Love the chrome-plated towel holder!

Shape Up

The Shape Vanity by  Villeroy & Boch is “understated” and a warm combo of wood and metal. I love when the bowl is installed atop the unit. (Pretty vain of me to think wood is earthy and therefore superior.)  See other cool examples at Architonic.

Ye Olde Style Vanity

For those who prefer their vanity served up in classic style, this Chelsea Sink Cabinet  combines a cream granite surface with a porcelain bowl, finished with a solid wood or hardwood veneer.  Home Decorators has an extensive collection for those who want to go old school.

Ye New Whatever School

China-based Dameson Sanitaryware Co. sells this medium-density fiberboard/solid wood combo set with a glass top and ceramic basin–available in white and black.

Hypervanity

Nova Linea pops completely out of the box with this dual-sink model combining classic and fusion ideas. The original Italian creation may simply change your own personal notions of vanity.

I’ll stop here with these examples.  As Michel de Montaigne once remarked, “There is perhaps no more obvious vanity than to write of it so vainly.”

I have a love for tile– stone, ceramic, painted, patterned, and any other way you can imagine– that no amount of hours spent on my hands and knees grouting my basement floor can diminish. Apparently. And believe me while I tell you I’ve been testing the limits of that theory in the last couple of weeks.

While I was writing an article about how to tile a floor without screwing it up, it occurred to me that actually, tiling is so easy that it may be possible you can’t screw it up.

And, that idea just died a miss-matched, grout filled death.

Let me revise that statement – using the proper tools, and spending just a small amount of time learning about the technique ahead of time– and it would be very hard to screw up the actual laying and grouting of tile.

That being said, sometimes even the best of us tend to go a little crazy when given free reign over the design of things. I think the best plan of action if you’re tackling your first tile-job is to start with a little inspiration that will lead you to a place of tile AWESOME and not, um…  the alternative.

In the Kitchen:

Stone and ceramic mixed in non-traditional sizes. Nevermind cooking in the kitchen, this backsplash makes my mouth water.

Something else that looks good enough to eat? The floor to ceiling ceramic around the stove in this Victorian home (courtesy of Hooked on Houses) .

In the Bath:

Mixing tile with bead-board to add a splash of something special to this bathroom? Genius! (And not just because I’m totally stealing this idea.)

Or, for a more nature-inspired spa-like feel, standing river rock. And hey, no grout… coming from someone who is still pulling gray clumps of sand out of her hair, that’s got to be considered a bonus.

Everywhere else:

It’s not just about 12×12 square tiles anymore. These Ferroker tiles come in large sizes and with metallic finishes that can be used anywhere in a home.

Move over wallpaper (does anyone actually wallpaper anymore?)  Yakara wenge tiles, also in 12×35  make a great alternative to painting or papering walls.

And don’t let a couple of bad mosaics ruin your creativity. Here is some information from Motawi Tile on assembling tile quilts and murals.

The possibilities are endless. Just don’t let them end like this:

* Thanks to uglyhousephotos for proving to me once and for all that yes, you sure can screw up tile if you try hard enough.