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daisychain01

bathroom tile take 2: help again, please

11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago

So I have pretty much given up on the dream of the gorgeous cement tile for our small bathroom redo and am focusing on penny tile. There are so many choices, but I think I have narrowed it down to two.

Option A) Strut blue

Option B) Float blue/grey

The wall tiles will be white either 6x6 or 4x8 subway. The vanity and storage cabs are painted white with a very white carrara counter.

I waffled about doing plain white or mottled true grey penny tiles, but I think I really want a bit of colour to break up the white and the bluey/green colour is going to be repeated in other areas of the house.

Also, any thoughts on trying to do a white border of some sort? I think I'd like the look, but I'm worried that it will be hard with the penny rounds and I'll drive the tiler insane.

Tile can be seen here mosaic tile supplies

Comments (17)

  • 11 years ago

    I'll be watching to see what feedback you get on this, because I'm in a similar situation... different tile, but similar colors (a blueish, and a greyish-taupe-putty colors in my case). If I had to pick what I wanted knowing it would only be there for a year, I'd go with the blueish one. But then I worry that since tile is not easy to swap out that in 8-10 years I'll wish I had gone more neutral (and bring in color with towels, paint, etc)....

  • 11 years ago

    I just went back and looked at your previous posts about the cement tiles... Don't know if you saw this but there is a clearance lot available that may be interesting to you:

    https://www.villalagoontile.com/cement-tile/in-stock/specials/imperfect/

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I prefer the first color. The second one looks very muddy. If you are wanting neutral I would just use gray penny tiles, not that #2 gray blue. If you use it you won't have a color AND you won't have neutral.

  • 11 years ago

    I like the second one (B) better. Softer color seems better suited for the bathroom.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    engrgirl, the last time we did this bathroom, we went with white with the same thought as you about keeping it neutral and bringing in colour elsewhere. But after 5 years of it, I think I really want to do something more bold - also, the white floor tile really showed the dust, dirt and hair.

    Thanks for pointing out the sale tile. I had actually convinced myself to spend the money, but it became more a matter of logistics of getting it here and worrying about holding up the job if any of the pieces arrived broken. Also, no one in my city has ever done cement tile and finding an installer to do it would be almost impossible.

    1929spanish,love your bathrooms! We are actually doing that in two other bathrooms (four bathrooms to redo in total!) One is going to be black and white like yours and the other is pale blue and white. I think I will order some white, just in case we do a border or decide to scatter them. Probably won't do flowers just because it would be overkill with them in 3 bathrooms.

    kswl, yup that first colour is my fave too. Just worried it might be too much colour and part of me is always going to worry about taking too much of a risk. I am a paired down, neutral sort of gal.

  • 11 years ago

    I like the second, but if you like first you should get it. They are both lovely. Penny rounds show a lot of grout so the color of the grout is even more important than it is with most tile shapes, IMO. And on a bathroom floor with that much grout, I'd seriously consider epoxy grout.

  • 11 years ago

    crl, I'm thinking I will likely go with option B. What grout colour would you recommend? I was thinking of doing a light grey grout because I like that look with the white wall tile and it seems easy to keep clean (or rather looking clean which is good enough for me). In the past, we had platinum. Can you recommend a brand of epoxy grout or do all companies have a line of epoxy grout?


  • 11 years ago

    Just ordered some samples. The first time I tried, I must have hit a glitch because it kept telling me that it would cost about $200. Finally got it right and it is only about $30.

  • 11 years ago

    I'd probably go for a grey too. But first I'd try to find images of a similar color penny round with grey grout and make sure you like the look. I realized after looking at lots of pictures that I really like penny rounds but didn't want them on my shower walls because with grey grout they read more grey than white and I wanted white tile walls.


    I don't honestly know that much about the different brands of grout. I know there have been recent-ish advances in grout that makes epoxy or something very like epoxy grout easier to work with. The tile people in the bathroom forum probably have explained this if you do searches. I'd probably just defer to my tiler if I trusted him or her.


    (Just an FYI, according to my GC it wasn't possible to match the regular grout we used for wall tile to the epoxy grout we used for the floor so I had to pick two different greys.)

  • 11 years ago

    This is the closest I found to your tile with grey grout in a quick google search. You can probably find a better match to look at.


  • 11 years ago

    Thank you so much crl. That is all great information.

  • 11 years ago

    I'm sorry to hear that you had to give up on the cement tile. I like A. I think B will not gratify your desire for more boldness.

  • 11 years ago

    Oh I'm sorry you're not getting the swirly cement tile too! Professionally, I know the owner of that company (which is neither here or there so I didn't add anything to the other thread).

    Given your current two choices I vote for the first one, the blue. For bathrooms, blue is classic and I don't believe you need to worry about it becoming dated. I think the blue in crl's example above though is too turquoise-y. The Strut blue you have seems more smoky blue and very soothing for a bathroom.

  • 11 years ago

    Yes, I am sorry to give up the cement tile too, but it was just too difficult. It kind of bugs me that I know in 3 years, it will be readily available here, but I do feel good about saving a bit of cash. I'm helping my mom fly to visit her brother who hasn't been doing well the last few months. A much better way to spend my limited funds.

    lisa, that is pretty neat. If you ever have the chance tell her there is a Canadian girl who is spreading the word about her company's gorgeous tile (just can't get it myself :(

  • 11 years ago

    You should really go with the one that you're the most attracted to and, for me, that would be the first one. It's a beautiful color and I'd never tire off it. The second would work but I would become bored with it.

  • 11 years ago

    I think I really need the samples. I also ordered another sample of a paler bluey grey. When I ordered the blue hex tiles for my DD's bathroom, they looked way different in real life than they did on my monitor. Not bad, just different. I may be back when they arrive.

    I was pretty bummed about delays on our house and not getting back in until way later than expected, but it does give me more time to pick just the right tile :)