Slate the Great*

At last fireplace update, we'd ordered some pretty Montauk Black slate for the hearth.  And it came last week.  And it was the wrong size.  

We'd ordered 18"x18" tile, which would fit with no cutting into our 18"x72" hearth.  We're not afraid of a little wet-saw action now and then, but since we'd never used one before, we were wary of cutting our teeth (or potentially cutting our fingers off?) on such a high-visibility project as the hearth.  So when our would-be 18"x18" tile arrived measuring in at 15.75" square, we called marblewarehouse.com immediately.  Since we know less than nothing about tile, we weren't sure if maybe 18"x18" tile was like 2"x4" lumber (which is to say, nowhere near the size its measurements claim it to be), but the awesome customer service rep with whom I'd been dealing confirmed that there'd been a mix-up in the warehouse and that we'd indeed been shipped 16"x16" tiles.  Now, get this-- because marblewarehouse.com is TOTALLY AWESOME, they apologized for the mix-up, let us keep the 16" tiles free of charge, and sent the 18"x18" tiles out the same day.

(And all of this was after I, when placing the initial order, ordered the wrong quantity (I stupidly went by number of tiles rather than square feet, even though the website clearly states that you should order by the square foot).  My customer service rep called AND emailed me before shipping because something didn't look right about the quantity I'd ordered.  She helped me convert to square feet and corrected the mistake.  At this point I've had so many positive interactions with marblewarehouse.com I'm considering naming my firstborn child after it.  So if you're thinking about a tile project and live on the West Coast, check 'em out.)

And the tile. is. so. pretty.  It fits perfectly.  Here's a photo of the dry-fitting:
 

And from across the room:

Next steps: laying the tile, sealing it (which will make it look a bit darker), grouting the 1/8in seams between the tiles (I'm thinking dark gray for the most seamless look possible), and adding quarter-round to the whole thing.  The rugs I ordered should be coming in on Thursday and we're both buried under mountains of papers to grade this weekend, but we're hoping to totally complete the project before Thanksgiving.  And I can't wait to post definitive before-and-afters.

*other titles I considered for this post: Tile File, Definitely Stoned, and a lot of Duchess of Wales puns like Slate Middleton Weds Prince William or Waity Slate-y or Duchess Slate Dazzles In Jenny Packham At Charity Event!**  

**Except not really that last one, but I do love Jenny Packham.