If you want it period correct, use #2. But I personally prefer #1. I like the softer pastel tones. #3 is completely out of the running. One or the other on the wall, but not both.

Now, I have to add my usual disclaimer. This is all personal preference, and worth no more than any other opinion, with the exception of one, and that's yours. Your opinion is really the only one that counts, being that it's your taste, and you'll be the one to see it every day.

I think the number 2 will work better with paints and accessories.

I like #2 the best. Plus, you can change your accent color with it.

Laurie

I think choosing colors is the toughest part of the job. I'd go with the #1 because I like lighter colors. Lighter colors also have a tendency to allow a room to appear a bit larger. Whatever you choose, please take Bill's advice....one or the other on the wall but not both!!!!

I'm a big-time color person and in fact my kitchen is similar to that aqua.

However: With the embossed deco, I wouldn't set it up *that* particular way with the blue liner. I prefer KGWlisa's design (and in fact if you like the chair rail and can get it in the budget I prefer that against the chunky deco):

However, Sombreuil_mongrel's design, which uses the deco only in the shower, would be stunning with the aqua pencil (and the black as well, of course...and here I think the black bullnose would be fine):

I'm going to vote for number 2 with white walls. Beautifully smooth, glossy white walls...

:)

No!!! #1 is far better!!! It has Blue in it, which is better than Not-Blue! It's a beautiful shade, which would coordinate very well with any glass with a blue-green tinge, i.e., all normal glass.

Actually, #2 is okay too, but only if you promise to paint the walls that pretty periwinkle color. (And if you change your mind next year, it can be repainted, which might make it a better option than #1. Do you usually stick with one color once you've found it, or repaint every few years?)

And I am among the people who don't like #3 -- it'll look like you ran out of one color halfway up the wall.

#2. It just looks so nice and crisp, and doesn't limit you or date the room in any way.

I have all these choices ahead of me. I am getting a headache thinking about it. I almost blew a gasket choosing the backsplash for my kitchen.

#2- clean, simple and classic, leaves design options flexible and limitless.

The 2 colors together in the same tile look a bit confused, I think. If you were to use a different element (ie glass) that would be a better way to bring in more than one color, texture, but not with the listello, in place of it (what I mean is that in place of the listello, you could add a glass deco trim, with color).

But I really like the way you have it set up in #2.

blue- your posts always make me giggle. :o) I'm pretty sold on the periwinkle as it's a color I've always wanted to put *somewhere*. I generally stick with paint colors after they're up, but maybe that's just laziness. ;o)

It's funny because everyone who's looked at these tiles in person tells me they like the blue option, but most people who've only seen photos are telling me to stick with black and white. I really LOVED the blue at first, but now I'm starting to waver a little. And the people I really trust for their design sense (my mom and my sister) are canceling each other out with their votes. ;o)

Argh!

OK, I may be the only dissenter here, but I actually like the third one best. And, then I wouldn't paint the walls the aqua, I'd go with a neutral, and try and find aqua towels and accessories. To me there is more of a design appeal, with the third one, second one is safe, and the top one looks disproportionate.

I think the aqua pops more as an accessory rather than the wall colour. Having said that, I just went to a linens store yesterday, and couldn't find ONE bathroom accessory or towel in the cranberry I was contemplating as an accent for my basement bathroom which right now if completely neutral except for some colour in the granite countertop. That had me thinking maybe I shouldn't do that colour in an expensive tile accent. I love changing bath mats, towels, etc. What other colours could you use with that aqua in the future, if you would like to freshen things up, or want a change?

Bluekit, you're the best. :-)

I vote for #2. It just seems the most versatile - you can still bring the blue in with that lovely periwinkle for the paint, and if you get sick of periwinkle, you can paint just about any other color and completely change the look of the bathroom. (Though I understand why you had to consider that blue/green pencil liner - wow, that's pretty!)

(Oh, btw, bluekit - not to hijack the thread, but just wanted to let you know I've decided to paint my kitchen a smokey blue. Just have to decide which one! :-))

I vote for #2 which would not limit you to future color changes in your bathroom.

I am usually a blue fan (not quite as much as bluekit but pretty staunch in my own right) but I think I would also prefer the strictly black and white tiling. Of course you could then paint the walls a lovely periwinkle or aqua- or accessorize up the wazoo with blue.

I do understand what you are saying about in person though.
....I am still trying to figure out a wall color for my kitchen and keep trying to take photos that will accurately reflect it to ask for help-- but no sense asking for color help when I cannot represent it properly...

At first glance I was all about the blue/green. But after going back and forth... I think the black accomplishes what you want and looks crisp and clean. It would look beautiful with periwinkle walls.

I think #1 is beautiful, and I have always loved that shade. Still, you need to remember that colors come in trends and that is a trendy color now. That wouldn't bother me in the least, but you need to ask yourself if it will bother you later when some other shade is "in". I would probably pick #1.

#2 is of course more flexible. The black and white color scheme would also look great with pink, yellow, turquoise, apple green, etc. I have always loved periwinkle, too. Periwinkle, by the way, was very trendy a few years back and isn't any more. I have a Spanish-style house, and periwinkle doesn't really fit. Still, I am thinking of sneaking it into my laundry room.

Either #1 or #2 would be terrific choices. I like the listello very much. I don't like #3 at all.

A point on #1 here. Yes, that color can be quickly dated, esp. if you pair it with dark brown (a color combination that I've never understood and IMO just muddies up a perfectly pretty aqua), but it will be timeless in a bathroom. It's a color that evokes water, and water always works well as a theme in bathrooms, whether beachy, spa-y, or whatever-y.