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HELP with bathroom tile selection!

last year

I am having the worst time choosing a bathroom tile for our Master bath (shower walls (24x48, shower floor, bathroom floor) as well as 2 guest baths (12x24) & down to the wire of needing to make a decision ASAP. I am a very visual person & have found it incredibly difficult to make a choice from samples with no real application photos to see patterns/color variations etc especially after finding out that some of the samples I am choosing from are older versions and die lots could be different. I am looking for modern/contemporary/minimalist elegant look with just a slight amount of color/pattern variation, NO movement - more of neutral light color that could be considered warm but without having a beige tint.....trying not to be too cool or too warm. After looking online it seems like the patterns that have a concrete look are catching my eye but wondering if anyone has any photos along the lines of what I am looking for with the tile info....maybe something like this photo...I will have Delta Champagne bronze & Brizo Luxe gold fixtures in the bathrooms.


Comments (15)

  • last year

    boy, there are a lot of concrete-look large-format tiles, and every time I find one I like, it's discontinued a year later. so I think you just have to go to big tile shops and grab some samples. I can say that the look above is very low texture, so look for that in your samples.

  • last year

    Thank you

  • PRO
    last year

    There is no substitute for seeing the product in person. Online photos do not render reality. Go to an independent tile store, not one of the big box stores, for the best quality. If you have a Porcelanosa store in your area, they have lots of large format modern looking tiles.

  • PRO
    last year

    There is no substitute for putting samples in place. The orientation and light that falls on the tile will definitely affect your selection.

  • last year

    @NorwoodArchitects Thank you-yes I have gotten some samples but when I have inquired further I was told that samples I have could be / most likely are outdated and also that die lots different from size of tile to also glossy vs matte so if color is very important the. How does one make that decision? I thought I had my mind made up yesterday only to get this information from the distributor when I called them direct. Online photo looked absolutely nothing like the sample I had and while I understand shading is off from online pics -it literally looked a completely different color so my concern was I was going to be making a decision on a sample that could be outdated & not relevant to the most recent….her only suggestion was for me to order a box of each size from each particular die lot for sampling. That is just nuts!

  • last year

    Usually tile samples in showrooms are not that far off from current dye lots. Don’t let that stress you out. Go off the showroom samples - not online images. And grout selection is actually more important for the look you are going for so be extra vigilant with color matching to the showroom tile sample. Then, just make sure your order is from the same dye lot and you will be fine.

  • PRO
    last year

    I like 12 x24 porcelain tile in a color that wotks with the decor in any bedroom attached to the bathroom I use the same tile on batroom floor, shower or tub walls and the same agin only smaller for the shower floor . IMO this keeps the bathroom simple so that down the road you can change wall color, accents etc without having to rip out tile. I like a stack horizontal install for the floor and the walls too. Yes you need to bring home samples but remeber tiles have lot #s and when you oder make sure all are the same lot # for each space for sure . Make sure you also order at least 10% more than you need too.

  • PRO
    last year

    Forget online pictures. Most of the time they are only good for seeing any movement to the pattern or a general essence of what it will look like.

    We do bathrooms all the time. Some of our tile samples have been here for years. I have never had a customer come back saying the color is totally different so I think you are pretty safe. If you are trying to do an exact match for paint colors, then just wait until you get the tile.

    If you want added piece of mind - find out what the return policy, so if you really don't like it, you can return it for something else.

    Good luck

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    A good look is white tile or white marble for walls, shower walls, and countertop/backsplash.

    Then a medium tone for the floors including a matching shower floor. In your case, not gray floors but tan tile with your gold fixtures. 12x24 for floor, mosaic tile for shower floor.

    It's what we did and a white shower threshold is pretty stunning against the darker flooring.

  • last year

    @DebbieWashburn - I just learned a hard lesson regarding my main house flooring - the dye lots were indeed WAY OFF for my wood look porcelain tile. I had to make a split decision regarding whether to keep it. I was so upset but didn't want to cause any more delays so I decided to keep it because I couldn't imagine starting all over. In hindsight I most definitely should have refused it because it was even more different than I even thought once it was partially put down - not only was the coloring off but it had dark movement and knots that really changed the look of the tile so bad decision on my part so now I have to suck it up. Live and learn. I will NOT make that mistake with my bathroom tile.

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    I'm sorry to hear that. Invest in area rugs I suppose. Make that your look, like "I love all your boho rugs everywhere".

  • last year

    I just used the Daltile Calgary tile in the color 'Legacy' in the bathroom of my new build and I'm pleased with how it turned out. It looks sort of beige in this photo because of the lighting, but I definitely wouldn't call it beige. It's more of a greige. Deciding on this floor was such a nightmare, right up until l found this tile. I have an entire thread on the subject somewhere here on Houzz, but I am unable to locate it at the moment. Here's a link to the tile. They will send you free samples of it. Calgary - Legacy


    I paired it with these mosaic pickets from Daltile for my shower walls. Miramo - Pearl


    And I chose this penny tile for my shower floor. Famed - Iconic


    They all seem to flow well together.



  • last year

    @A C thank you!!! Looks beautiful!

  • PRO
    last year

    Wow that is crazy. It must have been a really old sample. I am glad that my reps come around and update when they see things have really changed.