Minimal maintenance ... white bathtub, white percelain tile and well-sealed grout.

You can add color accents in the tile to avoid the motel look.

Are you happy with the gray porcelain tile? My cousin has gray & white marble tiles and they're beautiful. I'd like that also!

I've been on the fence about this for so long I have to make a decision or it'll never get done. I've had the vanity for maybe 18 mos. or so!

I'm just afraid to do something that I'll end up hating. No one here is big on wiping down the walls after their showers so I have to consider that. I also think I got turned off grout lines because my last house had mosaic tile around the tub until I replaced it. If I did go with tile, I'd make it the 12-18" size for sure!

I meant 12-18" size, although I guess 12-18' would definitely be fewer grout lines!

Yes! I love our gray porcelain 12" x 12" tile. It's imported Italian tile: Granitogres from Casalgrande (distributed by Daltile) in an oddly named color they call "Arizona," I believe. But it's a very hue-neutral gray--no brown or beige tones in it at all, contrary to its "earthy sounding" name. It's a beautiful, concrete-looking color with flecks of grays and white. Very modern-looking. If we're successful in matching the grout color, it'll look like a continuous, concrete-like floor from a distance.

And, yes, I was initially attracted to solid-surface materials for the same reasons. Low-maintenance! It's a tough call, but I'm so happy with the Granitogres porcelain. I'm not a big fan of grout lines either, but we're jumping through hoops to match the tile color as closely as possible in the grout to achieve our desired aesthetic effect. If your heart's set on solid-surface, then by all means, get it. But, I think you have enough of an idea of what you want that you're likely to be pleased with whatever material on which you finally decide. Good luck!

Since you mentioned zen there is a porcelain tile that has a very faint grass cloth look to it. It comes in a few light shades. It would look pretty mixed with the vanity you described. I believe it is a 12 x 24 or close to it.

I'll put my two-cents worth in and suggest including insulation under and around the tub before it's placed into the surround. The winter is really the only time I use my garden tub and the insulation helps keep the water hotter longer. You can see the surround I did in this forum under the Uuuugly bathroom topic. Use the link I suppled there to see the construction and insulation for my project. Your question is mainly about what material to use. I don't have kids so my tub gets light use. I used 12" marble tile and I like the way it turned out. I haven't decided on a transitional border for the tile on the wall yet. The wall is painted a semigloss bright white on a slick-finished drywall.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I did look into all of them and did find the grass cloth look tile. I'm still ready to cry every time I look at more things!

On one hand, I'm leaning toward the corian because it seems to be the easiest thing to just pick and be done with! I also like the maintenance of corian.

On the other hand, the tile would probably save money and could be nicer looking, but I'd have to worry about grout, possible moisture issues down the road, etc. Length of time would be more, but not that much of an issue when looking at the big picture.

On the 3rd hand(?) I really wish I would see a decent looking surround. I know they're not popular, but as I said before, no one here is into wiping down the shower, etc and they look so maintenance-free.

For now, I'm still on the fence but determined to make a choice. I've been overthinking this too long. Thanks again & if anyone else has anything to add from their experiences, please do!

I didn't want a lot of maintenance in our tub/shower surround so we went with tan stone looking porcelain field tile with a pebble tile accent border. Our pebble tile is small river rocks embedded into clear resin so it's flat and easier to clean. We went with a tan grout to match the tile so it blends in more. I really like the way it turned out, a little natural looking.

Roobear, your choices sound like what I would like. Do you have any photos or can you tell me the specific brands/colors so that I can see them. I love the pebble tile and have been looking at it for a couple of years, but didn't know where I could use it.

I have to confess my bathroom isn't done yet, but here are some tile pics of the shower area and floor.

Shower area with pebble accent tile.
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Close up of Shower tile
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Close up of Pebble tile
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Floor tile, which is the gray colors of the pebble tile-it's a small bathroom and I didn't want too much of the tan shower tile everywhere.

I like your tile/pebble shower. I think it's what I will end up with except that my tiles will probably be 18" porcelain (color is clay) and I'll use a 6" border in pebble tile (only because I can end up with enough to do my floor that way!). It's a little lighter than I had wanted, but I'm getting a good price on it. One thing keeps leading to another and another with this project, so I need to keep costs down. It's a Stonepeak porcelain so hopefully it should be ok.

Now the fun part is faucets. Oh, well, I guess it's all fun!

the idea of white glass tile popped into my head as I read the description of your bathroom; the glass would not need wiping down and if you sealed the grout well it should be okay. It would give the room a little sparkle, and add some visual interest, but would still be very Zen. I like the idea of the grasscloth tiles too.

good luck and please pictures when you are done!

Now that is just a really weird coincidence, but that's exactly what I was just looking at one minute ago! I saw some MLW stone tile today that I loved and while I was looking at stuff on their site, I noticed their glass tile. They are discontinuing 4" tiles. I was wondering if the prices are reduced!

I saw some gorgeous glass tile at our local tile store today. The store is for contractors only, but my nephew is an installer and you're able to pick out your tile there, but your installer has to pick it up. They have a huge selection, but I didn't allow myself enough time.

Thanks for the suggestion. It's definitely an option I hadn't considered before now. I don't know what the price range is, but I sure like it!