We've had a new bathroom for two years using white subway tile and black grout, and are quite pleased with it. No particular maintenance or upkeep issues. I think it's a timeless look. No regrets....

I didn't do subways downstairs, but white 6x6. No regrets except for the white grout! I didn't have time to keep up on sealing and cleaning so it is not so great.

Doing a white subway tub and shower now and will be doing a greige grout.

I have a shower over tub and have white subways on the three walls. I adore them and think I will use the same when I redo my other bathroom. Grout is a mid-gray and next time I'll use a lighter gray. I squeegee after every shower and that's it. Easy on the wallet.

We're doing our bath remodel in porcelain marble tiles, but I will be using gray, not white grout. Yes, the white is beautiful with marble, but my old bathroom had white grout and I absolutely hated it. Looked great when new, too hard to keep that white grout nice and bright. I spent 30 yrs scrubbing that white grout (had white grout on the floor too) and I've had enough. Now I want something a little easier to keep looking good. Hopefully gray will be better.

I have white subway tiles with white grout and I love it. My shower area isn't that big so if the grout goes bad I will freshen it up with grout colorant.

I have white subway tiles with white grout and I love it. My shower area isn't that big so if the grout goes bad I will freshen it up with grout colorant.

We had white subways original to our first house, built in 1939. We lived there from about 1998 to about 2005. No idea what color the grout was originally, but it was off-white grayish by the time we lived there and it looked good to me and was not difficult to keep clean.

We put white subway tile in our master bath remodel in the house about 20 months ago. We used a light grey grout. No problems keeping it clean. And no regrets. I plan to do white tile on the walls again when we re-do the hall bathroom.

(Floors are an entirely different matter. I will not do white tile on a floor and will be using dark grey large format tile with minimal matching grout lines on the floor in our upcoming remodel. I did linoleum in the master bath remodel--quite happy with it)

crl, I like dark gray floor tiles with white on the walls or in the shower.

Every time I look at my white subways, which is umpteen times a day, I think how glad I am that I got them, how clean and fresh they look.

srjohnt, kats737, linelle, hpny2, jerzeegirl, crl_ ...

Can't thank each of you enough for easing my mind!

If anyone would like to post a picture, I'd love to see your showers/baths.

linelle, I know you have posted your finished bath with details - I've gone back to look at yours countless times, admiring your choices each and every time!

Is 4x8 subways the 'standard' size? I think larger tiles start to have a more modern look and even though that size reduces the number of grout lines, I'm not sure that's the look I want. I have a very traditional home.

Here's a glimpse of my subway tile over my vanity. Sorry I don't have a shower picture handy.

I believe the classic size for houses is 3x6. I have heard from professionals on this forum that if you are wary of tile and grout, having someone familiar with epoxy grout doing the grouting would be your most trouble-free, leak-free, maintenance-free bet.

I think Enduring did her own epoxy grout, though. She may pop up and give you advice on that, if you are interested.

As always, I would also like to recommend Houzz.com as a good place to look at pictures of bathrooms. You can do a search on subway tile bathrooms there, choose "image" for your search and have thousands of photos to choose from. You can narrow it down by color, trim, or style and see only "bath white subway with black trim art deco" if you like, as well!

I love the clean, fresh look of my subway tile. I've only had it a few weeks and wipe down down after every shower. I can't foresee upkeep to be a problem.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bathroom remodel

Here is mine. I don't have a bathroom fan so I open the window after a shower and it dries off pretty quickly.

arapaho, 3x6 is the standard subway size. Mine are in a typical brick layout. SJ's are stacked and have a more contemporary feel.

SJ, I also have a window in my shower and no fan. I leave it open year-round and manage to stay mold/mildew-free, with no dampness.

Here's what it looks like....

No regrets here... we did standard subway tile from Home Depot, with a bullnose trim detail about 2/3 the way up the wall, then changed to a herringbone pattern for the top 1/3. Looks great, and is a look that will stand the test of time. In terms of the upkeep, it's been installed for about a year now, and no issues so far.

GWer's are so helpful - the experience and honest feedback is wonderful. So I am very appreciative!

crl_ - love your shower, bathroom walls and vanity. I appreciate an un-staged photo! Can you tell me where you got your tiles? Thanks so much!

nancy - thanks for verifying classic size for subway as 3x6. I've heard of epoxy grout and mentioned it to the installer. HOUZZ is wonderful but can get overwhelming. Sometimes I find GWer's remodeling projects and photos so much more helpful. Thank your for your insight.

luvscritters- beautiful shower! Can you tell me where you got the subway and floor tiles? Thanks so much for your link and feedback!

jerzeegirl- great shower! Is the finish on your tiles matte or with a slight sheen. Would love to know the source. Fantastic design and it looks great!

linelle- thanks again for all your help! I love your bathroom.

srjohnt- fantastic shower! Love the details and the darker grout and accents. Would love to know where you got your tiles and shower door as well.

>> If you've posted a "finished bath" link and I've missed it, please forgive me.

This post was edited by arapaho on Thu, Feb 5, 15 at 11:52

Thanks, arapaho! They are matte tiles with a satiny sheen (kind of like a piece of chiclet gum). The sheen is exactly what attracted me to them. They are handmade tiles from Waterworks and the style is Cottage in Dover White. I was trying to do a contrast using the handmade tile in a minimalist setting.

jerzeegirl, I've gone to the Waterworks website to view your tiles but I'm not sure of the size. To me they look larger than 3x6 in your photo. Thank you again.

I think it is just the orientation of the pic and how the tiles are laid out stacked up instead of alternating.

They are 3 x 6". Because they are handmade tile they are not perfectly even. There is a fair amount of "lippage" where the tiles meet but that is part of the look of handmade. I also asked the tile guy to use thin grout lines which also exaggerates the wonkiness. You see the size of the tiles better in this picture.

We did 3x6 subway tiles in classic style about 8 yrs ago. Used off white grout. We incorporated pewter tiles just to break up all the tile in room and add a tad of bling. Love it!

I actually let my GC pick my white subways. Very non-GW of me, I know. He brought two samples over. I liked both and said, go with which ever matches the bathtub better--he had easy access to the tub to check and I didn't. And I never asked what tile they are. I'd bet you money they are the cheap ones from Home Depot though.

arapaho--My subway tiles are American Olean bright white. The floor of the shower is Daltile Asian Black porcelain in 3x3. Love the shower floor because it is very textured and slip resistant.

I used 3x6 white subways in DD's bath and have no regrets. It's been almost 3 years and they still look new.

As far as grout, cementitious grouts are harder to keep stain free but in addition to the epoxy grout mentioned here many of the major manufacturers now have a super high quality premixed stain resistant grout that's both easy to apply and easy to live with. We've so far used (DIY) Fusion Pro (custom bldg prodcuts- available at the orange box) and Mapei's Flexcolor CQ. Mapei is a little harder to find but your GC should be able to get from a distributor. Loved them both but the CQ was even easier to remove from the tile. Laticrete also has one now called Plasma. Using a premixed grout eliminates a lot of the heart ache that somethings comes from cementitious grouts having color variations due to differences in the mixed batches and/or too much water being used when cleaning the tile after the grouting.

Mags438 - Thank you! Eight years and you still love - that means a lot. Would love to see a photo if you don't mind sharing.

crl_ - I've read that many have used HD subway - it seems to be a good choice! They look great!

luvscritters - I've been looking at American Olean. They can be ordered through Lowes. Daltile can be ordered through HD. I like the idea of black for the floor!

juddgirl2 - Sharp looking shower! Love the tile accents with the subway. Thanks for sharing a photo. Your shower does look brand new! Can you tell me who makes your tile? Did you use white or cream grout? I also am admiring your shower faucet.

lucas_tx - Thank you so much for the information regarding grout. I am very interested in the grouts you mentioned! I appreciate your insights into ease of use and the consistency of color. I would never have thought of that.

juddgirl2, I too really like the sheen on your tile. Would you mind sharing what it is?

If you like the white subway look but don't want maintenance, have you considered swanstone panels in their subway-panel variant? We saw them in person and thought it was pretty awesome - you get the look, but not the maintenance!

I love white subways, but I wish I'd used gray grout! My white grout looked great for a while, then started looking yellow. I scrub it with Bon Ami, but it's time consuming and a pain. I wish I'd gone with gray. I didn't seal the grout, which I'm doing now, but in my next shower, I'm using white subways and light gray grout, which I will seal.

My floor has white porcelan hex tiles and white grout! What a mistake!! Never do that again! The white hex tiles (from HD) are great, but the white grout looks terrible! I scrub with Bon Ami, and it looks nice for a day or two. In my next shower, I'm using the same tiles with dark gray grout.

look: Have you used Swanstone panels? How is the staining? I'd think it would stain. Is it corian or some other type of plastic? I looked at them on the website, and they look nice, though.

leavemeout: If you are dissatisfied with the color of your grout, you can either make it white again or change the color by using Grout Colorant. You can either recolor the grout white or even change to gray if you want. The colorant (I used Aquamix) is epoxy based and has a sealer in it and in my opinion it was very easy to apply. You put it on with a toothbrush or paint brush and then wipe off the areas where it smears on the tile. I used it on my kitchen floor and it really made a huge difference.

lookintomyeyes83, I have white subways with mid/light gray grout and there is no maintenance. Squeegee after shower. Done. Maybe once a month (actually way less), I spritz with Method Shower Cleaner and wipe off. They are beautiful and look brand new.

arapaho and rachael, the white subways are just inexpensive ceramic tiles I picked at Floor and Decor. The color is arctic white and I believe they're Datile. They do have a gloss sheen.

The glass and travertine accent tiles are from Home Depot.

@jerzeegirl - we just grouted our white subway tiles and hate the color (beigey grey). I plan to use grout colorant by TEC to make it more grey. It sounds like a very long process. 1. Did you just do a bit at a time?

2. When you used a toothbrush, did the colorant flicker everywhere?

3. Did the color come off the white subway tiles easily?

4. I'm concerned the colorant will stick to the rectangle edges of each tile like a dark border?

Thanks!

Crl_, do you mind sharing more about your tiles? Brand, color grout, accent tile? Thanks!

Here's a not-great, not-staged shower shot.

CRL-- Really like the look of your shower. Don't want to get too far off topic, but could you tell us about your slide bar shower head---where you got it, the brand and model, and how you like it? Thanks.

For those using the HD subway tile, it is ceramic not porcelain and semi-vitrious... I thought that is a no-no for shower areas?

I'm using the DalTile subways from HD right now. Ceramic tile is not an issue in a properly waterproofed shower.

If you've always like it, it sounds like you should get it :) Porcelain, not ceramic. It's easy to clean. Just make sure you use a dark enough grout with it. If you think you only like it because it's really popular right now and you're concerned about maintenance, consider other options. I would regret it because I don't like it. It looks ok in other people's bathrooms but I wouldn't want it for my own. Too plain for me :)

Circling back on this old conversation because I’m remodeling my bathroom and seriously considering subway tile and a shade of white grout. Now that ya’ll have lived with it for many years, how are you feeling?