Monitors are tricky. You really need to see them in person. I think they will be fine. But if need be you can order extra and maybe not use the tile that seems out of place.

I think you need to look at more of the tiles all together. We have a porcelain tile which also has variation. Some of the tiles individually look all wrong. But when laid out all together, it looks great.

I'm sure the base colors are the same in all the tiles and they just have slightly more grey or yellow over it to give it movement and variety. Variation in floor tile is a good thing b/c it keeps it from looking like every tile is exactly the same. When every tiles has the same screen print on it, it looks cheap. As long as they mix up where each one is put and there aren't blocks of tile A all next to each other, it will look fine. The other way to mix up the tiles is even if you have the same screened tile next to each other, rotate it and the veining looks completely different and no one realizes it is the same tile.

The tile we have is the same as the right bottom tile. The first tile seems like a good companion, but the others seem very different. I know they can lay them creatively, but it's just not what we were expecting from the sample. I'm just worried the other two will look pink or gray, but I'll trust that the base colors are the same. Thank you for your reassurances!

I'd love to see everyone's floors if you have a pic handy!

may_flowers, here are a few pics that show our porcelain tile variation.

Like the above posters said, there are individual tiles that on their own would look all wrong. But when laid out randomly together they look good and keep the floor from looking uniformly machine-made.

They're gorgeous, Taggie! They have such a warm richness!

Was it a hard choice to pick the direction? I hadn't considered diagonal. I'm not sure which lay-out will look best for a small U-shape kitchen.

I just posted pictures for another recent thread so they are "fresh". I love floor tile on a diagonal. I think it makes any room look larger and it is more dynamic than a (IMO) boring grid. Here are mine - 24'' x 24''. I can tell they are busier and way more varied than yours - so don't let my pictures scare you:

Not hard to decide on diagonal for me; I think they make the flow work for my kitchen and make it seem more open. Main consideration in my space was that the grout lines seem more random as we did a dual-size hopscotch pattern and the diagonal doesn't let the eye rest on the pinwheel grout patterns.

NewSouthernBelle, I LOVE your floor. The 24x24 tiles are spectacular!!

I love them too! They're not too busy or varied, so I'm going to relax about mine!

My floor space is 5 x 7 ft. Do you think 18 x 18 on the diagonal would work?

Diagonal works on any size room, we have it even in our powder room. It does take about 5% more tile than straight or brick pattern because there is more waste with the cuts, so make sure you have enough tile to do it.

Maybe you can get a couple of boxes out and try laying out some tile each way. That's what we did before deciding which way to go, and once we saw them both it was clear the diagonal worked better in our space. If you try it both ways you will see which way looks best for your particular space ... you might even want to try laying out a brick pattern while you're at it.

Good luck! And post pics when you are done.

Thanks guys. And Yes, I believe tile on the diagonal can work anywhere! We did it in our master bathroom and the floor space was only like 3.5' wide. It was long - 16' but the tiles was 18'' so on the diagonal one tile basically fits the aisle but I wouldn't have it any other way. I might have a picture of that too... let me check. Nope, sorry I don't but it if you are that interested, I can take some and post them.

Yes, we'll mock it up. I've mocked up the entire kitchen so far and it's the only real way to make a decision. I'm getting a little rushed with tile decisions because our cabinets are being installed tomorrow.

I wonder why so many people do hardwood in the kitchen when you see how gorgeous the tile looks and how many choices there are. I was worried about my legs getting tired on tile, but I'll get a gel mat if need be.

We do hardwood floors because is is easy on your back, knees, it warmer when walking barefoot. But, also when I drop a glass, believe or not it bounces and does not break.
Sometimes though tile is the way to go. It does look beautiful and coordinated better with the other choices.

Those were all the factors swaying me to continue the oak hardwood from the hallway into the kitchen, but I was afraid of water damage to the wood. We'd have had to refinish all our hardwood, and we didn't want to get involved in that.

I can't say it's been fun to have to pick out floor tile--we've been looking since December and only settled on one because we had run out of time.