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lara_branen

white or grey grout with white subway tiles?

Lara Branen
7 years ago

I would love to hear anyone and everyone's opinion on whether in terms of selling a home, for bath tile replacement if you'd go with white on white or with the o- trend grey grout with white subway tile. I personally love this look, but wonder if it's more style specific then you'd want to go for selling. Then again is white subway tile with white grout too boring? Considering beveled subway tiles with white grout, if I want to stick with white. But....what do you think?

Comments (14)

  • User
    7 years ago

    Black or charcoal grey, goes with anything from traditional to modern.

    Lara Branen thanked User
  • sloyder
    7 years ago

    grey if you want traditional

    Lara Branen thanked sloyder
  • MongoCT
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    My comment is that white on white can sometimes look stark. It's just too white. That can be fine if that's the look you're going for.

    A light gray/silver/platinum can sometimes take the edge off a bit. By being slightly off-white, they lend a slightly relaxing look to the overall appearance of the installation. It's still a clean looking wall, but not an overly bright white looking wall.

    Darker grays and charcoal, sure, they can look terrific. The darker the grout, meaning the more it contrasts with the white tile, the more the eye will be drawn to the pattern on the wall. Contrasting grouts will emphasize the tile pattern.

    As the other kids have mentioned, If you're going to show off a tile installation with a highly contrasting grout, the tile installation had better be good; clean lines, straight corners, no slivers of tile.

    Lara Branen thanked MongoCT
  • Lara Branen
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Thanks for all this input! Do you all think that purely in terms of selling a home, one is preferable over the other? In my original post I meant to say "on trend" because seems to me gray grout is a trend - I don't remember ever seeing that until a few years ago... but maybe I wasn't paying attention. (?) Is grey grout a traditional look or a more contemporary look?

    Anyway I am getting tile installation needs to be perfect to go with contrasting grout so I think I'll wait to make the decision until the tile is up. Anyway...Keep those comments coming I love all this input! :-)

  • aprilneverends
    7 years ago

    not contributing anything new-darker, or rather contrasting, grout when you want to emphasize the shape or the pattern of the tile, blending-close to the color of the given tile grout-if you don't

    here's another thought for you..light gray/bone will be probably fine. the darker you take it-the stronger the contrast. which might be amazing looking and all

    but take into consideration-not everybody is doing great with high contrast, especially very dark and very light together, colors and lines interchanging frequently as in with the grout and tiles..it makes a lot of people dizzy-not good for a space like a bathroom where you'd rather not feel dizzy

    if it was for your own enjoyment and you handle high contrast well-go for it

    if it's for resale-take into consideration a pretty big amount of people that will find it hard on their eyes

    i also wanted to go with contrasting grout..fortunately i realized i'd be the first to fall in my own shower, surrounded by this striking geometry

    again, if it's just a tad darker color though-it will probably look cool and still be fine with the majority of the buyers

    Lara Branen thanked aprilneverends
  • Iowacommute
    7 years ago

    People have mentioned in other threads the light gray or even a bone color helps to hide dirt (on a floor especially) because after a whIle grout can look gray. Now that can be dependent on what kind of grout and household you have?

    So I think if you may be on the market soon go with a light gray or a silver. I know it would make me feel better about keeping that clean instead of trying to bleach spots between showings.

    Also we have been flying through houses lately with our most recent purchase in July. When I look for a house if it looks clean it makes me think the owners have taken better care of it.

    Lara Branen thanked Iowacommute
  • User
    7 years ago

    I like light gray, but I wouldn't do beveled subway in a shower. I think it'd be easier to squeegee and clean standard subway.

    Lara Branen thanked User
  • hcbm
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I have had both white and gray grout with subway tile. I had an original 1916 subway tiled bathroom and it had traditional light gray grout (I think that it is actually cement? Someone told me grout didn't exists in 1916?). Currently I have a condo with two bathrooms done in white subway and white grout. I love all. The white grout looks more modern and does make it look cleaner. Depends on the look you are going for. I would make up 2 boards one in each color and see what makes you smile.

    By the way white grout in the shower is easy to keep clean, I spray my shower with daily shower cleaner after each shower and walk away. Before I did that I think I only had to clean the shower walls with Scrubbing Bubbles once every few months. I use liquid soap.

    I look forward to seeing the finished product whatever you choose. I know either will be beautiful.

    Lara Branen thanked hcbm
  • dan1888
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Epoxy white grout will stay white.

  • hcbm
    7 years ago

    Epoxy white grout can yellow over time. Happened to me on a kitchen backsplash. I don't know if it happens all the time.

  • enduring
    7 years ago

    Hmorton, I have heard that too, about yellowing. The mixture, before the colorant is a yellowish color. That needs to be toned down with the colorant. I love the Laticrete epoxy grout. I used it in both bathrooms throughout. I mixed my colors to achieve the tone I wanted. I don't advise this for everyone, but it worked for me. I tend to be an experimenter with things like this.

  • Lara Branen
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Hi again, I'm now considering a greige shade of grout called Bleached Wood by Custom Tile Installation Systems. They have a type of grout called "Prism" that has tiny glass spheres in it (apparently) and was recommended to me. Anyone have knowledge of this type of grout? Says "no efflorescence" - does that mean color doesn't fade? I think it would look good,

  • hemina
    5 years ago
    Lara-I know it’s been more than a year since you posted...did you go with the fusion grout? Do you still like it if you did?
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