Is this someone whom you've worked with before so she has a good idea of what your style is? I would think using the same tile everywhere doesn't necessarily mean the same size everywhere. You could use 12" X 24"s on the floor and an oversized subway in the tub/shower surround. If the floor area is small I like brick laid 12" X 12"s. Hexagons are more expensive so they are probably out of the running.

When we moved two years ago the house we bought had an all white secondary bathroom. While I don't know that I would have ever considered doing this, it is very versatile and I would now recommend it. The white floor is my least favorite feature as it shows dirt too easily. But I painted the walls blue and put up a colorful shower curtain and it was good to go. Is there a tub in this bathroom? A shower curtain is great for perking up a neutral bathroom. Do a search on Houzz photos on small bathrooms in the style you like and see if anything comes up that you can use for an inspiration photo.

Here is a photo, which Houzz turned sideways, of a bathroom at our island place. I used the same glass tile from Susan Jablon on the walls and floors in two bathrooms.

kandrewspa.

Yes this contractor did my kitchen 6 years ago. They came in recently took photos and collected many photos that i had printed. Yes she meant same exact tile size, color. Yes there is a tub

We recently redid a similar bath - i didnt want to spend a lot on tile and wanted something very simple - i did want a shiny finish in the tub/shower for easy cleaning and something more matte and less slick for the floor (not sure i would want the same tile for both locations) My approach was to go with simple, less expensive tile and then talk with my tile installer to make sure my choices would not create additional labor costs due to unintentional complexity

ETA (here is our bath and wall/floor tile totaled $670)

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You don't sound enthusiastic about the designer's concept. The monochromatic design she's proposing is popular (meaning it does appeal to a lot of people), but if you designed the bathroom shown above I can see where that wouldn't appeal to you. Can she direct you to a type of tile that will fit your budget and then you could select different sizes or colors to make a more interesting design? There can be small differences in the cost of tile depending on color, but if you want some color you should be able to do that.

I do have to say, however, that doing a bathroom for your budget is going to be challenging unless you're in a low cost area. I don't think it would be possible where I live. Since you're going to have a shower curtain and towels to break up the tile, could you live with monochromatic tile? Is this bathroom used a lot, do you use it? How often are you personally going to be looking at it? Could you spring for an extra 20-50% in cost so you get something you like? It's not like people remodel their bathrooms frequently, so whatever you do you will likely to be looking at it for a long time.

Kandrewspa, The bathroom has to be teared down completely due to plumbing issues.. The bathroom you see on the photo was here when we brought the house six years ago. We have to do two bathrooms because all the plumbing was recently replaced. My goal is to keep this bathroom low cost and spend more on the master, as that is the one that i will see everyday. In order to get what i want i have to spend 30K on this little bathroom. Therefore, i am just going to get it to functional state with 13K and keep the door close. Where do you find this monocromatic bathrooms? She said all tiles must be the same. I won't be having a shower curtain anymore. It will be a tub with a small piece of glass. Thanks for your imput

Thank you la-la Girl. Your bathroom looks lovely. My bathroom requires full demolition. The reason is because we had to recently install all new plumbing allover the house. Most of the money will go to demolition and reconstruction. We are trying to save money here and there to save for the master bath.

We have this in one of our bathrooms- excuse the mess, im home sick and snapped a quick pic, but didnt feel like cleaning up. i actually like it just fine. or at least ive never really given it any thought. its pretty neutral.

Ugh I feel your pain - ours was a full demo too, it took FOREVER (fixtures alone took 10 months to come in and then 2 were damaged) We also had to run all new plumbing through the floor so new subfloor, beadboard, trim, fixtures etc. - I cut corners where I could, so chose a basic Kohler bathtub, pedestal sink etc. I just wanted to suggest there are lots of inexpensive tile options out there - so you may not have to select the same tile for both wall and shower if you prefer something else -

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la-la Girl. Yes same here complete demolishing, pluming and ceiling on a second floor. They want the same tile because is easier and cheaper to install. The cost of installation is the driving factor. The cost of the tile is secondary.

I just designed a reno with two bathrooms in the mix of things. I chose one tile for everything and used different sizes for each space. Tile is porcelain look alike marble. Floor is larger rectangles, shower floor is small squares and walls subway tile. My point, yes use one tile, but mix up the shapes.

judianna20 thank you! Do you have a photo to share?

I am not sure why it would be cheaper to have tile all the same color.

There is expensive white tile and there is relatively inexpensive colored tile.

In my experience size will impact the price of tile as well as the cost of installation. When I remodeled the same tile was more expensive per square foot in 3" x 6" size than a more standard subway size tile and 4" x 4" tiles were less expensive.

Honestly it sounds as if she doesn't want to do any real design work.

Helen she explained that the real cost driver was the labor. While the tile cost can go or down depending the tile it is not a huge increase. By huge i mean by the thousand, However the labor is what is in the thousands. At least how she charges for it. For example a porcelain slab can be quite cheap but the installation costs is more that installing quartz. I won't be able to do slabs of any kind with my 13K budget. Most economical job is done with 24x48 tile of the same kind. This is with the company i am using. Perhaps is different with others.

Here are a few, they are hard to find! I like how they changed the tile direction in the middle picture.

So I can accept the idea that tile size will affect the price, but why does color of the tile matter (or does the increase have to do with overages?) and wouldn’t a shower curtain be much more of a savings than a glass panel in the tub?

Thank you Molly! These are great examples.

Thank you Donald. I will ask these questions.

Cynthia, take a look at shower panels. Installation cost of those should be a lot cheaper, and they are easy to clean. We chose a Kohler shower - base and wall panels - for our lake house. It was cheaper than tile and is easy upkeep.

We are currently gut renovating our master and chose an acrylic shower base. Walls will be tiled to the ceiling, but I liked the ease of cleaning the base, and it cuts a lot of labor.

Verbo thank you for such an opening comment. I read the guide and now i find myself in a better position. I really appreciate your honest and informative answer.

I didn't say " all the same color". I said use one tile and mix up the shapes . Tile shops always carry "in stock" and it cuts the price dramatically. As I said, we found a beautiful tile, in stock, and had it cut to the sizes to ft the application. Two bathrooms done at a fraction of the cost had we been mixing and matching.

Honestly. Some people just don't know how to read and process.