marble on 2 walls + the floor is too busy for me

I would agree it is very busy and if your bathroom is small, the grey color on the floor could shrink your space but possibly a simple white floor tile could work.

@andyran Forgot to mention I am going to use the size 32*32 tile which is the size on the floor in the picture. I think the larger tile makes it a little bit better because the veining will be more continuously than smaller tile.

@hu818472722 I might use a gray which is lighter than the gray tile in the picture, but still not a very light gray because the wall tile and the floor tile should have some contrast. I did not pay attention to the fact that darker color will make room smaller. Thanks to bring that out.

If I didn’t want to spend a lot of money I’d take down the gray tiles and replace it with horizontals of stained sealed dark wood (and maybe throw a fake mink rug on the floor. ;)

Too busy for me. And large polished tiles on the floor look slippery and dangerous. I do like marble, but IMO it's prettier on the horizontal surfaces such as countertop, curb, top of pony wall, tub decking, and sometimes the floor, although I prefer a dark, quiet floor with no movement. The marble in your picture has a lot of pattern and movement. Being on the walls just puts it front and center and in your face. I would tire of that. Not relaxing to me, and I want my bathroom to be more calm and relaxing.

I'm not seeing a complete bath -- where's the vanity and toilet? shower? you might get more overwhelmed if your space is actually much smalller...

Way too busy for me. The grey wall seems quite out of place.

Do you love this? Really love this? Then do it. We’re using a multi-blue veined porcelain tile on our shower walls and main floor. It’s going to be bright, and bold. Both of us love this tile, so in it goes. The bath will not be to everyone’s taste. But everyone doesn’t live here.

I think consistency in tile choices is the right move for smaller bathrooms. This particular pattern is too large for a small bathroom. A softer pattern would look better and still have the same feel. I agree the gray wall is “too much”. Something more the same color as the floor would help keep the room feeling larger. You have to do what makes you happy, so look for a tile with lighter colored veining.

I agree the gray wall does not work at all withe the marble look. But i would do a 12 x324 porcelain tile on the bathroom floor and the shower walls in a small space to keep things simple then use accessories to geive you some interest that way when you tire of an accent color all you need to do is change those things. I love real marble bathrooms but not fake and IMO you need a larger space to pull them off well. BTW 12 x24 tile is much simpler to work with and I like it in a stacked pattern with matching grout and I would not do whaite tile and grout in a bathroom

@Patricia Colwell Consulting Thank you very much for your suggestions. The reason I like to do larger tile is because those marble looking tile is very hard to match veining and with larger tile we need to match less tiles which will make final result less clutter.

Do you mean it is better to do something other than marble looking tile in a small bathroom? What else you do suggest? I have been looking for a while. It is hard to find anything I really really like.

@teamaltese The reasons I want to pick this tile initially are :

1. It is 32*32 which is large enough to me to make more continuous looking of veining. I wanted to do larger tile because there is less tile to match veining.

2. This pattern makes the final result seem like one piece a little bit. A lot of other marble looking tile feels very disordered like the floor tile in the following picture.

@RedRyder Do you have any recommendations? Solid color tile? concrete looking tile? Other than those, I could not find anything with subtle pattern.

I would say the tile is great. However, I would change the look of the Roman style pillars. I think that is what throws it all off

Sky1122 if it is the "disordered" veining you don’t like in smaller tile, I’d look for 24x48 inch, or larger porcelain tiles. But I think, given your remarks, and break in the veining might bother you. Rather than something with a distinct veining, maybe something more cloud-like, with movement, but not so graphic, might be better.

Here’s the tile we’re using for our bath renovation.

Sky1122. Oops, posted before I was finished. I’m not worried about the veining, I love the strong look.

A light wood look tile possibly, would warm it up or lighter grey wall and similar tone floor but agree that the 12 x 32 would be a more suitable size for your bathroom. I like the bottom bathroom and how they continued the floor tile in the same horizontal pattern but switched it up on the floor introducing a running bond pattern, makes it more interesting.

What if I do the following combination? The standing up marble looking tile for wall + hexagon marble looking tile for shower floor and the bottom gray tile for the rest of the bathroom?

The vertical marble look tile for walls and hexagons for shower floor? That makes sense. Would help to know how much wall you're looking to tile as well.

@teamaltese You are right. The breakage of the veining does bother me. I do try to find the combination of size and pattern to make the breakage less noticeable.

There is a picture of our master bath. I will tile the whole wall of that 89" which will be the shower on the right and the toilet on the left. Plus the 40" shower wall. We will do curbless shower. The vanity is on the wall left to the door.

@tartanmeup Yes. Vertical tile for wall and hexagon for shower floor. Or maybe find something similar to the gray tile next to hexagon tile making the whole floor flow together. But hu818472722 mentioned darker floor shrinks rooms.

How is the toilet oriented? Is it installed on the 108" wall or the 89" wall? The tiles will be matte, not glossy?

@tartanmeup On 89" wall. I am thinking glossy tile. There is a window on 108 wall, but the day light is still not very bright.

Is there enough space for the toilet on the 89" wall with the 48" shower? Recommended clearance is 15" on each toilet side, IIRC.

I think limiting the large marble looking tile to only one surface is a good idea - will make it look less busy. What are you going to do for your vanity? I may have missed it. If you are going to use the three tiles in your above photo, I would use a wood vanity in order to add some warmth to the bathroom. I really like the first photo tartanmeup posted above.

Is that the actual size of the gray tile? I think it will make the floor look busy with all thise grout lines. I am currently renovating my master bathroom and using marble on the shower walls/tub surround with marble hexagons for the shower floor. I just had 4x12 slate tile installed in a herringbone pattern on the floor. I am using a wood stained custom floating vanity. My floor isn’t grouted yet so no photo to add - but it will look like this (but the grout will be a warm light gray - not white):

There are many photos of marble bathrooms with slate floors if you do a search:

You could use large rectangular tiles:

Or install large square ones on a diagonal:

I also like the large hexagon slate tiles

If you don’t like slate, you could use a porcelain tile instead

FYI - slate tiles are NOT slippery even though some people think they are. Also, as long as you purchase quality ones (I purchased Brazilian slate), they are extremely durable and are not porous. Once they are sealed, the upkeep is MINIMAL. One of my dogs actually vomited on my slate tile (installed in a different bathroom) before it was sealed - and it sat there overnight before I found it. I cleaned it up with water and there was no damage.

I think that small bathrooms are one room where you are allowed to let your imagination be a little bit freer than in say, the kitchen; that being said, I like the tile work in the your example picture, the columns and mirrored furniture, not so much.

I think limiting the large marble looking tile to only one surface is a good idea - will make it look less busy. What are you going to do for your vanity? I may have missed it. If you are going to use the three tiles in your above photo, I would use a wood vanity in order to add some warmth to the bathroom. I really like the first photo tartanmeup posted above.

Is that the actual size of the gray tile? I think it will make the floor look busy with all thise grout lines. I am currently renovating my master bathroom and using marble on the shower walls/tub surround with marble hexagons for the shower floor. I just had 4x12 slate tile installed in a herringbone pattern on the floor. I am using a wood stained custom floating vanity. My floor isn’t grouted yet so no photo to add - but it will look like this (but the grout will be a warm light gray - not white):

If you want less variation in the slate tile, you just simply use an enhancing sealer. I haven’t decided whether I’m going to enhance mine or not. I like the natural look - and I’m using real Carrara marble so it won’t have the dramatic veins like your porcelain tile.

There are many photos of marble bathrooms with slate floors if you do a search.

You could use large rectangular tiles:

Or install large square ones on a diagonal:

I also like the large hexagon slate tiles

If you don’t like slate, you could use a porcelain tile instead

FYI - slate tiles are NOT slippery even though some people think they are. Also, as long as you purchase quality ones (I purchased Brazilian slate), they are extremely durable and are not porous. Once they are sealed, the upkeep is MINIMAL. One of my dogs actually vomited on my slate tile (installed in my laundry room) before it was sealed - and it sat there overnight before I found it. I cleaned it up with water - and there was no damage. She’s lucky that she’s so cute . . .

@User It is the previous layout. We even removed the wall between shower and the toilet.

@dani_m08 Thank you very much for all the info and pictures. The gray tile is just a sample I got. It is not actual size. I am very confused now. I saw a lot of designs on Houzz.com which use busier marble looking tile on the regular size shower which is typically rather small, or in regular size bathroom. I also read some articles mentioning larger tile works fine in small room. I do not know which way to go now. Totally lost.

To me, the herringbone pattern with contrast grout line is a little busy too.

BTW, she is so cute.

Thanks for posting , posing question & being so open to advise. This was imho a very interesting thread.

How about those tiles?

I like the tiles in bathroom you posted on the 25th. Large marble look tiles on walls and plain hexagons on floor. Not sure about the warm metal hardware here though.

The other 2 tiles you posted above that white bathroom aren’t as nice, imo.

You must be in Michigan! That setup in the Tile Store caught my eye as well. The tile is a little busy to me and seems slippery.

I like the example that @tartenmeup posted first. The veining is more subtle. But the other option here is to only do the shower walls in the large veined tiles and do complementary tiles on the floors. Large gray hexagons would be good with the first photo you posted. I don’t think a dark floor makes the bathroom look smaller. It grounds the white walls. And adding a wood vanity, or a dark vanity would help too. The problem with all large slab busy marble isn’t just the veining. It’s that the room looks like a cold white box. (Adding that gray wall in your initial post didn’t help things either.) But start with your walls. A soft grey large slate tile for the floors would, IMO, look elegant.

Have you been looking at porcelain tiles? They’re done in similar-to-marble patterns and more reasonably priced.
I also prefer black hardware or a softer brass than a lot of these photos show. But we’re not up to those yet.

Found two low movement tiles yesterday. Unfortunately both of the colors do not work. The first one has noticeable purple undertone on my wall. Another problem is that this tile only comes in with polished finish making it unusable on the bathroom floor. The second one has noticeable blue undertone. It is not noticeable in the pictures. Maybe there is no way to find a perfect tile.

Anybody knows some lighter probably white color tile with the pattern similar to the first one?

@tc9876 You are right. I am in Michigan^-^. I think it is too busy too. I feel like the reason why it does not feel too busy in the showroom is that the showroom is only a small part of the huge open store. If I use it in an actual small bathroom, it is going to feel busy. I need to find something else.

@RedRyder I remember last time you suggested using same tile on the wall and the floor to make the space larger, am I right? I can not decide if I am going to do all the same tile or match different tiles on the wall and the floor.

You could try a narrow striated tile. I am using the tile shop rivergrass (papyrus color) floor with my botticino marble shower And I love the floor brings out the gray in the botticino and cuts down the pinkish color. You can also use lighter floor with dark grout to match the dark in the marble or darker with light grout. Lighting and wall color also plays into it. As you shop you will refine your style to get what you want. I layed out the marble pattern i wanted in my family room for 3’ c 5’ shower, instead of leaving it to the tile setter‘s thoughts since I don’t want it too busy. Good luck

Marble is back in style!

You will see more marble in the future, for surfaces such as walls, countertop and backsplash.

I think you mentioned a curb less shower above and in order to use the larger format tiles you would need to be able to slope your floor (shave off portions of floor joists) in order to accommodate a linear floor drain commonly used with large format tiles. Another issue with the larger format tiles is that you may fit 3 or 4 but if it doesn't cover the whole floor you would be left with a just a sliver of your larger format tile which would be odd. So deciding if the linear drain would be feasible would be important for choosing your floor tile. Also, maybe the whole wall of the marble look tile complicates your floor tile choice? Here they ended the shower tile and painted around the toilet area, note the centered drain in the shower which may be a more cost effective option. The tile shop has a 10" hex tile in silver, a light grey tone which could coordinate with your wall tile as well.

I was referring to the same tile on the shower walls and floor. If you love what you do in the shower (both planes) and do that tile on the rest of the floor, the room does get larger. But with certain tiles, it can start leaning towards a cold storage unit. That’s why this is so hard. The right tile everywhere can either work, or look “too much”. That is why I like the subtle veining in carrera marble. It can be a whole room and not overwhelm.
With busier marbles and porcelains, I prefer a darker floor to “ground” the design (like you originally posted).
This is why designers are sometimes needed. You’re getting great help here.

To the original author Sky- what did you end up doing? I liked a lot the original idea, I love it, but Im not pro…I would assume the showrooms are done by pro, so they can appeal to alot of people … but in this post not a lot of people liked it…