I'm a tile junkie...
Really. Seriously into tile.
And I've never seen anything even remotely close.
I've seen a few (very few) fake brown marbles, but they didn't look remotely realistic and IMO, looked pretty cheesy.

Crossville Ceramics (Empire is the style) makes a lovely rectified porcelain that has a vaguely 'marbleish' look and that comes in a honed and glossy finish. I don't think they have a dark brown, though there are some lovely tans and greys.

If you're sold on dark brown and a natural stone look, what about granite, honed and polished? Less prone to etching...

Checked out the Crossvill Empire and it's not really my cup of tea. Neither is granite. Thanks for the suggestions though. They were greatly appreciated. I think it's going to be tough to find something in the colour I want that looks realistic. Going to keep trying though.

Two other lines you might check (they're pricey, but worth it) are Graniti Fiandre and Porcelanosa. Both have excellent lines of rectified porcelain, and you might find what you're looking for there.

Dan

Not rectified but historic

try here, nice company

Here is a link that might be useful: restoration tile

I just checked out the Porcelanosa and Graniti Fiandre websites and they look like some gorgeous tiles. I figured they would be out of our price range and one call confirmed it. The Travertini collection by Graniti Fiandre runs about $11.50 per square foot with 24x24 sizing. Thats in Canadian dollars.

My wife and I have actually had a change of heart last night wih regards to our choices. We may start over and now consider travertine (real) as well.... This isn't going to be easy.

I'll do some searching and possibly start a new thread, but does anyone know about the stainability of travertine (properly sealed)? This bathroom will be for our two girls so I'm worried about makeup and stuff staining it when they're older.

There are some fabulous faux travertines that are indestructable -- and so realistic looking that I wouldn't hesitate to pair them with genuine Emperador Dark marble.

That said, we've had very good results in our boys' bath done 7 years ago in genuine travertine.

Hi Sweeby,

I think after searching, we're most likely going to go with a real stone rather than porcelain because for the price range we're considering ($5 per square foot) the porcelain's aren't too great looking.

So, I know this is a long shot, but would your boys happen to have any experience with make up and such staining the travertine 8>) ? Like I said, I know it's a longshot... Perhaps you've spilled some make up or something else in there? Anything? I'm going to start a new thread and hopefully get more of a response.

Thanks,

Dan

This one isn't even porcelain. It's conventional glazed ceramic. It's one of my favorite tiles from Daltile, to the point where I even used it in my own bathroom last year in an 18x18 over my tub. It's SL83 in their Salerno series:

Matter of fact, I just found the pics of my old tub (I knew I'd downloaded em-- just couldn't remember where I PUT em!! The memory just ain't what it used ta be!)

If you go back to porcelain (I went back and forth--I admire those who don't vacillate between the two, I really do) you could also check out Crossville Buenos Aires Mood. It has less "activity" than the Empire and has nice options of shiny and textured (also a honed look that didn't work for me but might for you). And there's a chocolate brown. It's not stone by any means, but as you know, there are always tradeoffs....

Dan, go with real travertine and you will not regret it. Make sure you get good quality travertine (small holes, less fill). Just look at the back side of the stone and you will see what i mean. large craters should be avoided :)

What i do for stone is to buy a full tile (not a small sample). Then put it in your current bathroom, shower, kitchen, floor etc and mistreat it. throw makeup, wine, sauce, lime juice, etc to see how it holds up.

honed travertine is probably the best choice for flooring. very easy care and looks great.

I just want to say that I received my Crossville Buenos Aires Mood in Polo (the lightest color, sort of light pearl gray) in textured 12 by 12 with polished 6 by 6 pieces for accents and I love it much more than I would have expected. It has some color variation but is not at all busy and it looks like a perfect floor. I really had no desire to try to mimic stone (I wanted either real stone or tile that looked like tile) but these tiles are surprising me in how good they look--like a floor that's been around a long time, like old stone, but with the benefit of being porcelain!

Eventually I'll post a picture, but just wanted to express my enthusiasm for what I thought would be a compromise but turned out to be a great decision!