Exactly right. The accent piece should have been set on 1/4" cement board and installed as one unit. Have tile setter redo it.

TMK is spot on. Other then that you might be able to incorporate a small wood shoe molding, but that is definitely not ideal

Thanks - installer was able to work with/use grout and ended up making it look "inset" and rather cool after all. Phew.Will post photos when the finishing work is done. Interestingly, and maybe a helpful FYI, wasn't the installer's fault. Field tile we ordered (from a very high end shop) came in twice the thickness of the sample piece. It was custom cut to size from larger pieces that the sample had been cut from, and the larger pieces were a full 1/2 inch thick. Because we were waiting for the field tile for weeks, I had installer go ahead with two centerpieces, and he did so based on the samples. I should have immediately sent back the other tile when it came in - but it didn't occur to me until we were too far into the project that it was going to create some real problems. (I do agree he should have put it on a separate piece, but he preferred to work directly on the wall and he did do a beautiful job.) Oh well - in the end small problems to have I suppose.

The whole effect is quite striking.

Betsy, I was going to suggest beveling the grout, I'm glad your installer was a real professional and could do that for you.

Could we get a close-up of the finished job?

Sorry, I should have looked closer.

I will get some images when it's all done. Thanks, Nancy. I'm not sure I would call it an official bevel of the grout, I would say it's not quite that "tailored" - but it does really work! It's the glass piece, then a tile liner which is fairly flush, a copper "schluter" and then the edge of the tile now with the grout bridging those last two. The"stair step" works!

I had the same situation once and I was able to bevel the edge with the grout float--it came out really nice,

I'm assuming a grout float is something that supports a grout line when you need to "create" a grout line? That's a great idea. If for any reason I don't love this after a while, I'll do a true bevelled grout. Thanks!! (Pictures soon.)

Actually, it is the trowel with the rubber on the bottom they use to put the grout on the tile and force it into the joints. You can't do it after the grout is dry, but they make caulking to match the grout color, and you could use that also.

Thanks!!

Tile lesson learned is to have all of the material on-site before you start. It is not uncommon for the samples to differ drastically from the actual materials since they often cut up finish materials to make samples. No matter how much you want to push forward with the schedule, you usually get burned making assumptions about the materials without having them on hand. Since the tile is the final layer of materials, its much more difficult to "make up the difference" when the tolerances are much tighter. I am glad this worked out and your tile setter could improvise.