So excited you replied, Beth. I was so hoping you would weigh in!

I love your ideas!!!! Your bathroom is fabulous. Gorgeous. Love your idea about the clear bottles! Would not have thought of that.

I will ask them to do the board to minimize the waste.

1. My subway is glossy. The mosaic is stone and I think it's all matte (I have to recheck if it has any glass petals). Will it be ok to mix finishes? I also saw a beautiful glass hex that was similar shade of the subways I toyed with the idea of using.

2. Just isolating on the shape of the tiles, is a main bathroom floor 12x24 porcelain acceptable next to the 6x18 subway shower?

As for color, they are neutral, the floor with a light pattern, the subway solid color. They blend beautifully (not the same color, but not contrasting) but last night I got worried that maybe I should have gone with a different floor shape. I hope it'll work. I already bought all the tile but if it's an error, I don't want to find out when it is on the floor. The colors are all beautiful together, but hoping I haven't over-rectangled myself (oh, and there's white shaker cabs)

Note: There's a flat pebble shower floor tile that is the exact neutral colors of the stone flower mosaic.

can't you post pics of everything? in comments, put pics of the tiles next to each other and where you'll be placing them. then a pic of your vanity/countertop. it's hard to imagine your colors/shapes.

The colors don't really photograph well but you can get the idea. The more I look at the subway next to the floor I think it will be ok, agree?

I went to the tile store and picked out 3 possible accents for the shower....

1. The stone flowers are all matte. They are close to the shower floor pebbles in color and finish. The subway tiles are glossy.

2. The glass hex is a possibility, too. It is close to the 12x24 main floor porcelain tile color, but the hex is glass.

3. What doesn't even come close in the photo is the basket weave bubble. The stone of the weave is taupe and the bubbles are raised...they are not low profile at all. They are clear like ice cubes with an iridescence. They are very cool and blingy. I can envision the sconce lights over the counter reflecting off them. .

The cabinet is white and the quartz is Pompeii misterio. Little samples shown. See slab pic.

quartz slab pic

ok much better. so the flowers look like that Athens gray marble (or white oak marble). it will need to be sealed well. I had similar pebbles in my shower. if you use an enhancing sealer, the colors will deepen. please seal (with and enhancer or non enhancing penetrating sealer) the tops of those pebbles (tops only) before they are installed. grout and thinset will stick to it like no ones business. the pebbles have very fine cracks and the mortar will get imbedded in them. take out each sheet and take 30 mins to seal the tops.

I like the flowers for the accent the best. around the edges those will be some PIA cuts w/a lot of hand placement of the petals. I'd use a schluter edge like I did in mine.

over the vanity, you could do the basket tile. but yes, everything does coordinate.

I bought the 511 non enhancing based on a previous post you advised on. I don't want them to look wet. I was a little worried about the PIA factor of the petals because I know nothing about tiling...but it looked like hard to me.

Why do you like the flowers better than the basket for the accent if I may ask?

Over the vanity for the basket......do you mean a backsplash for the counter instead of the quartz material? oooooohhhh ahhhhh sounds interesting. BTW, how tall on the backsplash?

the flowers will be a tiling nightmare. I know it comes on a mesh sheet, but they often crack and break (so make sure to order enough) and if the tile guy has to cut them, it can be rather difficult. the other two will be much easier to install. so if you have a very, very good tile guy, you'll be fine. if you have joe schmoe kid, then no. I like the basket too. I like anything different. The glass hex,,,meh. maybe in the Athens gray material,,,but that ripple glass just seems a bit cheap looking. just me.

for backsplash height, just depends on the look you want and what kind of mirror you're getting. you can do 5" or the entire wall.

for the pebbles, it won't be wet look unless u get the Wet Look sealer or the glossy finish. sponge it with water. that's what it will look like w/the sealer. (like in this pic. yours are the same tone I think)

i did all of these myself about 7 years ago on someone else's house. (at the time, it was 'en vogue') ! lol. hand placed each one of those on the wall and the floor. Hated to grout these things. and yes, they are already sealed.

I have already talked to my contractor about the gridlines because of your advice. He understood right away and grunted (I think that it will be a pain for his tiler but he totally got it.)

I bought these pebbles because they were advertised as interlocking and seamless. I laid out a bunch on the floor and was so pissed the grid indeed showed. I argued with the seller and they were not getting it. They said I was wrong and sent me a photo showing that they put several tiles together and they interlocked and showed no seam. They just didn't understand. So, I used their own photo and replicated the photo over and over and aligned the photos side by side and sent them the picture illustrating the problem. They offered my money back or 50% off to keep, which was good of them to do. I kept them.

You are a master at these! Hand placed all of the pebbles? Yikes!!! Talk about PITA!

When you say 7 years ago, do you think they are out of vogue now? I don't have a lot invested in the pebbles since I got them half off (and they were already on sale). I like the look but would be open to changing.

I meant the design I did. up the walls, spilling over the curb. they were in the shower as a border too. it was very busy! but that's what was in back then.

I like your pebbles because they are flat and neutral. I've had the ones like in my picture in my own shower. keeping the grout clean was a nightmare. I use a bone colored, regular grout. I would suggest you use one of the urethanes or other stain proof. and keep those pebbles sealed yearly. when you have dirty feet and step on them, after awhile it will stain the rocks because they are porous. and you can't use any regular cleaner on them. they are a natural stone. so no bleach or any harsh cleaners.

use this and their daily clean one.

just know that your pebbles are just as high maintenance as marble.

I had no idea they were high maintenance! I originally picked out penny tile for the floor and my sister said the grout etc was a nightmare to keep clean and to look for bigger tiles. That's how I got into the pebbles in the first place. Oh boy...

just keep a sealer on them.

what about this one? it's on sale

https://tilebar.com/florentine-pearl-athens-gray-marble-and-pearl-glass-tile.html

or

https://tilebar.com/highland-zinnia-thassos-and-ming-green-mirror-and-marble-tile.html

and these are gorgeous!

https://tilebar.com/loft-smoky-taupe-penny-round-glass-tile.html

Love the style of these...not sure about the colors though...as I mentioned above, some of the colors aren't true in the pic...more brown than what is actually there

tilebar will send you 5 samples for 5 dollars.

LOVE LOVE the glass penny round....slippery on shower floor you think?

no. same as any other penny round. and half are frosted. those must be new, I haven't seen them. they have a glass subway tile that matches them too. I thought they would be perfect for your colors. get some samples.

LOVE Them...I will get samples for sure. Thank you!

One other question and forgive my ignorance and my terrible fast mockup here....but to create a non linear effect, why do they not incorporate the grout as part of the design? Why do they always cut right to the edge when doing a frame? Why not just let the grout serve as a background ....like this if the grout were black hypothetically.. You only see stick straight, edge to edge tile work. Just thinking if grout were used as the background, some designers could probably create magical things inside the frames...some of the grout has little glitter and stuff so if it were thought of as neutral, wonder if they'd think of grout like a canvas....just a thought.

With all the beautiful shaped water jets, thinking it could be so freeing to have non straight edges of the tile...No?

Just thinking of the possibilities of where tile work could go.. Wouldn't it be cool if the tile itself were available not as interlocking but as a single piece? For instance ...what if the tile were a single 3ft x3 ft. piece (like one large waterjet) that sits inside a frame with a distinctive edge that is left as is....not squared off with a cut from another piece....and the grout is it's background for instance..

Like what if these were just floating inside a feature wall frame....connect as many as you'd like, but when you are done, you leave the edges curvy on a background of a pretty grout color?

not sure I get what you mean. grout really should not be more than 1/4", and that is for outside tiles. So having large backgrounds of grout is not feasible.

I think what you're alluding to is an actual mosaic layout. individual , smaller pieces?

if you want individual tiles, or 'flowers', then you would have to buy actual mosaic pieces, because that's basically what you're going to end up with. a mosaic. these small 'free' pieces are very fragile. how are they going to attach the petals and such? most people wouldn't have a clue of how to lay those. it's just easier when it's on a sheet.

I hear you. I put more explanation above because it's a different thought than what's out there. You like different so I'm wondering why not challenge that 1/4" rule...why is it not allowed to have a background? Is it the material itself? Can it be enhanced for better wear?

grout isn't waterproof so having large expanses of it in the shower isn't a good idea. and having anything wider than 1/2" or so, needs special type of grout so it stays together and doesn't crumble and fall apart.

Now, if you wanted to set your tiles in cement, that might be an idea. Just have never seen it in a shower.

do you mean something like this in the shower? you could always do your own mosaic

on this one, if you took away the plain white and just set the petals of the flower, look at how much grout you'd have to fill in. it's too much. you'd have to fill in the gaps w/some other type of tile or design to help hold the grout together

something like this you would prob get away w/having the grout. leave the sparkly flowers and remove the white fillers. of course w/this, it all has to be done by hand, one flower petal at a time. if you pay someone to do this, it will cost you quite a bit because it would take the person days just to get it on the wall.

I ordered the penny round sample...hope it gets here asap...allegedly starting sometime next week.

their tile comes from NY. call and talk to Brittany if you need it expedited. she's in customer service. tell her I sent you from Houzz.

Wow great! Thanks, I will.

I've decided to do the shower accent in option 3, the basket weave bubble. Love the flowers but want a little more sparkle.

Thinking of the application of the accent. FYI, I am currently planning to do a 14wx24h vertical niche with a shelf under the shower head.

1. Vertical stripe with niches incorporated on shower head wall.

or

2. Vertical stripe with or without niches on back wall off centered.

or

3. Skip the idea of a floor to ceiling stripe and only use the accent inside the niches. 14x24 vertical niches under shower head or a long wall long niche.

Thoughts? Other idea?

ALSO, ....with the use of the vertical stripe, I was told I should run the 6x18 main subway tiles vertically. Agree? I was considering using them horizontally.

KINDA SORTA IDEAS BELOW

Shower head wall stripe would incorporate niches into the stripe, not flanking like shown.

or

Accent stripe on back wall off centered with niches incorporated (or not) - please ignore blurry shower head wall ...tried to smudge out distracting features on that wall

or Niche treatment only

keep the niche under the shower head or do a long back wall niche?