Tiles, Tiles, and More Tiles
It’s been a while since I’ve updated this! Apparently, trying to get back to touring mid-pandemic while also renovating a house and proofreading enough erotic fiction to make a living means life is a little busy. Who would’ve thought?
Anyway, the first thing to focus on was getting the downstairs apartment’s bathroom sorted. When I moved in it had no hot water, a kitchen counter in place of a shower tray and a door that only locked from the outside.
BEFORE
I found out some friends of mine were selling their bathroom suite – an almost new shower, sink and toilet, with a beautiful plate glass door to the shower – just what I’d always wanted. I asked the builders from that place to check if it would fit in my bathroom, and they said, “Yes, perfectly!” Great. First things chosen – how easy it was all going to be.
Next came the tiles. I’d never paid much attention to tiles before – they existed, some were different colours, and some went on the floor and some on the wall – that was about the extent of my knowledge. I went on the website the builders recommended (easy to get from this company in Gomera, a HUGE plus point), and oh, good grief.
Square?
Rectangular?
Oxagonal?
Matt?
Bright?
Coloured?
White?
Plain?
Patterned?
Small?
Big?
Able to cook dinner for me too?
So. Much. Choice.
BEFORE
It was kinda overwhelming, but after around 18 hours of using apps, websites and staring blankly at the screen trying to decide, I found the PERFECT tiles. I knew by this point I wanted grey on the floor and white on the walls, but something special inside the shower. And these? These were all I’d dreamed of and more.
In fits of excitement, I sent the link to the builder. “I found them! Let’s order these!”
“Nope, sorry, you can’t have these.”
Obviously, I was confused. What was wrong with these works of art?
“Well, you’re no longer looking at the website we sent over, and we can’t get these to Gomera.”
Ah. I’d gone down the rabbit hole of tiles and ended up with a company in mainland Spain. Crushing disappointment doesn’t come close to how I was feeling. But hey, all part of living on an island, right? And besides, I’m a tour manager, I could figure this out.
Tiles….
6 hours later, after working out a) shipping costs, or b) ferry costs with a rental car, or c) flying in with excess baggage, or d) begging the company to somehow make a miracle happen, I gave up.
Back to the drawing board.
Now I had a better idea of the look I wanted, it was easier.
I found some more I quite liked.
“No, sorry, they’re out of stock.”
And some more.
“Wellll, you could, but the size is wrong compared to the rest of the bathroom.”
And more.
“Hmm, yes we can get these, but they’ll take 7 weeks to deliver.”
More still.
“Really? You LIKE these?”
Even more.
“Hmmm, these are way too expensive.”
This was over the course of a few weeks, and 2 days before Christmas, I gave up. Told the builders I’d deal with it when I got back to Gomera.
An hour later, got a text from the builder. “How about these?”
With a link to the tiles I’d first picked out.
A month beforehand.
From the same company I’d suggested.
TILES
I don’t know what had changed, why I could suddenly get these, and why I’d spent hours of my life scrutinising every single *%&£*@^ tile available to buy on Tenerife, but I imagine I had a very similar feeling to women who give birth. They always say after the birth you forget the pain, right? Well, once I saw the tiles installed I forgot the pain.
The beauty. The elegance. The hot water. The TILES.
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