Kudzu, all of the grout lines seem to stand out to me with the large format tiles, even though they are almost always very thin. For some reason I'm actually more attracted to small mosaics where the colors and materials blend well. To me it seems less busy than the larger blocks I see with the large format tiles. Go figure. Btw I cant see your pics on my kindle so maybe yours do not stand out. The large stone panels are an interesting idea but I don't think I'd really like that look either. Either too institutional or too busy for the granites. I actually have swanstone now so maybe I need a change.

BTW, trying for a zen, spa-like, calm space 🙏🏻❤️

tartanmeup - The rust stains are imperceptible except to me, but I am going to try your sanding suggestion! That is such a great idea - thanks! And since you asked..... I researched this shower for 6 months, so I'll share my experience. I always wish Houzz-ers would share their experiences after the work is done! Shower footprint was frustratingly non-standard: - 70" x 42. My finished shower is 71" x 43 3/4" because the 1cm quartz walls replaced tile.. It's super easy to clean, which is why I did this. I am an OCD cleaner, I clean my own house, so I won't have grout anywhere anymore! If someone else cleans your house or you aren't a clean freak, cheaper solutions exist. I chose Cambria quartz b/c I've have good experiences with it and I found a color I liked and wanted everything to match. Silestone makes custom quartz shower trays, but they take 6 months and are sent from Spain. So I got the shower tray custom from Distinctive Tile & Stone in Washington. My husband sent the specs, although any tile guy or contractor should be able to do measurements for the tray. I don't know if I should post this publicly, but no one believes it anyway: the first tray came cracked. Then the pandemic hit, so Distinctive's shop was closed for a bit. When they reopened, they remade it, and then sent 2 of their guys in a truck to personally deliver it to me on the central coast of California. From Washington. And after they had driven for 13 hours (taking turns sleeping?) they INSTALLED it for me and turned around and drove back to Washington. You can't make stuff like this up. Honestly, if I had to do it all over again, I would have had them do the entire shower. I would imagine the size and type of quartz would greatly effect the prices of the tray- mine was $6700. Which leads me to the 1cm quartz walls.....the area this house is in has the highest contractor prices of anywhere I've ever lived, including Santa Barbara!!!! Unfortunately, you don't get what you pay for around here. The walls were basically 3 pieces of thin 1cm quartz with a few holes in them and they cost more than the shower tray. If you live anywhere else in the universe except maybe Paris or Manhattan or SF, the walls should be closer to the price of a quartz kitchen counter top. This is the only thing I really splurged on with this reno - I cheaped out on almost everything else. In my old house I tried a Corian shower surround, hoping it would be easy to clean, and it wasn't. I chose a darker color Corian and I had hard water deposits in spite of having a water softener. And forget tile - honestly, grout is my least favorite thing in houses (except for maybe deep bevels in hardwood floors that get gunky). Did I mention I hate grout? ;) Anyhow, this shower is amazing - very spendy, but worth it to me.

Installers have more experience with large tiles these days, so look at porcelain tiles in the 24" x 48" size or slightly larger. Not totally grout-less, but you get a nice look at a better price point than slab walls. If possible, find the tiles first and then build the shower to maximize the layout of the large tile. I used 30" x 30" porcelain tiles in my master shower.