IMO that is a lot of grout to keep clean in a kids bathroom and if you really want to know print off that picture and color the grout to see if you like it.

@Lyndee Lee This is so helpful - thank you! Do you happen to have the source for the second tile?

In my opinion, the issue with using darker grout is that it can easily be bleached out by using too much water in the mix or in the clean up and that is what looks so bad. This can happen with any shade of grout. But the Flexcolor CQ by Mapei is a highly color consistent grout and would be the recommendation with darker colors. I prefer darker grout with basketweave patterns (or any pattern for that matter - why install a pattern if you are not going to see it??). My biggest issue with the tile you prefer is that I think it will be very slippery when wet and just coming out of the shower; and for kids, they will not be as careful with how they are stepping. Just something to think about. Even though there is a ton of grout that will help give some texture, the surface of the tiles are still incredibly smooth.

Good luck!

The big elephant in the room is how much prep the floor needs to become truly flat enough to be able to do a pattern like that. If it’s out of plane, or has the typical old home crooked walls, a pattern like that will shout. It will shout with a megaphone with dark grout.

You need a top notch tile setter to take care of that prep and to install the tile. I’d also suggest thinking about a solid black border with that used as a “rug” in the center as the focal point. That minimizes the issue with out of square walls. To know how out of square walls yours are, use a straight edge, a framing square, and do a 3-4-5 calculation. Good luck!

https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/homeowners-guide-to-hiring-qualified-tile-installer

Regarding the grout color: I have the traditional hexagonal tiles in white with white grout in a GUEST bathroom. Oh, what I didn’t know.... A dark path developed from door to the toilet. Drove me INSANE. And it’s a guest bath!!! No amount of scrubbing would clean it. I decided to stain it gray and proceeded to cut up little sample strips and lay them on the floor to see what color I liked. Just before I made up my mind, I tried Krud Kutter and a scrub brush, lo and behold, the grime disappeared and I had white grout again.

But I learned my lesson: no white grout on floors ever again. I warned my brother and SIL when they redid the bathroom and they were glad they listened, they chose gray grout.

The second tile was from Mid America tile and I highly recommend them. They have a wide variety of tile at various levels, reasonable prices, full range of tile and setting materials and their employees are very knowledgable. They will work with homeowners whether or not you have a designer with you.

I find Cook's Kitchen perspective to be interesting. My partner and I are well rounded remodelers and experienced tilesetters but that is not our profession. We have done the dark border with inset pattern and I think it is more difficult to make look good with walls out of square. Plus you have to be careful to determine your baseboards and possible shoe before you do the layout so you have the same amount of border showing after installing the trim.

When we do bathroom tile, our usual point of reference is the tub edge and then the doorway. Those are the most visible spaces so we work from them into the walls as those issues are usually hidden behind toilets, sinks and cabinets. Also be very careful to maintain the grout line sizing when putting the sheets down or you will see the lines after grouting

@Lyndee Lee - I just found this post to help decide grout and was wondering if you could elaborate on what you didn't like about the basketweave tile from Floor & Decor (that's what I just bought!!). I'm not doing the install. Using it for a guest shower floor that will not be used much.

The floor and decor tile was more fragile than I expected. The pieces were not well mounted to the backing and the glaze chipped very easily. My biggest issue with Floor and Decor tile is that some products are low end and can be difficult to work with. That store caters to DIY and small contractors and those customers wouldn't have the experience to know whether their issues were related to product, substrate, tools or skill. When you are just starting, learning skills is easier with top quality products and tools.

@Lyndee Lee @User Thank you for your input. I'll keep shopping around for the shower floor areas to be safe!