Gibby, the plan you have described sounds stunning as is the bathroom you've pictured above, but I'm lost in the details and can't figure out what your question is. Can you clarify?

Sorry about that. Here's what I'm trying to figure out.

What combo of tiles should I choose to go with the matte subway tile? Is it okay to mix matte and gloss finish? Should I continue the decorative row of tile into the shower or leave the shower plain subway or something else? Which pieces should I use for the top edge and the decorative part so it's more transitional and not too traditional? Is the chair rail too traditional - would the bullnose top be better?

Those are the kind of questions that are going through my head. Amazingly the "designer" at the tile showroom said I shouldn't use the pinwheel or anything else with the subway - that it should be plain. How creative is that.

Here is a link that might be useful: Crossville Savoy

It doesn't sound like she's very creative at ALL! Geeze, louis.

Ok...so hmmm...First, mixing gloss with matte. I think it's like mixing finishes, some like it, some don't. To me, it sounds like youre not thrilled with the idea. If that's the case, follow your intuition and don't compromise. Just because your field tile is one brand doesn't mean your trim has to be the same brand too; especially when you're planning on using two different tones. I'd take a sample of the Savoy Café and Ivory (both) to few of the local tile stores and ask them to match the tile with an ivory chair rail in a matte finish. Surely someone in your area is going to have just the one you need. (Think positive!)

I know you said you wanted to use the pinwheel, but to me that seems very traditional and even a bit busy. I love the floor in the picture on page 3 of the brochure and the colors are basically what you've described for your room. Have you considered doing something like that maybe? It looks amazing with the subway tile in the picture and I think it would be easier to pull off a modern look with the hexigon. You could then also carry the same pattern as a border on the tub surround. I would probably leave the walls in the main part of the room alone with just the subway and chair rail. ItÂs a small room and anything more may make it look too busy. But bringing the floor into the tub area will help tie the colors to the two spaces together and I think that would look amazing. Not too much or too traditional and a nice back drop for towels and accessories. I hope that makes sense and helps.

Pinwheel tends to be a floor tile, I know people use it as an accent, but I always think "Oh they used floor mosaic as an accent" I am rigid that way.

Whatever you decide, *please* make sure that your border or accent tiles (especially a moulded piece like the top rail) is Not intersected by outlets, switches, the shower diverter, handles or body sprays. Its so much easier and looks so much more planned out if these things occur either in the field tile or (in the case of switches perhaps) outside the boundary of the tile altogether.

Thanks for this advice - very helpful. I don't think I'm entirely opposed to mixing matte & gloss. I realized I have that in my kitchen & like it - limestone and glass backsplash. I will take a closer look at it and get some samples. I do like the hex floor that's pictured. I'm not sure I can envision what you're saying about bringing it into the shower though. Palimpsest I know what you're saying about not clobbering the tile with plumbing, etc. as I did my kitchen backsplash without outlets, switches, etc.

Gibby, I don't think there is a right or wrong with the finishes, either way will work.

In regards to the pattern, you may need to draw it out on paper to get a real visual, but what I'm thinking is (and this is just for the bath surround) if you take the subway up 2/3 or 3/4 up the wall then use a liner in the linen or cafe, have a border of 5-6 inches of the hex in the same pattern as on the floor, and then another liner on top of that, then subway the rest of the way up the wall, it will tie the two spaces together.

So I'll throw this in too (just to confuse you even more!) but if you don't like the border idea, you could do a wall feature which is what we did and I love. Using chair railing, you could make a frame on the back wall of the tub or around the fixtures and fill it with the hex pattern. Our wall feature is around our fixtures in the shower. We have chair railing, then 3 rows of 1x2 brick which is on our shower floor and the middle is filled with 4x4 tiles set on a diagonal. It ties all the tile we used in the room together. It's in slate, so that's a bit different, and I've posted pictures often here in the forum so you've probably already seen them, but if you need to see what I'm talking about, I'll be happy to repost them for you.

lukkiirish - thanks - I'm starting to get the idea!! If you don't mind posting your photos I would like to see them. If I've seen them before I can't remember.

Now as I look at that photo I posted above I wonder if I should use the small 1x2 running bond on my walls outside of the shower and the 3x6 in the shower/tub area. I think it might look kind of bland though since it's more of a flat color than the photo above that I'm assuming is some kind of travertine/limestone/marble. I feel like I need to get some samples and/or buy a few of these tiles and play around with them.

Gibby, Glad you were able to figure out what I meant, I can see the picture in my head (it's fantastic looking!) but it's hard to translate into words.

As you can see, we did our bathroom in slate, so it's a little different in style, but the concept is the same. A good example for the what I'm describing would be Sweeby's bathroom. Now that I think of it, I believe she did a wall feature too. My contractor chuckled at the idea, but I found it most helpful to do a life size drawing of the wall feature and niche by taping several 8.5 x 11 sheets together. It was the best way to get the visual I needed in the space. I was told the trick is to just use the same tiles (or shapes) in different places so they all relate to each other. As you can see, that's what I did and it worked. Get all the samples you can! You never know when they'll come in handy, the bench is noir travertine, and I had a sample of it in mosaic laying around, so we used it to embellish the niche. And the reason I was saying you don't have to use the same brand of tile is because the brand of slate we used didn't have a matching liner and we had to go hunting for one. You can't even tell! I hope this helps, but if you need to, email me!

Sample of liner:

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Wall feature:
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Niche & corner shelf (before finished, now has glass shelf in middle)

Bench & peak of shower floor:

Main floor
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Hey Gibby, did you see this thread? Different type of tile & stone but similar idea to what I was suggesting. (and I thought I was being original!) Ha! great for a visual though.

Thanks for the pics lukki! And yes - I did see that on the bathroom forum. I thought right away - oh that's what you're talking about!!

yeah, and with the tile you're look at using, it will be beautiful. Very soft and sophisticated.