yes, if that's wallpaper on there I'd remove it. It's too busy and distracting. That'd make a big difference in it.

I would like to see a pic of the flooring up around the front of the toilet - from a better view. from up a bit but not so close up. so that more of the tiles around it show.

basically I think it's very pretty and elaborate. it's a wow - the tub is gorgeous and so is that light fixture. (and again those 'accessories'!)

Yes, I love the accessories, very cute indeed. The tones in the room are so neutral, I really don't think it will be hard to find a paint color that would work with both your tile and bedroom colors. A creamy white or soft ivory maybe, or if the color in the bedroom matches the tile, you could use the same color at 50% strength to lighten it up or another color in the same family.

There is a lot of variation in the tile but I don't think it's a bad look. I actually think your bathroom is very pretty but the wallpaper does clash. You could always get some estimates from other companies to remove it, or you could remove it yourself.

I think it will look great without the wallpaper.

The floor is gorgeous, if you get a chance to look at it! the wallpaper has to go. A solid color on the walls will let the beauty of the stone shine.
The toilet are wallpaper must go as well.
The variations in the stone are to be celebrated... That is what is beautiful about it.

Your bathroom will be gorgeous with painted walls and vanity tops in the dark color from the shower. Unfortunately, I agree with everyone else.... that wallpaper has got to go.

Really? Ugly??? I don't think so! I was so prepared for something awful. It is beautiful! It is not my own style but I think even the wallpaper mostly looks good. The one pic of the base and wallpaper isn't great, but it looks that is extreme pattern of both and not how it looks elsewhere. I think the striped wall paper by the toilet isn't the best, but the rest is very pretty.

I think you should live with it for a while before doing anything. It may not be your vision, but sometimes our eyes just have to adjust to what our mind's eye was seeing.

Not sure why everything else in MBR has to change if you do lose the wallpaper. If you chose a complementary paint color, it could work with what you already have in the bedroom.

I've seen Philly travertine and there is a lot of variation. I would change the wall paper to an earhier toned paint that brings out some of the color from the floor, like a taupe, light brown, or cream - something earthy and neutral - and then I think your travertine will shine.

Thank you so much everyone for the great suggestions and help, yep that paper has got to go. I think I could get away with keeping the bedroom the same if I do a neutral paint. I have to say it DOES look better in the pictures than in person because it flattened out the colors to blend more than it does in person. I just wasn't expecting it to look like this with the small samples that were shown to me. I like travertine but there are a lot of different types and so I am in that adjustment period of getting used to something I didn't know I was getting, lol. Thank you so much again! This is a great forum with lots of nice and helpful people. P.S. when my Golden Retriever is in there lounging it's hard to see her, lol. Thanks!

What everyone else said:
- Remove the wallpaper. Choose a light, neutral paint color (make sure it doesn't clash with the cabinetry color... whites and off-whites can be tricky!)
- For the vanity tops, can you find a stone that has one of the same colors as the Philly travertine (a paler, creamier color) but isn't so busy and varied? Don't introduce another color or another really different material or another busy pattern. Something soft, natural, neutral that ties into the trav. I wish I could see what that shower composite looks like in person. Is it like Caesarstone? Maybe a caesarstone type counter in a color like the travertine's light beigey color?

here's what I'd do
first, remove wallpaper so you have a clean slate and are only seeing the actual existing materials without being distracted by the paper. Then choose a paint color. Look at your swatches in all lights, on all walls, against all materials in the room. Paint the walls. THEN do the same thing with samples of counter materials. Bring them home and look at them in all light, etc.

Don't worry- you will find the right materials. It's going to be beautiful- you just need to let that travertine be the star!!

StaceyNeil, thank you so much. I just looked at your fabulous bathroom and it's amazing and what I like. I have contacted someone about removing the wallpaper, it's the thing to do. My big question is whether to do a dark granite or a light granite as you suggest blending in one of light colors from the floor. The composite granite shower walls looks exactly like real tropic brown granite. Not the green tinged but it's more brown/gray/tan. It doesn't look all that great with the trav but passable. I think you are right, start with getting the paper down and see if that helps the granite in the shower look better ~it really clashes in color with the paper. The paper is more taupe gold and the granite is more of a brown gray, an off color. I had at first thought to use the real slab granite tropic brown on the vanities but I just don't think it's that great looking once I saw it up in the shower. I have an opportunity to do something that I like better but it would be bringing in a new color/pattern. The cabinets are not bright white anymore they have gotten more dull over time trending toward grayer white. I don't want to paint them though. They have a surface that can't really be painted easily without it chipping off. I sort of like the white cabinets anyway and want to leave well enough alone. Thanks again for your great suggestions.

If you go to www.houzz.com and do a search for travertine, you'll see tons of photos and how different counter tops work with the stone.

Again, I highly recommend you do a cross post in the decorating forum, there are color pros and designers there. and you'll be amazed at the amount of help you'll receive with color matching.

I agree w/ Stacey and the others. I think you'll be surprized when the wallpaper comes down. It may even minimize the baseboard issue. I had a similar issue - too busy patterns competing- throws off the entire project.
Take your time selecting the counter tops- with the right choice it will turn around and will look beautiful. Its almost there. I would try to coordinate counter top something with the flr tile more than the shower material especially if its a faux tropical brown.
What finish are using for the faucets/ knobs/pulls? Chrome to coorindate with the tub? BTW, beautiful tub and the houzz website is great.

I feel if you can make the walls a neutral accent, you will know what countertops will look good. The right paint can do amazing things.

The tile is beautiful and once you tone the walls down so they don't compete with the movement of the stone, I think you will love your bathroom. Your tile is gorgeous.

Maybe what you aren't liking is that there is not much distinction between all the elements in your bathroom and they are "running" together too much, making you feel unsettled. Neutral walls will give your eye a resting spot, enhancing your appreciation of the tile, shower, and bath fixtures.

i agree with everybody about the wallpaper. one less expensive option instead of removing it might be if you could paint the wallpaper, or even do like a whitewash on it?

I was expecting a "remodel gone wrong" set of photos, but far from the truth in my opinion.

I completely agree with the others. That wallpaper is competing with the beatiful natural paterns in your tile, and at the same time somewhat blending in colors.

Your tile is neutral enough that you could go either direction with your paint once the paper is down, and you have enough wall space to use a couple of paint colors if desired. With your white tub/toilet/cabinets I'd avoid going too light with the paint.

I think you have great contrast in your feature points in that area and to me that is what makes it look great. It's just that the paper is trying to tie it all together while breaking up the patterns. I personally like it when there are enough color and feature/design constrasts so that you can look at any feature point and it somewhat stands on its own.

As for the wall space? Everyone has walls, and most of them are much the same. Let the walls help the other things stand out more, and you've got a winner there.

Thanks for giving me a direction. I feel like going in there right now and ripping down that paper! The ceilings are so high that I will need a professional to help me. We actually lowered the ceilings from even higher. When we built the house 13 years ago we had attic space above the master and the framers just framed it in like a corn silo!!! Fortunately we were able to get them to box it down some. Ok in the summer to have high ceilings so high but in the winter it is freezing in there even though we don't live in a harsh climate. I still have to get rid of the rest of the brass in there but I just sort of stopped when I saw it wasn't coming together, didn't pick out faucets yet or drawer pulls or vanity rack lights that I have to stick with due to the layout and height of ceiling and no sconce room. My husband doesn't want to spend any more money on rewiring to do something else and we can DIY plumbing and elec. I don't like those rack lights but they are functional and it's already wired for that.

The floor has two almost solid tiles in the middle in front of the tub that bug me when the rest of it is so busy and then on the wall behind there are all different colors and also around the base. But I think all of you are right, once the paper is down I will gain an appreciation for the floor and be able to assess the situation and where to go from here. I am leaning on a neutral vanity top with a really great edge instead of pattern in it to give it interest and pattern that way. Crema Marfil or something like that. Thanks so much again! I'll try to post in the decorating forum, too.

Definitely go with a fancy edge on the counter top- like a waterfall or double ogee. I think is will dress it up. Keep us posted with pics. Good luck.

I agree with the others that your bathroom is indeed beautiful. I also agree that perhaps the wallpaper is fighting the color of the tile and probably should go. Don't know if you've already thought about it, but you could try an enhancing sealer if you have an extra travertine tile to see if the stone darkens in an appealing way. My eye was drawn to the shower walls because of the strong contrast between the travertine and the tropic brown and if it is sealed, the contrast may be less. I personally see a darker countertop to balance the shower or add a dark frame around the vanity mirror (cheap and easy to do) which would also add some balance. It all depends on the look you are going for. You have so many options (which is great, but it can be overwhelming, too!). Good luck!

If you haven't already, I second the suggestion to post on the Home Decorating forum. You might want to ask for someone to Photoshop some different paint colors on the walls. There are a few Decorating forum members who are real whizzes at Photoshop.

I have to say it's been years since I saw so many metal finishes in one room--- the brass knobs, the chrome bath fixtures, the ORB chandelier. Since the chandelier is the most difficult to change at this point, I would change out the knows on all the cabinetry to ORB or wrought iron, and change the bath faucets to ORB also and get rid of that wallpaper.

Sorry yr having such trouble, I agree there is too much variation in the tile and the wallpaper is probably the worst possible choice for it.

Ok I did it! I think it works too. Thanks so much for the helpful advice on cross posting. I just put it up and so hopefully I'm on my way to a prettier bathroom. They are coming tomorrow to put in the glass shower surround and then I can deal with this on my own with the contractors out of here. This is a depressing group of people that don't seem happy working with each other. I will be so happy when they are gone! Love the Houzz site which is wonderful except I can spend hours looking at so many beautiful pictures. I came across it a few weeks ago. I want to thank everyone again for all of your helpful suggestions and for the moral support. This is the first time we have ever spent this much money on a reno and I think that is adding to my anxiety, I feel bad that we spent the money and that I don't really like it very much so far. Should have hired my own decorator to advocate for me. Live and learn. I may end up doing that but I have tried this in the past and they haven't really been that helpful and I'd like to finish it myself if possible.

I wasn't all that ready to part with this paper, it matches the paint in the bedroom so now that will have to be changed too as well as drapes and bedding in there. ChaChing...

Why? If you like the way it looks in the bedroom, keep it. They are two different rooms and can have two different color schemes.

What works beautifully in a bedroom with light from one direction often fails when you move it to a different room of a different size and with different lighting.

Absolutely agree with others that the wallpaper and the tile competing is likely the source of your dissatisfaction with the result. And as lazygardens says, bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms certainly do not have to match. I would recommend removing the wallpaper prior to selecting a granite for your vanities. Perhaps once the wallpaper is out, you'll be happy with the same materials as you've used in the shower (tropic brown granite?). Personally, I would probably either try to use that same material or find a very low key (minimal pattern / color) neutral countertop material that won't compete with the other elements in the room.

"The saleswoman/supposed "designer" assured me it would look great as she has it in her own home and has seen it a lot. I'm so disappointed. She insisted it would look fab with our taupe/gold faux wallpaper that has been up for a long time but still in great condition. I was hoping not to change it as it will take a case of double roll paper and cost a fortune to take this down, prep and either repaper or paint not to mention the mess of it all and not knowing what to do anyway. We spent a lot of time initially keeping in mind the wall paper so as not to have to replace it, it was high quality paper, a splurge at the time.. but it has to go.

Wow. This just makes me angry with your "designer" for you. I have no idea if there is any legal recourse, but at the very least, I would probably go into the store and talk to the "designer" (and maybe her manager?) about the issue. Obviously I wasn't there to know the full extent of your conversations, but if you were clear up front that it was of high priority to keep the existing wallpaper, she should have suggested another route with the tile. I agree that they simply do not work well together: too much movement / color / pattern in both. At the very least, I'd want her to know how absolutely disappointed you are with the outcome.

Best of luck. I do think this is a simple issue that can be resolved with removing the wallpaper. However, I am so sorry that you went through all of this only to achieve a result with which you are not pleased.

It seems to me that a nice, rich, somewhat darker (but not totally dark) color would be great, and would really make the room pop.

One thing I have learned is that you need to hire your own designer and not depend on the designers that are provided by the companies that do the work. I never saw her again once I signed a contract. Their interest is not in you but to please their boss. Last night the last sub was here to do the shower surround, he measured something wrong and so he will have to come back and put one last piece of glass in. Then the PM who has been MIA showed up and wanted final payment. I paid all but $1000 as an escrow to be sure they come back. I feel a lot better now that I can move on to the decorating phase. I can see now that the floor will look pretty with the paper down. One shocking thing, once he put up the shower surround the room seems to have shrunk to a fraction of it's size even though the glass is clear! It also made the shower granite look much darker. When all the duct tape is off the glass I'll take a photo. You all have been wonderful, I really was upset about this!!! My first big reno ever.

Is that an actual built in laundry hamper I see in the tall cabinet stack?? If so could you please share what cabinets you are using. I've been looking everywhere for that!

Best of luck on your problem! It will work out!

Post pictures with the wallpaper down. It will help me visualize your new look without the gold.

I got the cabinets at Diversified Cabinet Distributors in Norcross, GA several years ago. I love the tower cabinet, the center section pulls forward and you just drop in dirty clothes and then the bottom door opens for easy emptying to take to the laundry room. Easy! Each side of the room is exactly the same so my husband and I each have our own, it's worked out really well for us over the years.

The painter is coming Thursday to remove the hideous wallpaper not hideous until paired with the new floor, $900 to remove and repaint, gulp!!! It's a tall big room. I guess this is normal. Will post new pics when and if this is finally over, lol.

If it were my room, I would go with the tropic brown vanity tops and change the cabinet hardware to oil rubbed bronze.

Good luck deciding on a paint color! You might want to pick up a few artist canvases and paint them the colors you're considering. It's easy to move them around from wall to wherever to see what they look like in different light.

Just shoot me....yesterday the painter came and took down the wallpaper. They worked on it for 12 hours or more. They used what looked like what a bug man would use to spray your house and had about an inch of water on the floor and that glue paste dissolved on everything so a cleaning I would go this morning before they came back to paint the walls and ceiling. Yesterday we had a long discussion about putting up paint samples and seeing if I wanted to jump in and go for blue or stick with something more earthy toned and darker. Well then this morning they arrive and are in there forever and I'm thinking when are they going to ask me to see the paint samples? Well, they weren't.. they were just painting it all an awful color of dark gold "Hopsack" SW 6109 and then they had already painted the ceiling "Kilim Beige" SW 6106. I wanted to cry. It looked just like the wallpaper without the squigglies in it! Somehow all was lost about that convo the day before and he just proceeded to do what he thought was "best". It was a scheme we discussed but I in no way gave the go ahead. Anyway, I thought the beige looked nice on the ceiling but I could NOT do with that hop sack on the walls and asked him if he could just do "Kilim Beige" on the whole room and he said ok because he admitted he sort of forgot about the samples plan and since he hadn't done very much of the Hopsack he could easily change it. So, that is where it is now. Mind you, it looks pink...thus the "just shoot me"...I can't say anything because he is such a nice guy and we have used him forever and there isn't a thing I can do about it. I have to say it changed the room so much. The floor is sooo much softer looking and I can actually see a lot of red in that tropic brown in the shower. I had a piece of typhoon bordeaux granite from my mom's kitchen and set it on the vanity and it actually looks kinda neat with it, floor and all. There must be a lot of red in that tile hanging out behind all those other colors. Sigh...when this ever gets finished I will post some new pics. The only thing is in pictures the tile looks so much darker. It's actually sort of soft and light in color. It washes out in person but in the photos it really looks dark and defined. Looking forward to moving on to chapter 12 with this project. Thanks for listening. If worse comes to worse now that it's only paint up there, I can repaint it. I think it may be time to call in a decorator. I used to be sort of good at stuff like this!!!! What has happened to me????

Paint the ceilings white, not a color! there is so much going on in the bathroom -- you desperately need a neutral, white ceiling!

Oh my ... I just had my entire home painted and some rooms were painted 3 times. Don't ask. What I learned about all this is ... the homeowner is the boss. The homeowner is paying for this. The homeowner has the right and the obligation to stop work if not happy and demand a repaint. We will pay, but we will be a lot happier!!

Hopefully you like Kilim Beige 6106 on the walls. I was going to suggest Latte 6108 or Nomadic Desert 6107. All three colors are often paired with travertine so I hope you'll be happy. Kilim Beige is the lightest of the three so it just depends how much contrast you want with the cabinets, etc. Give it a few days (or weeks) and you won't notice any of the big variations in the travertine colors that you are noticing now.

Whoa!!! If pink is not what you want, have him stop immediately and reschedule after you have a chance to regroup.

Kilim Beige has very pink undertones. Color is very individualized and what looks band-aid fleshy to one looks pretty to another. You need some time to consider samples, so he'd have to reschedule since I wouldn't voluntarily want to pay to repaint. Just take your time. Soon this nightmare will end, but you can't be rushed through a color selection.

It's deceiving because in the paint deck the painter had the Kilim Beige looks greenish. Somewhere in my mind I know that beige means pink most of the time but as you said it was a quick fix reply as they were in there doing their thing and no time to take time. I'm so worn out with this. I just went out on the deck and drank a couple of sea breezes. It did help a little. Beachlily, I've been known to repaint things more than once here's hoping I'll win the lottery, lol. They charged me $985 to take the paper down and repaint.....In my all out cleaning assault I discovered they used something to wipe off the tub that took the finish off the rim of my brand new Victoria + Albert tub and there were scratches all over the Kohler Memoirs toilet seat. They must have been standing on it to paint. That is what sent me to the liquor cab.. They must have wiped up with turpentine -something like that and it took the shine off the tub rim and left blotches.
Note to self: pick up more grapefruit/cranberry juice at grocery...

I'm sorry. :( Have you made up your mind about repainting?

Beiges are so hard. I specifically wanted a grayish beige in my living room and it took a couple of tries and some help from the painters.

If I were in your shoes, I would consider a complementary color...A greenish-blue (palladian blue BM, SW sea salt) or a light gray (SW comfort gray) would be pretty in your bathroom.

Good luck!

Thank you Diva, I really wanted a blue in there and we were supposed to test one along with the painter's choice of color for neutrals but it just didn't happen. I love your idea of colors and yesterday went to the BM store and picked up some samples. Palladian is probably too pale green for me with that tropic in the shower but I was thinking BM Mt. Rainier 2129-60 what do you think? I love it as a sample and will probably get some today. The paint store even let me bring my dogs in while we waited to be served. The woman ahead of me was taking forever (question box). I was worried about my dogs in the car so he said go and get them we are dog friendly. I was just going to run in and get a couple of those tiny sample jars but he wanted to mix me some things or I wouldn't have left them in the car. FYI the windows were down, had a bowl of water and were parked under a tree but still... He was so nice and helpful..Why didn't I go there first???? Tears out hair....

I think that mount rainier gray is gorge! I would love to see it as a sample.

If that doesnt work, then Mount Saint Anne is beautiful!

{{gwi:1452032}}

It will be beautiful with the new hardware and granite.

I really hate that you are having such difficulties with your bathroom, but I really believe that you are headed in the right direction with painting it.

Are you kidding? Its not ugly i think its really pretty just would remove the wallpaper and add soemthign wtih a little more white to make it feel fresher, there are so many blogs out there you should go through them and get some ideas. I think even a plain white wall would give the room a fresher look, right now its too much the same color but overall its really pretty.

Thank you so much for the photos and the advice and encouragement. I really think that blue is the way to go. It is fresh as you all say and it is really good with the floor and the tropic and the cabinets. I want to walk in there and say wow this just makes me smile. I love it. I'm pretty disappointed with this company I went with and also in myself that I trusted them blindly and didn't look at bigger samples or ask to see their work in person. That's the bottom line here. I have still not seen that "designer" since the first day when I signed the contract. I had a bad feeling about this from the start but didn't know how to cancel or get out of it. Looking back I probably could have even if I paid for a cancellation fee. Live and learn, it's just that I have learned in the past but still did a dumb thing. I was just really duped by the sales person. OY!!!

Update on the granite. Today I saw a granite called yellow river. I know, funny huh? My husband said how appropo for the bathroom, he's a funny guy : ) It's a very varied stone on every site I have looked online this one looks nothing like that. It's almost sort of plain but has the brown to go with the tropic, the grays, tans and golds to go with the floor. It's not busy but soft with the same patterns as the floor but compliments. I think I'm going to do it. It's sort of softer version of Colonial gold that I liked so much but it was just too gold.

Here is a link to some new changes I have made:

Hooray! Granite chosen! Cafe Imperial
Swarovski crystal knobs for doors
Wallpaper is down, still working on a new paint color blue/gray color
need to choose cabinet color that is just a little off white not so off white that it looks more tan or yellow than white. Click on the picture to make it bigger

Picture link below:

Here is a link that might be useful: Materials update granite/knobs/door color?

I like your choices so far. What color is on the walls now? I think that it looks good. I'm not sure about blue in your space.

It all looks much better in the pictures than in person but the color is Kilim Beige SW, it has a lot of pink in it. It just misses, needs to be a creamier color but just not sure which one. I am almost abandoning the blue as I live with this beige, if only it was just a little creamier, I think it might work, too. Thanks! I've had my doubts about the blue as well even though that is what I had wanted to do.

I like your choices, too. I would continue searching for the right light neutral color, myself. I'm also not sold on blue in there... It does take time to get the right color! My usual procedure:
1) bring home about 10 different swatches from the store. Hold them up in the room in various places, sometimes right on the wall, sometimes holding it out at arms length so it's "bigger" in your field of vision. Narrow your swatches down to say 5 or 6 that look OK.
2) Look at them at different times of day, different weather, different locations in the room. Next to whatever different materials they will abut IRL.
3) Narrow it down to a handful. Buy testers of those colors or whatever the smallest amount you can buy is. Paint ~2'x2' blocks on various walls (or paint pieces of poster board that you can move around) and again, look at them in different light situations.

you should get a sample of Ben Moore Papaya! It's a nice beige, no idea why they gave it that name.

I also vote for staying with a neutral.. bring your color in with accents and towels.

looks MUCH better without the wallpaper!

Oh those knobs are amazing! Where did you find them?

They are by Alno with Swarovski crystal on polished chrome. They remind me of Old Hollywood Deco glam. I love them. I skimped on the lighting fixtures and faucets and am painting the cabs (by the professionals) instead of replacing or refacing so I could splurge on the knobs. They were expensive but sparkly and oh so necessary!

You have a GORGEOUS bathroom!!!

If you are still interested in beiges look at Benjamin Moore Muslin or Everlasting. They have a pink undertone which is what you want with your travertine to match the pink undertone, If you go with a green undertone it will only bring out the pink in your travertine and if you go with a yellow undertone it will never look right to you.

Also if you are still enjoying those cocktails I say I hope your soaking gin that gorgeous tub doing so!!! lol

I thought the pink undertone is what wasn't wanted????

I'm liking your new choices! can't wait to see it all finished.

Your bathroom looks a million times better without the wallpaper. Love the knobs and I love, love, love Cafe Imperial. Great job!!