We are using AO Catarina coliseum white for our master bath in our new build, because I saw pps7's awesome bathroom and by some miracle of miracles, the tile is actually available at the flooring store my builder uses and within budget. How often does that happen??! We also need tile for the kid's bath and guest bath upstairs. Has anyone used the same tile but in Sardinian Sand? I haven't been able to find a picture of it installed. I'm just wondering if it has a pink or orange undertone or if it's a true tan.

I am also doing a bath in the Catarina Coliseum White and ordered several of the trim pieces. We were unpleasantly surprised when the bullnose pieces we ordered ended up being the same matte finish as the large floor tiles. I spent a lot of money on them and can't use them on my shower surround with the shiny wall tiles. No information stating this info could be found by the dealer I purchased from or by myself on the internet. As for the other pieces, the mosaics are 9 tiles x 9 tiles, filling out the same space as a single 12" floor tile. They are the same matte finish as the floor tiles. We're using this in combination with the Etruscan brown to make a "rug" in the bathroom floor. The only really weird thing is that the white mosaics have a straight edge and the brown ones are beveled all the way around. I don't know why tiles in the same line would be set up differently. There is also a quarter-round piece available, though not through Lowes. It is the shiny finish of the 10x13 wall tiles. All in all, the tiles are nice for the price, but the selection of trim pieces is severely limited. We have found that some of the carrara trim pieces out there blend pretty nicely.

I had the AO Coliseum tile installed this past week. I'm concerned because the tile guy said I had to use a 3/16th grout spacing because "anything smaller will crack". I told him I wanted smaller grout lines so it looks more like marble (1/8th inch spacing). The tile place where I got it also told me to use a smaller grout line. I feel like I let him decide for me. I'm upset about this and I hope the 3/16th grout lines will look okay. The smaller grout lines look very nice in the photos here. I'm upset that I allowed him to sort of 'bully' me and tell me what I had to do. I also later looked on the AO website and they said 1/8 spacing is recommended and the tile is 'rectified' - darn it, I saw that too late! We're having the grout put in tomorrow (white)...hopefully the grout lines won't look too big. Just venting a little here. I do like the tile as a nice option to get the look of carrara marble. One question, does anyone have any thoughts on using a real carrara marble vanity top, or possibly black matte granite?

Follow the manufacturer's directions if you want any type of warranty. Believe me, even if the spacing doesn't cause a claim, they will use that as a "not installed per instructions" excuse not to warrant it. I'm an ex installer of 25+ yrs and I had my own store...they will use any excuse not to warrant anything.