Stay FAR away from granite with this unless a plain black honed. And better choose a solid surface before grout, as something must top that shower curb, and whatever it is should ideally repeat on your counter tops.....: ) I'd look for something that is a nice blend with wall tile. Plain.

Yes we're struggling with our quartz selection as well. We have stained cabinets and wanted something to complement that (not too dark so that the ORB fixtures will still stand out), but also wanted something that would contrast for the wall caps, shower threshold, and shower niche. Originally chose Hanstone Argil because we love how it looks with the cabinets, but now concerned it may look too "busy" with the rocks. I'm not sure how to attach pics to this comment

Yes we've created quite a conundrum for ourselves! This is the Quartz that we initially liked for the vanity, but it doesn't work well with the shower rocks. Three pics below showing the Argil quartz sample

Agree with your tiler, I would use the raven.

I like the slate grey. It reads a little bit blue to me and will enhance the koi pond inserts.

Just my opinion, but I like matching the grouts from one tile to the others to keep some continuity. Plus, I feel like the Raven with that particular river rock steals its thunder; a little contrast would show it off better.

Of course I'm just looking at pictures, but I love the quartz with the river rock ... again, there's some continuity to the colors - unless they're going to butt up against one another somewhere. It's a nice echo, sort-of the hard surface equivalent of a well-chosen pocket square. lol

Vickie - do what Patricia Colwell suggested. Very important. I have used these river rocks and you do NOT want the Raven. Trust me on this. Match your wall tile as close as possible and don't use the river rock on the front of the tub or that little shelf. Use your flat tiles. Match that tile with a granite as best you can. Reduce the number of features as much as possible and keep your other bath much simpler. I will say this, the tiler seems to have done a pretty good job of laying this river rock so far. Usually, they can't flash to seams together well and you get grout lines! So, very difficult situation and hope Patricia and others' advice help you through it.

Dusty gray.

It's the only one that approximates the color of a river bed....

Initially we planned to use the same color grout (but in epoxy) that was used on the wall tile (which was supposed to match and blend with the tile but ended up looking lighter than the sample kit). Thankfully I had him do a sample on some leftover rocks first because I hated it with the rocks. It was way too bright and stark! (Bottom part of picture below) We also tried the espresso color that was used in another bathroom on wood-look tile just to see what it would look like with the rocks.... Way too dark and just blended the rocks too much. That's when we started looking into other colors and used the caulk tubes to color test rather than mix multiple samples of grout for the sample board. What do you all think now?

Natural gray,,,or one tone darker. 2nd choice is the Dusty Gray.

do not use that granite in the shower. it's way too much w/the rocks. why didn't he use the same tile on the niche ledge? why switch to something else like your granite? Use the tile on the tub ledge and the shower curb too. no to that granite !

Did you tile the ceiling in the shower?

I'm planning on using what looks like the same river rock, but only on the floor of the shower. I'll use glass tile mosaic as the waterfall accent.

Here is the far end of the grout selector. Brand is Laticrete. After the Natural Gray, the next tone darker is called Sandstones, then followed by Dusty Gray and Raven. Last one is Midnight Black. The one protruding out on the left half is the Marble Beige that we used on the wall and floor tile which definitely looks brighter installed.

My contractor said they usually use the same quartz everywhere to tie all of the areas together (shower niche shelf allows a bit more depth with a shelf rather than just tile, and I guess more decorative to use Quartz on the threshold and wall caps plus tub shelf). I don't know if they could go back and add tile now though. Maybe we could just do a solid color quartz on the threshold since it's closest to the rocks? Would it look weird to have it different from the vanity countertops?

No tile on the ceiling. We did run tile up to the ceiling with crown molding on top. Knock down finish on ceiling

It would be impossible for them to add the tile to the shelf niche because they used that metal edging around the others. that has to be put in before the tile. what would look better is a solid black or dark brown piece, that hangs out a bit. see if he can get a piece of basalt. It's almost an inch thick in a 12x24 tile. I used one for my shower for edge around my cement tiles

you could also use the large tiles for the curb and the tub ledge.

I like the Natural Grey or whatever in your light matches your field tile. I would not do the very dark grout because it will more easily show mineral deposits from standing water drying.

Be careful with premixed or non cement grout like epoxy on river rocks. We used a premixed and it was wicked hard to clean off the rock tops properly because of how it stuck in the little unseen nicks and dents in the natural rock. We have not done epoxy on anything but glass tiles, where it worked beautifully, but that is super easy to clean off. Have your tiler try your epoxy grout choice to be sure it cleans off the way you want it too prior to grouting anything on your beautiful rocks.

Grout is the least of the issue. Tooooo much going on. From cabinetry, to tile. to all chosen in isolation and not as part of a single whole and feeling or style.. Just too many stars in the show. Advice to all, get design help at the START. Please. Sorry.....but it's your money in the end. ( no fish drain, please as well. )

Of the choices you have mocked up, the natural gray matches your wall tile, so I'd go with that.

OR If you are stuck between a bunch of similar things that don't seem quite right, sometimes the answer is to go in a different direction.

The designers here will howl, but you might try mocking up the rocks with a grout color that's close to your cabinets. Right now they are the only warm brown tone in the room and it might tie things together. It might look hideous or it might be perfect - but you really have nothing to lose by giving it a shot.

For the counter, I would go with something the same color tones, but not as busy. maybe a subtle limestone or concrete look. Hopefully the ORB is more bronze in color so it will pull in the warm cabinets.

And if the fish drain will make you smile when you step in the shower, go for it! I guarantee, everyone who sees it will ask about it, but after all, who sees your shower floor but you?

LOVE your rock floor and accents! I just remodeled a bathroom with rust/brown/cream/black, really rustic bathroom with birch walls, walnut sink base and black pearl granite. I picked a grout I thought would "go" with the majority of the tile. That said, I'd stick with an overall darker gray, but not overwhelmingly dark. And don't freak out when you first see it like I did! It was much brighter on the wall and floor of my shower than what I thought I picked out. Bear that in mind when choosing. Also, if you have well water or hard water, keep that in mind too. Darker is better, but not black or raven IMO. And, I just used the same tile in my shower for my inset. I'm with Flo on this one....if you like the fish grate or turtle, whatever, use it!! I personally love it, but I'm loving everything you have going on with your rocks and fish. Some of us like that more than others. Also, Beth H. made a good point with that ledge thingy....that's cool too if you can't use tile for the inset. Beth H. and Flo have been helping me in a thread and are VERY easy to converse with and more than willing to give their ideas. Both have great taste!!

Lastly, whatever you decide, post pics when you're finished! Good luck!!

If you do decide to go with the fancy drain cover, make sure you get the one that goes with the drain. I bought one on Houzz and discovered it's a non-standard size.

Find out from your contractor what drain body they used, then go to DesignerDrains.com to get the right one. They are pricey.

(Gorgeous wall Beth H!)

Raven really complements the rocks

Can we see the finished product, pretty please?

Also, I’d love to know where you got the gold koi fish decoration!

We chose the Dusty Gray epoxy grout. I think the Raven would have looked great as well, but we decided to play it safe since I had heard from several designers in my area to not use the darker color. We still haven't hung the handheld on the wall (should've had them drill the holes in the tile for the mount at the time). I did purchase a bronze drain cover with fish pattern, but I need to round the corners to make it sit flush. Aside from our contractor bailing on us before the job was completed, we are fairly happy with how it all turned out.

Great thread. Did you share the make/model of your main tile? I looked through and tried to find it but no luck.

The main tile is Tesoro

For me, the Platinum and Slate Gray are too blue.

The Hemp and Natural Gray are too light.

The Raven too dark.

The Dusty Gray is Goldilocks. It's lighter than the darkest stones, darker than the lightest stones, and a decent match for the medium-toned stones.