The short wall behind the tub was just planned to be a darkish hardwood, to provide contrast for the white tub. It's up for re-decision also...

Wow! That tile is so pretty. I love it! Before the re-think, where in the shower were you planning on putting it? Was there going to be a different field tile and floor tile in addition to the fancy one?

Thanks! it is, very delicate and elegant. Here is the shower design:

We were originally going to do the vanity in a dark slate blue, it looked fantastic against the tile. But we were design cowards worried about a huge hunk of blue in the bathroom. We figured the grey vanity was more neutral.

That tile is one of the most gorgeous I've seen. I'd be interested in seeing it with dark grout. <3

Okay, so... I don't know what the wainscoting rules are, but can the dark wood be brought up, to say 4'? Should their tops always be level with windows? Or will that make the tub look weird/small?

Alternatively, what does everyone think of using the tile as wainscoting, and painting the rest of the wall a dark-ish color (blue)? Slap me if that's a dumb idea, lol.

In my opinion, your original design idea will be sooo beautiful. If that's what you want, I say do it. I have an entire wall of mosaic in my shower and I absolutely love it. Yes there's grout, but the showerhead doesn't spray directly onto the side wall. In your design, the fancy wall is even further from the showerhead than in my shower. It's not going to get very wet at all. The only place there could be some standing water is if the tile pro doesn't pitch the bench enough for water to run off. If this were my shower, I'd repeat the fancy tile in the back of the niches.

I like it behind the tub, but I would definitely bring the black wainscosting up higher. The rule of thumb I’ve generally heard is that you want to go either 1/3 or 2/3 up the wall. Try bringing this up to the 1/3 mark.

As for the wall that is behind the tub - a very calm, quiet, soothing paint color along with some beautiful art pieces, maybe an orchid or other plant. In my opinion, your original idea is the best.

If the tile pro pushed back on it, you might want to gently explore why. Does he not have the skills to intstall the product you have selected? He's a tile pro, not a designer, so there might be a reason he is pushing back on this. You should find out what that is.

We went back and forth on whether to do the wainscot/short wall in wood
or tile; the main idea was something dark for contrast and grounding. Here is a picture of the blue tile that we were originally going to do the short wall behind the tub in, and make the vanity the same color. Then we worried about too much dark blue. The shower floor is the grey squares, and a piece of flooring that was the color we were thinking of for the hardwood wainscoting. The faucet is a deck mount, it sits on top of the wall and reaches over. The top of the wall was planned to be the same white as the countertop. I'd still like to incorporate the blue somewhere, maybe vases/towels/something. Which do you think is better, the brown hardwood or the blue tile for the short wall behind the tub? Whether or not we do the floral above.

It's hard for me to see on my monitor, but I'm wondering if this is a full tile that is only going to be grouted between the tiles (meaning it is not a mosaic on mesh, which would have grout in-between every little flower petal). If this is the case you would want to match your grout as closely as possible, not doing a dark grout (because there would be dark squares of grout on your wall).

I think the blue should be vases, towels, and other accents. The other elements you have selected are very soothing.

I have charcoal gray tile for shower floor. I love it. I love your selections except for the blue tile (even though, in itself it is beautiful). I think you should incorporate a beautiful blue with other elements. Think about artwork/prints which feature a soothing scene with a little bit of the cobalt blue in it.

I think the mosaic above the bench in the shower will be fine. I agree with the commenter who advised probing your tilers experience with this type of tile. And you must get a grouted sample board to approve, do not guess.

No blue tile.

The pretty floral tile is 12"x12". It is a mesh with small pieces of stained glass on it; each petal is a separate piece of glass. It is very thin glass. Agree on the blue being in a few accessories, I prefer the more calming palette of the grey-green-white.

If it were my bathroom I would want the pretty pieces in the floral tile to show, not the grout lines. Definately have a sample board made with maybe 2 or 3 grouts so you can be sure which color you like best.

I can't wait to see the final result. This all depends on the lighting in your room, but you might like the SW paint color called "Silverpointe" which is a very light greige with a green undertone. I have it in my bedroom, very soothing.

I didn't use it in the bathroom because it didn't work with the lighting. In there I used SW "Crushed Ice." It's in the white collection, but it's a very light gray, quite neutral.

Thanks, ssdarb! Let me check out those colors.

I just showed your tile to my tile pro who is here today building my shower. He said he just set that same tile a few months ago, and that he works carefully with the edges (I think by removing some of the pedals and setting them by hand) so that there are no lines of demarcation showing between the sheets. You don't want to be able to see where one sheet starts and another begins. He said it can be tricky, but a skilled pro can do it. I think this challenge is similar to when people set penny tile and pebble tile. Sometimes you can see the lines. Maybe you should ask your tile pro how they would handle it.

ooh, They are both beautiful. Off I go in a few minutes for samples. That noise you hear is DH groaning again about samples...

Very beautiful tile, can't wait to see the final product.

Your bath is going to be beautiful and I can't wait to see it. I think your floral tile will be wonderful in the shower. Is your bench going to be solid in the front from the seat to the floor? What tile will be there and on the other walls? Would love to see your floor tile.

I'm wondering about just painting the wall around the tub and not having wainscoting or making the wainscoting the same color as the wall. It may make your tub standout more and feel more calming. But I may not be following how the tub filler will be situated.

What do you have planned for the windows?

Hi sunfeather! The bench itself planned to be solid and the same color as the field tile, white, making the The bench area kind of like a big niche. The bench top will be white also. The floral will be on the back wall of the shower with a darkish border to set it off and also hide the transition between the floral white and the field tile white. They are similar in hue but not precise matches. For the windows, I was thinking of just using plantation shutters. The window looks onto the backyard which is very private, nothing but deer and trees. The floor tile has been changed about a thousand times, we still haven't found the perfect one. Everything is either too grey or too blue or too something...we go back and forth between something very light and something darkish like a charcoal color. Dark sets off the tub and transistions well from the dark hardwoods in the bedroom, But white feels fresher and calming. The bathroom is on the north side of the house, so everything feels bluer and cooler in tone.