It doesn't really matter if you are using rectified tiles with nearly invisible grouting, but if using traditional rounded-edged tile, I think using too large pieces in a small room like a powder room can look weird. Imagine 1 single grout line in the middle of a room - odd, right? So you'd want at least 4-6 pieces of flooring in a small space.

Thank you. I am thinking of 18 X 18 in a kitchen that is about 11 x 12 and extends into a small walk-in foyer from the garage and laundry room. Also a master bath about 11 X 6 . I would want to do both on diagonal. Would this work?

Diagonal pattern looks outdated no matter the tile size.

Personally, I prefer a rectangular tile (try 12x24 as opposed to the 18x18) and you could lay them in a brick pattern in whatever direction you would run hardwood floors.

If the different tile touches each other than no keep them all the same. I would do them all in the 18"x18". Diagonal pattern is not out it is still used in the right areas.

I agree that diagonal looks very 80s, IMO. I prefer them set "normally". It looks fresher.

I like brick pattern if the tiles have any sort of "pattern" like a marbling so you can distinguish the brick pattern. Otherwise, if they are a flat color like all white, I think it is a lot of work for very little result - again, I am assuming rectified tiles here. Have I mentioned I am obsessed with rectified tiles? Cause grout is gross, haha.

I'm not really big on the diagonal tile placement. I agree that it does look dated. Hopefully you're thinking about using a different type/style of tile in the bathroom than in the kitchen. Remember, they're two completely different spaces. Think about using a smaller size tile in the bathroom, maybe 12 x 12 or even smaller since it's more narrow. Also, I'm not sure of your experience with tile layout, but are you planning on tiling the kitchen backsplash and bathroom walls too? If so, you're going to want to do something different than what you're doing with the floors.

I agree that in larger open rooms, tile should be kept on the "square or straight" layout, but in smaller areas such as 1/2 baths or laundry rooms, tile on the diagonal can add some character to the room. I definitely would not do diagonal in the 11x 6 master bath but rather use a rectangular tile going parallel with the 11' run in a brick or 1/3 offset pattern.

nFORMAL Design, I am having 2 floors - 1 tile, 1 plank vynil - in my whole house. Same tile in the bathrooms, kitchen, home office/tv room, and even around my pool. People always tell me to pick different tiles but I basically became traumatized when I owned a condo that a different floor in each room in the past. If I could, I'd have just 1 floor throughout the house. Floor color changes remind me of that horrible condo. Call it the ghost of bad design past.

@jan74...one tile can work, but if done right, multiple materials and styles can add layers and depth to a project. I'd re-visit that at some time with a local designer that does the style you enjoy and connect with.

I am working with a designer who is not local (but he is the only person I trust, so we are doing photos + Skype) and he rec'd I just pick different sizes of the same tile to dimension it to the room (smaller for kitchen and bathroom - bigger for tv room and pool area). Keep in mind though my entire condo, pool area included, is only 1,400 square feet. For US standards that is like, a broom closet? haha.

Here space is at a premium, so designers emphasize "visual unity" a lot, like repeating floors, repeating the wood you have in a closet in the bathroom cabinet door, and so on. And white, loads of white, much like those Scandinavian design projects we see online sometimes. In the design magazines, I see people with houses a little bigger than mine picking the porcelain tiles that imitate wood grain and using one single floor in the house, so I am now questioning if 2 floors isn't 1 floor type too many, haha.

I have only recently become aware of Houzz and this was my first post/question. You all have expressed wonderful and insightful comments. I am definitely rethinking my tile, and in fact may go with wood. We just closed on a new home last week. My original selection was to have them put laminate(with the intention of tiling after the fact) in the kitchen and casual dining area. Other than 2 bathrooms everything else is hardwood. The contractor made an error and put laminate in the kitchen work area and wood in the dining area- wish I had a picture to show you- I now have the option of having the builder remove the wood and tile everything, OR, leave the wood and tile the laminated area, which would afford me a bit of a unique look in this large Pulte retirement community. This sandwiches the tile in between two wooded areas. I may lobby for all wood- and hope it will match! To clarify- I didn't like any of the builder's limited tile options.

If you use your kitchen a lot, especially for stuff like sauteeing, you can't beat tile for practicality. If you use it less or use it to bake/make salads more often than to stink it up with sautees or stir frys, then wood looks fantastic.

I cook a lot in my kitchen and I have wooden floors. I had the floors installed 10 years ago and they still look like new. It extends my living room since my kitchen and living room are connected. I would keep the wooden floors in the kitchen. They also add warmth .

Ha! I've been asking myself all night if I want practical- tile- or beauty- wood! I've had both, currently have wood, and like the look, but not after a big meal prep. Hmmmm, still thinkin'

While you're thinking, consider which flooring is more comfortable to stand on for those long cooking sessions.

Check one for wood!

Mary , if you had planned to tile later, I'm assuming that you would be purchasing the tile yourself? If so, why not go a head and purchase tile that replicates the wood look, and ask your builder to install in kitchen? Alleviates the sandwich look and gives you a wipe clean surface, w no worries about the diagonal(!) dispute. Fatigue mats can handle the rest.

Diagonal tile is out and looks '80's? These types of comments often make me wonder if the person making them ever lived in the '80's. ;) Most of what you would see done in the 80's is 6x6 pastel (or beige) tiles (in bathrooms). Wall to wall mirrors, and overhead bulb type lighting. No big tile, and certainly not much of that 6x6 done on the diagonal. I think large tiles on the diagonal look great on the floor and will make a room seem bigger. So much more interesting than square tiles set straight. You need to be able to have at least 3 full tiles going across, if laid on the diagonal.

Studio- Considered the wood look tile but I'm afraid it would end up looking like a poor mismatch and kind of weird.

dianahb- agree- I recently saw diagonal tile in a a very high end model and it looked beautiful. My inspiration in fact.

mary, my thought is....it's your floor, you are the one looking at it most of the time and if you like diagonal, gosh darn it, do diagonal!! if you don't like any of the contractors tile choices can you upgrade it yourself and still have him install it? can't hurt to ask :)

Dianahb, I was indeed alive in the 80s - and the 70s. And while most houses had plain small tiles set as they were built much earlier, it was in the late 80s that this obsession with all things "Tuscan" started, and a lot of people I remember started installing diagonal larger tile (mind you, "larger tile" back then was 10x10...) that replicated marble on the diagonal in their homes. My own mother did that to our poor kitchen, all fake marble and diagonal set, in 1988. So yes, it is very 80s to me. It spread like a plague of "it will make the space look bigger" then.

Jan74: Sorry- I never saw that in my life. You must have lived in another side of the country from me. ;). I do find large tiles, in the right space, set on the diagonal much more appealing than the uninspired and visually uninteresting square tiles, set straight - which do nothing but sit there.

Maybe it came from Europe - I understand the aversion to all tiles diagonal - and I suspect it was from this Italian revival with old marble and lucite tables in the 1980s... Every tiler in Western Europe just seemed to go diagonal without question. You see so much of the same thing that after a while you just rebel.

Like bell bottom jeans there are some traditions we are glad to see the back of. But it is also true, we should not apply our own views to a younger client who might be looking at things in a new way... in fact last year I was chuckling because I was asked to install a "chartreuse" sink .... a few years earlier I was removing avocado sinks! So trends to come around again.....;-)

I don't even live in the US, and it definitely hit us in South America in the late 80s, at the same time that the fake marble designs appeared in tiles. Before that, a tile was a single color, not "printed". I guess with the fake marble tiles came the desire to set them like "they did in Europe" with their real marble floors?

And I hate stuff from my own youth, like late 80s stuff, but love stuff from my early childhood in the 70s. I'd totally have a mirrored buffet like my grandma did, and I'm doing my whole kitchen in Formica. So go figure. :)

I suspect, in not too many years from now, all plank tile flooring-- especially that made to look like wood-- will become very dated. And the glass vessel sinks? Yikes. I'm surprised they're still around.

I call those "salad bowl sinks", dianahb. It is like washing your hands in a really nice salad bowl...

I've completely changed my floor choices and decided to just do a cement-looking tile everywhere. It comes in 2 finishes, satin and a rougher one for the pool and inside the bathrooms, so it will match but not be exactly alike. This is because I opted for radiant floor heating.

Jan74. That's where we also differ. I can't think of one good thing that came out of the 1970's. Not one thing. Possibly The Godfather?? And maybe one or two other movies I can't remember right now.

I basically wanna live in a house that is part 70s decor (minus the awful stuff like sunken in living rooms...), part Jetsons house, with a dash of I Dream of Jeannie's bottle.

But my husband won't let me do any of that so in the end, my house is more Austin Powers meets Bewitched. Which is still not for the faint of heart, haha.

ahhh, diversity and uniqueness! It's what keeps the world in general and our pwn personal spaces interesting

i have to replace carpeting in my master bedroom. The problem is the hallway that leads to the bedroom is already tiled in 24 × 24 beige marble look tile and the master bath has a different tile. I can't figure out what size/color tile for the master. would it be too busy to use a more modern 12 ×24 and a totally different color? So far the opinions i have be given are 50/50.. from it doesn't matter its a different room/close the door, to since it's meeting the hallway it has to be similar. I'm totally confused!