The River House’s Cozy But Modern Dining Room Reveal!

Oct 2025

Three years ago, Max and I picked out the tile from Ann Sacks, a really simple but textural, smaller brick tile that we stacked horizontally to create a big, quiet focal point with even a mid-century vibe. My sister in law likes neutrals and didn’t want to go bold at all, and fell in love with this simplicity (and didn’t want to take away from the view).

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We couldn’t decide on the grout color — for good reason, grout is a stressful decision because it changes the look of the tile and the room, and is really hard to reverse. We ended up choosing the top right — a medium gray with slightly green undertones that created depth and a pattern, but not too dark or star

k. Remember that choosing a lighter grout can work, but often you lose the idea of the stacking grid effect — so it can look more like a wall of texture rather than a more graphic geometric pattern. We wanted the pattern

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One of my most favorite details is how Ann Sacks sells these corner pieces so that you don’t have to miter the edges — see below. It’s just so pretty!

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You’ll notice that the tile is exactly the width of the fireplace, meaning no awkward, smaller pieces on either end. This was due to JP (our contractor) doing the math with the tiler (grout size has to be factored in) and essentially building out the structure underneath to make sure that it was exactly 19 across. These details make such a difference to those of us/you with a design eye.