I need to see the whole bathroom but I like 12 x24 porcelain tile plain for both bathroom floors and shower walls .

what are your plans for remodel? vanity, floor, and I hope you're painting the walls. that color is horrible w/what you have in there.

need more info. You can do any size tile you like based on the design you're going with.

here's a before and after, similar size

this flooring is a marble herringbone mosaic, comes in a 12x12 sheet

Hex tiles

@Patricia Colwell Consulting I've updated my post. For 12 x 24 tile, if I lay the long side of the tile across the walkway (to make the walkway look wider), would a grid or brick pattern look weird given how narrow the walkway is?

@Beth H. I've updated my post. Thank you for the photos.

Would you dislike the tile if you could change/refresh the grout? Lots of before and after pics online for grout paint.

don't lay it the short way. it chops up the room.

I did find a similar sized bathroom to yours w/it laid side to side.

This doesn't give a chopped up look probably because the tile is the same color as the walls and the modern vanity. the same color flows so it doesn't chop up the angles.

BTW, if you like that shower tile, it's Home Depot Montgomery. comes in a few colors and large sizes. I've done a shower in the black for someone else and it turned out very nice.

Another similar sized bathroom remodel using wood-look tiles side to side.

They do this to keep the room from looking too long and thin. if you run them the way of the wall, you could get a bowling alley look.

But if you use the 24X24 or 18X18" tiles, you won't have to worry about this

See? these are prob 9x9 size.

Youre bathroom is identical to this layout.

this one too

Even a hex tile would be better: (do a wall mount faucet like shown here:

(if you take out the tub and do a shower)

if you MUST do 12x24, go the length of the wall. personally I'd use an 18x18 or 24x24 tile. less grout lines, makes the floor look larger. use something like the Emser Terrazio tile.

https://www.homedepot.com/s/terrazio%20tile?NCNI-5

Looks like this in the 12x24 size. (they have the 24" x24" size too. which I prefer)

or this one is nice too

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ivy-Hill-Tile-Terra-Italia-Bianco-23-62-in-x-23-62-in-Honed-Marble-Terrazzo-Floor-and-Wall-Tile-3-87-sq-ft-Each-EXT3RD106971/317977196

Looks like this in the shower. it's 24X24.

Home Depot has it. goes w/just about every design.

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Flooring-Tile/Bathroom/N-5yc1vZar0yZ1z0jqw4

If you give me an idea of what you want to spend and the design you like, we can help.

are you changing out the vanity or painting?

do undermount sinks.

get a new light and paint that wall anything but yellow.

For the floor, I would stay away from the 12x24 tile.

if you can't do a large square one, do a mosaic. (see below pics)

about 15 yrs ago we bought a house that had nothing done to it since it's build in 1980.

This was one of the bathrooms.

I did all the tiling myself. it was one of my first big jobs (I made some mistakes that I've since learned not to do) Everything was bought on a bargain, even the tile.

This tile floor in the pic is a marble basketweave mosaic on a sheet. comes in a porcelain lookalike too if you don't want marble.

The vanity was a vintage wood chest I had painted. remnant marble top, marble vessel sink on sale,

not sure if you're on a budget, but if you know how to DIY and shop, you can do it!

another remodel I found. this one has similar mosaic sheet tile on the floor

My hall bathroom is long and narrow and had tile similar to yours. When I updated the bathroom I opted for 24” square tile for the floor and matching 12x24 for the tub/shower walls. Here are some before and after photos.

@ J from Lakes Country That's a really good consideration. It could definitely help, but for my case, I want to change the size/look of the tile itself as well. Appreciate your suggestion.

@ BeverlyFLADeziner This is very cool and helpful, thank you!

@ Beth H. : Wow lots of great ideas! I can see what you mean about the 12" x 24" tile chopping up the room if laid the wrong way. I really like the cozy organic look of the Home Depot Montgomery in the photo you shared. I was considering wood-like tile for the floor to make my bathroom walkway look wider, but I have engineered wood right outside the bathroom, so engineered wood adjacent to wood-like tile is a bit too weird for me. Wall-mount faucet is pretty neat, I had never thought of that. I indeed want to make the floor look bigger and reduce grout lines so besides 12" x 24", I'm leaning towards 18" x 18" as you mentioned. 24" x 24" might be too tricky for the installer to level as my bathroom is on the second floor and there's a chance the subfloor is not very flat. I would say the main focus areas for my renovation would probably be the tiles, paint, and lighting (everything else is more like a nice to have). That's such a beautiful makeover for your 1980 bathroom, and it's really impressive you did all the tiling yourself and got everything at sale price!

@ badgergal Fantastic update to your bathroom, and your tile choices make the room look significantly more spacious!

My Italian ceramic wood look tiles are 6” X 24”. I have narrow and long floors in my bathrooms.

@ JAN MOYER Thank you, those are great suggestions that would drastically improve the look of my bathroom despite several large elements remaining in place. You make a really good point about holding off on changing the tile until a bigger reno. I'm going to need to put more thought into how much I want to do right now.

@ kculbers Thank you for sharing, I'm a big fan of that particular wood look, and the color of your cabinets go so nicely with it!

Agree with Jan - in my mind, there 2 approaches to baths: more of a “gut” where everything pretty much comes out or a ”refresh” where finishes are updated but the fixtures tend to stay -

I think you could really improve the look of this bath with some minor cosmetic changes. If it were me, I would do some online research for ”bath refresh or update” and see what I liked - simple changes like framing the mirror (online DIY kits), changing the lighting, painting the walls and/or vanity, adding a rug, and maybe even replacing the shower doors with a custom shower curtain (Etsy has them) would go such a long way. But i think first you need to figure out the look you want

@ la_la Girl Very well put, thank you. I seem to be straddling the line between the two approaches, so really should put more thought into this.

Good call ' more thought" ! Because no matter the tile, without a whole lot of other more expensive changes? It is the same bath : ( .....meaning, top, vanity cabinet , drop in sinks, faucet , etc.

Most of the tile can hide under a colorful runner!

Very good points by Jan and lalagirl.

Also, think about how breaking up the tile impacts everything that sits on it. Once you break up the tile, isn't that going to impact where the toilet meets the tile? Is the tile underneath the vanity? You're opening up a whole can of worms. Better to make cosmetic refreshes for little money, and save for a gut reno.

And Beth, are you Wonder Woman????? LOL!

Call 1 800 B.E.T.H ...........: )

For a good looking everything lol

Hahaha Jan!

I'd paint the walls a non-yellow white. White Paint Colors | Sherwin-Williams

Using a 1/16" small grinding wheel, safety glasses and a dust mask I'd remove the dark grout. Regrout with urethane or epoxy grout to match the color of the existing tile. This will give you the monolithic look floor this space wants. Super low cost with a new Toto toilet.

Tractor Supply has the cutoff disc.

KCulbers, do you remember the name of your bathroom wood-look tile?

@ JAN MOYER Right.

@ Diana Bier Interiors, LLC That's true, removing tile would indeed be quite the disruptive process, especially if done while leaving lots of other things in place.

@ dan1888 I'm thinking to paint the walls white like you mentioned to lighten up my bathroom. And thank you for sharing the cost-saving idea of re-grouting a create a monolithic space. I do still plan to change the tile at some point to get a different design but will take care to pick a very closely matching grout to achieve such effect and make the bathroom feel bigger.

James, if you're on a budget, can you do some simple DIY projects? If you must keep that vanity, paint it. change the hardware.

This green could work nicely w/your black granite. You'd have to get a black faucet, something a little higher like shown below. there are some inexpensive ones. Also, get some simple molding to go around your mirror and paint it black. new light. shower curtain (to conceal the shower until you can redo)

Did you know you can paint that ceramic tile floor? until you can save enough to do the whole bathroom, it's worth a shot. I can give you a link to it if you're interested. You'd do a solid base coat,

and then do something simple like this triangle, randomly, w/a similar green shade.

Or, get a stenciland do something like this (there are tons of designs you could do and combos of colors)

If you want to do a white vanity, here ya go. New light, black frame, black or nickel hardware, paint the tile in a black/white stencil design, Boho shower curtain, wall color white, and paint your bathroom door this Wrought Iron shade.

Here's how that looks w/the black and white

some other color combos

You could also frame your mirror with wood, or some other type of color molding. (just google "how to frame vanity mirror". This reclaimed wood frame would look good w/the color combo right above^

Have you ever painted something like that? it's not difficult. You need to remove the doors (number them) to a place where you can sand everything (the cab itself you'll sand in the bathroom)with a 150 grit, then do a 220, and finally a 320. when done, wipe w/mineral spirits, Prime w/Zinsser oil base primer. I get the spray can because it's a lot easier. (you'll have to cover everything in your bathroom while spraying the cabinet. otherwise, use a brush and a can of the primer). once it's all primed, sand w/a 220 grit very lightly just to smooth out the rough feeling. Use your hands to feel the finish top coat. clean and wipe w/a damp rag. Make sureyou wipe everytthing thats getting painted.

I suggested the shower curtain to hide the current shower tile. Don't do that until you're ready to do everything else. You could have the shower tile epoxy coated w/a bright white. cost is about $400 or so. I'd get rid of those shower doors for now. Or, give them a really good cleaning. you can still use the shower curtain to cover it though.

You said you liked that montgomery tile (the ribbon one) Here it is in the black (comes in white and gray too)

this isn't completely wiped and clean, so keep that in mind. you could remove your tub and just do a shower like this

This is a porcelain floor tile

Or, here's that Emser Terrazio tile in the black. would look nice w/the white vanity and your black granite (unless you plan on completely changing all of that

In that case you could do a new vanity w/diff top, and do the shower and floor like this. Notice the shower doors.

black floor, shower floor and white shower tile walls and vanity. notice how they did the art over the towel bar and a shower curtain. no tub.

as for the vanity, if you can't paint, look on craigslist or facebook marketplace for a good deal on vanities. sometimes you luck out and can find one w/sink and countertop included.

HU-910663146: My bathroom Italian wood look porcelain tile is made by “Energie Kerr”. It is very strong: grade 4.

@ Beth H. : Hi Beth, I'm indeed on a budget, so I had figured I would professionally target just 2 or 3 aspects of the bathroom. But now I'm thinking to save one or more of those for a bigger reno while opting for simpler changes in the meantime. I'm not super handy, but really appreciate the abundant tips and tricks you provided that a regular person can handle. Thank you also for the various visual aids and design wisdom in general. Btw, I had no idea tile can be painted! I've done quite some Googling and reading on tile but had never come across this! For now, I'm leaning towards simply putting a rug over it all as that agrees more with my skillset lol. The montgomery tile in black looks nice! I've never really considered black tile yet can't help but notice the aesthetics based on your photos. Thanks again for all your time and advice.