I vote for the super cheap glossy white tiles and the beautiful liner. I think it will look fine, but see if you can get samples and put them together to see how they look. I used a very cheap porcelain field tile and a very expensive quartzite mosaic trim. They look fine together.

Hi annkathryn, Great to hear! Thanks, I'll get the sample and see...
Leslie

I mixed an inexpensive porcelain tile from Home Depot with an expensive glass mosaic tile for my kitchen backsplash and I'm super pleased withe the result

Here are pictures of my two new baths mixing very inexpensive field tile with expensive trims. In both baths, the creme-colored tiles were under $3/SF.

Absolutely mix!!

Sweeby that's beautiful. Thanks for posting. I appreciate this question since I'm thinking of doing same myself in our last bathroom.

During our quest to find the perfect tile for our master bathroom, I was told that most of the stores buy from the same suppliers. So who knows, that expensive store down the street may be selling the same white tiles for 2 times the price just because they don't have the same sales volume as the big boxe stores do. I wouldn't go by price, if it works and you like it, by all means catch the savings while you can!

BTW, Sweeby, I love the design in your bathroom so much I'm using it as inspiration for when we do our guest bath next year. It looks amazing and you did a great job!

lukkiirish, that is good to know. thanks!
sweeby, your bathroom is GORGEOUS! thanks for sharing!!!
leslie

We did cheap Daltile field tile with an expensive marble border, and I think it came out great. Here are a couple of photos:

Sweeby, wow! That arched shower door - how did you do that? We have an arched shower doorless entrance and we're befuddled. I notice that the trim on the inside of the door is long and when it gets to the arch, the pieces get smaller. Were these tiles hand cut?

Also, could you help me out with the outside door trim? What, what, where and how? Thanks so much! We're a DIY team who has been waiting for your photos!

Also, can you give details of your wall tiles? Thanks!

Beautiful mlk58! That floor is gorgeous!

Totally agree that tile work doesn't have to be based on $ spent. It's about design and desire!

Sweeby, stunning tile jobs! Like goldust, I'd like to know how you did your arch. Any pictures of when it was @ framing stage; I'm ready to tile my walk in shower but don't like the square entrance.

Thanks!

My DH chided me for months about how the little tiny glass liner in the kitchen backsplash was like 3x more expensive than all that field tile (white subway tile). My answer was that that was exactly WHY we could afford that tiny glass accent tile. Which, btw, is a lovely accent, if I say so myself!

Doing the same thing in the bathroom... the tile on wall behind the vanity will be a mosaic with marble, glass & travertine ($15/ft), while every other tile in there will be a $1.50/sq ft cheapy DalTile.

It's not how much you spend on it, it's what you do with it.

The arch tiles were very special -- They are made by a company called Westminster Ceramics, and there's some doubt if they're still available or even if Westminster is still around. But the heavy trim arch sections are a specialty item, and as you can imagine, they were the inspiration and starting point for this whole bath. If they're still made, they come designed for a 12" diameter arch or 24" arch (we went with the 24", obviously). They also have matching straight pieces for the sides and many other trims as well.

Inside the doorway, the 'frame' sections are regular bullnose tiles with the flat edge opposite the bullnose butted flush to the side of the trim pieces and the bullnose edge butted against the sides of the shower's interior tiles. It took quite a bit of work to get the arch diameter, frame thickness, and inside walls exactly the right sizes! Amazingly, the ONLY cut edges in that whole doorway are at the bottom of the door where it meets the floor, and where the 5" x 10" bullnoses transition to the 5" x 2 1/2" bullnoses at the start of the arch. That bath took a while to tile!

I think it's like a basic black dress. A cheap dress looks more expensive when paired with good jewelry. On the other hand you can take an expensive dress, and pair it with cheap jewelry and the dress will also look cheap.

Think of your field tile as the cheap dress and your beaded liner and the expensive jewelry! Looks better by association ;-).

These types of threads are one of my favorites -- and you sure can't beat the results seen above!

Last year we also did a cheap field (Dal semigloss in a 6x6 running bond) + spendy oyster shell liner. Two things to consider -- the thickness of each tile (in case you need some extra labor to even things out) and how you're treating any non-field/non-accent areas. [Dal is a lot less cheap when it comes to their bullnose, for example...but still a relative bargain.]