Keep it simple. Do the porcelain "marble" and skip the mosaic. Any choice depends floor, and shower floor. Better yet, skip the niche and do a bench instead. : )

I never like shower niches they are always wet and yucky and I honestly can not understand why anyone wants to high light a shelf where all the shampoo and soap bottles are. I like abench in a shower or a ledge for shaving legs and an over the wall or door nice looking shower caddy that can be cleaned easily. So I guess if you must have a niche keep it simple.

Yaah.......the only way a niche looks nice is TOTALLY EMPTY. Your gummy grocery store soap, and shampoo will definitely change the look lol. It's not like anyone decants shampoo and shower gel and the like into matching decorative bottles.

A lot of obsessing about "nada" in the end, plus a great opportunity for tile install screw ups, and leaks.

Funny, my shower niche never looks ”wet & yucky”, maybe it’s the location at the back of the shower. I would miss having it since I shampoo & condition every day., actually, I would like a larger one. It’s my shower seat that gets wet , I do wipe that down with a squeegee & towel after showering. Everyone lives differently.

Yes, maybe having pumps is the reason mine stays clean. I buy liter sized conditioner & shampoo with pumps on both from a local salon supply store. Never a dripping mess.

Thank you all for your helpful comments. I appreciate all the viewpoints and good advice about the shower niche. I agree that they don't look as stunning once you have your products in them and live like real people do, but I still like the idea. I had considered a corner seat but hadn't thought about a bench. We are building a new house - just finished framing. The style of the house is craftsman and I would say that our design esthetic is contemporary. Karen Rose and Carolae, your projects are both stunning.

If you want modern and trendy go with pic one, classic traditional that will never go out of style then pic two.

First I have no issues with my shower niches. Ive had them in the last three homes ive owned with success. I like my stuff stored in a convenient location and I don't want a stool in my shower that can get moldy. That said I think the blue tile is a bold choice and my concern with it would be whether eventually I would tire of it and want a different color. For those reasons I tend to keep my permanent surfaces neutral and then bring in my color with paint and accessories. In my bathroom I did large white beveled tiles and in my niche and floor I did a Carrara hexagon. It gives me enough interest and contrast and I can't tell you how many compliments I get on this simple formula. My counters are Carrera marble, sinks white porcelain and fixtures all polished nickel/chrome. I brought my blue into the bathroom with paint. Ive been very happy and should I ever tire of the blue I can put just about any other color with my choices.

The marble look is beautiful, probably timeless, and the room is easily and inexpensively changed up in color with art, paint, towels, etc. as you all say. This is the practical and safe choice and may very well win. However... The rest of our interior house choices are pretty conservative and neutral so I thought this might be an opportunity we have to do something a little bolder and fun (only DH and I will see on a daily basis). But I am worried about getting tired of it, it going out of style, and having the "what was I thinking" forehand smack in a few years. I haven't seen the Daltile in person yet. I will do that next.

I agree with all the points you just mentioned and that would be enough reasons for me not to go with the mosaics.

I like very much the picture Karen Rose posted. It is classy and not as plain as the shower you posted at the top.

I know you were not asking about this but I thought I could show it to you anyway. I find it makes the niche look nicer when the bottles are not disparate:

https://www.google.com/search?q=refillable+shampoo+bottle+with+pump&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA770CA770&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi54uHO7NzgAhUm5YMKHa_hBvUQ_AUI2AEoAQ&biw=1536&bih=723

I absolutely love that Daltile City Lights South Beach tile That collection has a lot of beautiful colors and patterns. I just ordered the South Beach mosaic for the niche in my girls’ bathroom remodel. Sometimes a plain tile is best in a niche (for us we have plain subway in office/guest and boys’ bathroom niches). But sometimes you want a nice splash of color; it’s so fun and pretty. We put in a colorful random linear mosaic in our master bath niches and now are putting the city lights in the girls’.

On the comments about niches getting moldy and looking ugly: proper planning, design, placement, sizing, and sloping the solid surface bottom will mitigate those concerns. My friend put one niche in full view which holds an orchid and some smooth pretty stones (think hot stone massage). The other niche is out of view and holds all her shower stuff. Even though it was a splurge to add the extra niche, seeing the orchid and stones when entering the bathroom is a special treat for her and sets the mood for a relaxing shower.

Oops I forgot to say, I do not care for tiled countertop backsplashes in a bathroom. I would recommend a 4-6” splash of the countertop material. For our master, we have marble counters and tub surround. We did 6” marble splashes for the counter and 9” marble splashes for tub surround. The stark lines of demarcation look unattractive to me when people do splashes that are different from the counter. But for some reason, the same lines of demarcation don’t bother me in a niche as long as the mosaic is small. Just my opinion of course.