The Tale of Two Toilets


I know must have too much time on my hands to be stressing over which toilet to have installed in my new bathroom . . . but here’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  Would love your comments or opinions please.  Leave a comment by clicking on the Comment box after the post.

Research:  I was told by several people (plumbers, homeowners, etc.) that the Toto brand was the best on the market and to go for a one piece toilet.  I was okay with that and went on an internet search to find the perfect one piece Toto Toilet (don’t ya love the sound of that?).    They ranged in price from $342 to $3,970!!!!  That one would have to get up in the middle of the night for me before I could pay that price!   The one I picked out that I would actually want to buy for the look of it and the features was this one:

Toto MS874114SG-11  at a retail of $891.  The best price I found was $534.00   The problem I had with this was that I would have to buy it on the internet and if something was wrong with it, would have to ship it back.  I wasn’t comfortable with this so back to researching.  What I found when looking at the Toto that I loved was the smooth sides instead of all those curves and nooks and crannies that are so hard to clean.  So now, I know I want the smooth sides and a one piece; also it would have be easy to clean. 





I found this one:  
American Standard Town Square Right Height 1-piece Elongated Toilet Model # 2847.016.020 
I really liked the square-lined look of this and it takes up so much less space than the one we have now.  Also, it is made in the USA, which is a big plus to me.  It has a retail of $895, found on sale at Home Depot online for $455.  I also purchased it using the Ebates program and qualified for a 6% rebate which brought the total to $428.  

Home Depot had free shipping and I could return it to the store and they have a 90 day return policy.  We went ahead and ordered it the last day of the sale on Dec. 31st and it has been sitting in my son’s bedroom  ever since.  Mission accomplished, right?  Wrong!  








See Ebate info here:   Earn Rebates When Shopping Online
When I was in Lowe’s looking for a bathtub (which is another story), I saw this:
American Standard Clean White High Efficiency WaterSense Elongated 2-Piece Toilet Item #8857 at an in-stock price of $253.  That is a savings of $175 on the toilet!   Keeping the budget always in mind I bought this one too and planned on taking the other back to Home Depot.
I did want to check the specs on both and see what the differences were and the main one was that the more expensive toilet was a one piece and had a fancier look to it.  I also found out that the Lowe’s toilet was a special model only sold by Lowes and every review of it mentioned the cheap plastic toilet seat that comes with it.  So, I figured we could just buy a new seat for it and found out the toilet seat on the Town Square model cost $110.  Also, the flush lever was over $50.  So, I guess there are the reasons for the higher price.  The Town Square has a 10 year warranty on the entire toilet, the Lowe’s model is 10 year limited and doesn’t cover the seat or handles. 

So now I’m befuddled and not sure which one to keep.  With only a few days to go, what do you think????
THIS ONE???                                                                                         
OR THIS ONE???

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BATHROOM . . . . DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS

What comes first, the floor, counter or walls????  Cabinets, toilet or tub???  OH MY!   Long post, bear with me.  Here was the process we went through:

CABINETRY:  This was the no-brainer.  We both fell in love with this ultra-modern cabinetry and although the price was quite a bit more than stock cabinetry, we knew this was the right choice for us.
Magick Woods Royal Plus Vanity and Upper Cabinet

COLOR SCHEME:  Choosing the color scheme was the easy part since the countertop that goes with this cabinet only came in black or brown. My first thought was to do a black and white bathroom, but after receiving the sample of the Mocha Gold countertop, we knew this was the first choice and would go on from there.  The counter material is cultured marble with an intigrated white sink.  I am the ultimate Glitter Girl, so when I saw the glittery gold fleck in it I was sold and ordered the top right away.  
Once we decided to go with a brown countertop for the vanity, we left behind the black and white color scheme we had decided on and went in a different direction.  

TILE:  Didn't think choosing a tile for the bathroom would be so hard.  We found it to be a much larger task than we thought.  First, there were several tiles we liked, but were out of our price range.  Secondly, this is a permanent decision, once the tile is installed, we won't be changing it again in my lifetime.  The next decision that was firm was the wall tile for the shower area.  It was very unusual and I think it will look fabulous with the high gloss white cabinets and the price was just within our reach.  It has a pearly shine and really glows when the light hits it:

Cubica Tile - Genesse Tile
Walter then picked out a high gloss brown marble tile for the floor and I agreed . . . good, done!  NOT.  When we showed it to the tile man, he said it was too big and heavy and would double the cost of the project.  Back to the tile stores I went; several times.  I found a similar tile, not shiny, but with enough color variation that I knew it would work.  I wanted something with a touch of black if possible and it had to have some white to go with all the other white in the bathroom.  

When the color choice was going to be black and white, I had my heart set on some black glass tile to use as an accent/trim and was able to find it in a brown coloration.  Happy Dance!
Mexican Sand Glass Tile - The Tile Shop

Here are our final choices:

Now to decide on the all important fixtures. . . stayed tuned.
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So, I caved and bought more scrapbook stuff on HSN

The other day I was flipping through the channels and found HSN had scrapbook day.  Oh no!  I should have kept on flippin', but instead I watched and so I'll be seeing the UPS man again in a week of so.  Here is what I found I could no longer live without!

Xyron Creatopia All-in-One Creative Machine:  Actually a good price, ONLY $59.95


As I mentioned in an earlier post First Xyron Machine, my Xyron machine is about 15 years old and has served me well.  Here is a video of what this machine can do, seems like it will be more versatile and besides, it's purple, how cute is that!
Next up:  The We R Memory Keeps Lucky 8 Punches, like I need another punch in my collection, but tell me this isn't really cool!






So, look for a tutorial video when I receive these new additions to my scrapbook studio.  Now, where to store them; that's another subject in and of itself . . .

Keep Kroppin'!!!
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Amazing Photos from CHA

Take a look and start your wish list of all the new products.  Christine Urias, from the site ScrapTime, has taken a huge collection of high quality photos from the Craft and Hobby Association convention.

You look at her Flickr page here: Scraptime Flickr Albums.  Start at the album labelled "CHA Part 1" and prepare to get lost in all the great photos.  Grab a cup of coffee and relax and enjoy.  I saved quite a number of these to my hard drive to use as a screen saver of inspiration while I work.  Have fun!
 

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