I remodeled my MB last year and am a frequent commenter here (it's a hobby :-)). So I have seen tons of pictures and know what people are doing these days. No matter what the style, keeping things simple is what is popular right now. There's something to be said for it as for a lot of people if there is too much going on it loses its appeal sooner and becomes stylistically dated more quickly. However, I agree with you that too much simplicity is boring. I put a tile backsplash on my vanity even though that isn't usually peoples' choice right now. I'm planning on never moving again either, so I got to please myself. So I can get behind your backsplash idea, especially since it echos what's in the shower, but I would simplify the floor. If you feel more strongly about keeping the floor, simplify the backspash - just use the counter material. So do one or the other, not both. I just used plain white subway in my shower, but I like your accent idea. If you keep the floor detail and don't do the detailed backsplash think about how the shower is going to relate to the floor. What is going to be on the floor of the shower?

I'm ok not doing the inset on the floor, but I need at least one "bold" element in this bathroom and the striped shower is not really it. Floor of the shower is planned to be a basket weave (from the same line as the main floor). Its ok, but not my favorite. If I need to simply, that is what needs to go! I wanted a penny round . Can't remember why she convinced me not to do that. Same thing with the shower stripes - they were my suggestion and I like them, but if we need to simplify, then the stripes can go...but she clearly wants to keep them. I don't think she intends to, but she is subtly pushing me to accept her design decisions.

You could go bold with the wall color and accessories and striking art work; items easily changed when you tire of them.

I hear you msjoan...and that is certainly the "sensical" approach, but I am a lover of tile! I would love to use one tile in this master that I absolutely love and will enjoy every time I see it (or at least tile that I am not indifferent to, which is how I feel about everything I currently have going on other than the calacatta...and in a penny round shape, and just a small element in the shower, it just isn't that tile). I am loving this bathroom, below. Floor is a little bolder than mine (in person it is a really subtle tile....) and it has that "wow" tile behind the tub. I would not do THAT tile, but this, with those black doors...that has just that element of "drama" I'm missing now I think. Maybe I just need to take the shower all white, do a slightly more impactful porcelain marble floor and then I can do one wow tile either behind my vanities or behind my tub? Still want my walnut look vanity though. Workable maybe?

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I prefer busy, bold, & colorful, so take the following with a grain of salt. I think your choices will turn out great. What would be really cool is instead of the basket weave or penny tile in the shower, do the shower the same as the floor, including the border.

Can your designer find an elegant maximalist design they do support? Talk you through how you can tweak things to achieve a better design similar to the example with your end goals? If the feedback is all about creating a simplified look that you don't desire, I am not sure how helpful the designer is. Can you talk through your concerns about fit between the two of you?

Best to post a floor plan and photos of the actual materials. Tile distribution / overall placement in a room has to be weighed with the visual of the actual materials - for you to receive accurate advise.

Sorry I'm on the simple/less is more bus. This is a room only you will ever see. It's not a public space. I just do not see why anyone would make a MB a show room. Then again go as garish as you please since no one will ever know.

Floor plan is below I could start a whloe new thread about my designer dilemma. She is a lovely lady with good skill putting tile together. Her selections look good together. Where she hasnt been helpful is helping me advance MY design. I am looking for something with a TOUCH of what you might call an art deco vibe. Below is pretty much the idea i started with (pics off the internet put together, not actual products). I love that floor-but I‘m the only one who ever suggested products to get me there (and you can see where I ended up.) I think she just wants me to make a decision at this point. I have changed my mind on the floor (not most of the rest) several times. Mostly my fault here because I didnt say no as we moved through the selections even though I wasn’t excited about them. I should have gone back to my inspiration pictures from time to time and I would have realized it sooner. I know she will be rolling her eyes when I tell her the floor we have now must change, but deleting the herringbone/border made me realize I dont love just the basic tile on its own. I dont have to have the checkerboard floor below, but I want a bolder black and white look. I have 2 possibilities at the end of this post.

These are both lighter in person. Camera makes the darker/more distinct. First is the one I selected (and want to change). its pretty subtle in person (both are shown with my countertop).

and possible replacements are…

I would start all over--there is definitely too much going on in this room. Your inspiration room uses three tiles, as opposed to the five you show in your photo. The floor tile and the counter top are too much alike, but not quite the same. The penny tile in the shower competes with the black liner tile on the floor. And you mention that you plan on introducing another pattern (basketweave) on the shower floor?

Keeping it simple isn't "what's popular right now," it's just good design. You don't want the room to look like a tile showroom, which is what your heading for now.

Select one tile that you love and add one, maybe two, additional tiles that work with it. It's not going to be boring, it will be classic and look good for a long time.

Do you really want to be on a ladder dusting the chandelier every month?

ocotillaks - I have a 15' tall ceiling at the highest point of my bathroom...I really can't avoid the ladder thing (and I need the light of a chandelier. Ceiling lights that high up don't do enough). It absolutely IS a pain, but from a lighting perspective, I do think its necessary.

I want my bathroom to be a little "moody" maybe. A little "dramatic". I don't want the all gray or all white bathroom everyone else is doing. I DO understand its better not to go overboard, but I at least want to be able to see the ocean from the railing...

Diana Bier - "The floor tile and the counter top are too much alike, but not quite the same." The countertop is picked (Cambria Ironsbridge). No going back on that now. What color/style of tile on the floor would you see working with it? I am never going to get a tile that looks more like the countertop than what I have already found, but how about the darker marble tile in my post above (the one with "this one" in yellow written on it).

How about a black and white porcelain basketweave that runs from the floor into the shower as well? Then use a plain white tile with the small black accent tiles as a liner? I'd use two lines of two, more than that is a bit busy.

Or use a large (6") charcoal gray hex on the main floor, and a 2" gray hex in the shower.

If you've already committed to the quartz counter top, that's fine, but don't add real marble--it just doesn't look good and you'll never match it.

I do love a marble basket weave. I decided early on that I was going to avoid real marble (I have it now and I haven't really had any problems, but it is a "traverine" looking tumbled marble, so I have a feeling it hides wear a lot better than other marbles might....so I decided not to tempt fate.) Nice looking porcelain basket weaves that look like marble are harder to find (I am not a fan of the solid colors). There are a bare handful of porcelain basket weaves that my designer's store had - mostly bigger scale or not marble look). I identified a few online but they ended up being discontinued/not one of the lines my designer's store carries (even though they have that manufacturer) and many were larger scale as well. If you have ideas on a few tile lines to check out for this kind of a look, I would welcome the suggestions.

I'll mention that adding black appropriately can help give you the Arte Deco vibe you seek.

Novabell Imperial Michaelangelo has a decent porcelain basketweave (not the most realistic up close, but its going to be on the floor....)

And this one is a nice porcelain as well - warmer than a typical black and white (and a little pricey for the large amount of floor space I have): https://www.tileshop.com/products/livingston-melange-gold-and-nero-basketweave-porcelain-mosaic-wall-and-floor-tile-12-x-12-in-681624?epik=dj0yJnU9TVluVHFFeXgtUWpac1A4bTdvTm9ucUR0bXJoTlNIRUgmcD0wJm49Tm0tLUU4Z2dIaG85Qk5TYy00RzFtUSZ0PUFBQUFBR05ZR0lN

I did some editing overnight. I can’t find a porcelain basketweave that I like, so I focused on some porcelain marble looks. I have seen both in person, and designer agreed they both could work. Thoughts on whether this is a better direction? I am leaning towards the bolder tile on the right.

This is one of my favorite bathroom designs…thought I would share…the herringbone flooring is fabulous!

Home Interiors - I have this one bookmarked too...its lovely. I do love a good herringbone floor.

That lovely bathroom shows the same marble on the counter top and the floor, which is why it works so well.

Matching a countertop and floor would certainly be easy (and ideal) but if you aren't using marble, its impossible (which means the vast majority of remodels aren't able to achieve that). I feel like my 2 selections above are reasonable alternatives.

This is why a comprehensive plan is the best way to start a project. Selecting items one by one, with no overall plan, almost guarantees that you will make things more difficult than they need to be. Good luck with your project!

Kim, I like your ”A” choice in your latest board. In the photo of it, it has a base color close to the countertop base color. It is subtle like the countertop. I believe that the bolder ”B” choice will make your nice, expensive Cambria look like a second-runner-up. You could do a herringbone with the subtler ”A” tile, just like in the photo posted by Home Interiors With Ease. Your simple subway shower in white will look fine in the room with these choices, just as your white sinks will.

A bolder look would be to go with the Livingston gold and black basketweave. You could use the Livingston 2x2 mosaics for the shower floor if you did not want the basketweave in both places. Your black border could still be used, then, and you would be blowing a kiss at the Art Deco look you like. I think the reason I advocate for the bold basketweave but do not like the bolder veined ”B” tile is !.) I think I see a touch of beige or gold in your Cambria when I look at their pictures online, 2.) The basketweave pattern is what one will notice with that choice, not that there is another ”marbly” look on the floor, and 3.) My eye is not likely to go back and forth and compare the basketweave to the pattern of marbling in the counter, but I WILL do that with a marble-looking floor tile, weighing to see how the colors and marbling streaks complement or contrast each other. I am really sensitive to textures and my mind won’t settle when faced with two similar, nonmatching patterns. Remember, too, that the floor tile will be a mish-mash of marbly lines starting and stopping on each tile, not a flowing surface of marbling, like the counter has. Also, the lightest color on the ”B” tile is close to the white of the shower, With the base color of the counter being non-white, it would look out of place in my eye. Two elements (floor and shower walls) having something in common, but not the third item. I have no training in this, so take it with that in mind. My opinions are just gut reactions of someone who is deeply wierded out when things are ”close, but no cigar” and my eye can’t make sense of them.

Nance, I understand all your points and I agree. I like the living stone gold but haven’t gotten a sample yet bc it’s a rather expensive tile (almost $40/sf). I’d definitely need to restrict it to the main bathroom area and use the matching subway tile for everything else if I were going to do that. Ironic that real marble is less expensive in many cases!

I also like your A option! And sorry to add another option, but I also think a grey and white checkerboard floor would look amazing 🤩

Went to a different tile store and came up with better options than anything else I have found (but now I feel like I cheated on the designer I have spent so much time with even though I never felt good about the selections we were making).

“B” is real marble and gorgeous - and expensive. I found it online at $62/sf. Definitely a “rug” use only, and I would not want the rest of the floor to be marble so it begs the question of what tile to do around it (solid color porcelain I’m guessing). This tile has a lovely warm undertone and the color of the dot is perfect-not too light/not too dark. If I found a non marble to go with it it would be my #1 pick.

“A” is porcelain and really brings out the warmth in the Cambria. The veins are subtly warm. The dot of the basketweave is like a brown/black and really works well. It is really a good looking tile. The basketweave is a little bigger than I typically like, but I could see doing that as a rug as well or just sticking with the basic subway version of this tile for the main floor. This might have been a #1 pick had I not found that marble tile!

No question B the marble basket weave..gorgeous with your vanity top.

Hi Kim and Home Interiors with Ease, it has a long time since I have been on Houzz. I apologize if on your thread. Home Interiors with Ease is awesome! Once you have an opportunity, Home Interiors with Ease, can you please visit my thread. I need your expertise! Thank you

The marble basketweave is simply too expensive to even be a rug in the middle of my floor (and it only comes in polished, which I understand should be a "no-no" for a bathroom floor from a slipperiness perspective). There is just too much floor area unless I want to do a little "stripe" down the middle, which I am not a fan of. If I'm going to do a "rug", I think it should sit under the front feet of my vanities just like I would want a real rug in my living room to sit under some portion of my furniture and not be an "island".

Would it be "crazy" to find a sold/solid-ish porcelain tile for the floor and use the basketweave to create a border?