Thank you so very much Mongo, you do a superb job of explaining things. I remember you telling me on a previous post about a small wet saw, thanks for reminding me. My husband doesn't have enough hair for spray so I think I'll use some cheapy brand; it is a wonderful tip. I can do this, I pulled it off on my kitchen backsplash with even less information and the herringbone ran on the diagonal. Those tiles were pre cut and I am thankful that they were, because I didn't have a clue to the problems that could have developed if they weren't. They were apparently cut to your equation because they matched perfectly. Crazy spacing, I like the grid tech for the floor:) I remember taping my 45* drafting square to the sides of these sections for drying overnight. One night I stayed up all night to tile. It was fun though. This was my first wall, I got better on the second wall as seen in the 2nd pic: I just picked a center spot over the stove location and started - it wasn't exactly centered though, The grout was still wet at this point: You've just boosted my confidence, and others if they are following this post. Thank you so much again Mongo, for your help on this project, and on all the other projects that us lost souls post on GW.

We're still in the middle of it, obviously, but here is our Emser tile in style Moda, color Perla, w/our Athens Silver marble countertops from Ann Sacks. There will be large marble tiles in the shower as well, to balance out the Emser gray that's already in there. You can't see the marble well here, it's really quite distinctive; but here's the overall effect (there will be marble on that side wall inside the shower you see to the left there): This is a close-up of the marble - I thought I wanted classic carrera, but I fell in love w/the sweeping pattern of this instead: You can get a feel for the contrast here, even though the marble isn't shown well - this is my vanity:

I am doing 12x12's on the floor in a diagonal pattern, then doing 12x12's on the wall of the tub deck (about 34" high) and on the 4" wall next to the toilet nook (back of the shower wall). The wall tiles are stacked in a basic pattern but the floor pattern breaks this up. I'm also changing the grout on the floor and wall to give some variety. The shower is broken up with a frame, but it has 6" tiles on a diagonal on the floor and ceiling (same as the floor tiles but cut down to size) and the walls are 24x24 tiles. The walls are porcelain and the floors and deck face are travertine. The tub deck is also 24x24 (undermount) and it's in the porcelain. The baseboard is the travertine with a polished edge set square like the tub deck and wall). In my family bathroom I changed out the floor to a basic 12x12 pattern set square and then trimed it out in black granite (antiqued) in a 4" base board trim, with the tub and shower surround in 6x6 hexigon pattern. I know it's more expensive to change patterns, but it does break up the look a bit as does trim (like you are planning). It's really all a matter of preference. And luck...if you can find an installer :oP

Motherof3 I am a mother of 3 too and have also used variations of that for user names, etc.! So we think alike, especially considering that you like the natural stone! There is no question that marble is higher maintenance than ceramic or other materials. I have been living with the new bathrooms for six months and this is what I can tell you. First, we are most definitely not people who are going to squeegee the shower every time we use it. But since I want the shower to remain nice, this is what I do. First, the bar soap is outlawed because you can't use cleaners that will remove the soap scum and in my view, the specially formulated cleaners (like 409 for stone) are pretty useless. Second, we put in a handshower and we do spray down the shower with it after each use. That is easy because we continue to run the rainhead and the body sprays while we run the handshower so we don't stand in there naked and freezing which would discourage compliance! The handshower is key!! Third, we have no door, so that reduces mildew issues. We do use a mild bleach solution every week, which takes care of mildew and cleans the grout. Where a bit of soapy film (DH cheats a bit on the soap rule I think) builds up around the bottom course of tile, I use a tiny bit of soft scrub very sparingly in place of the useless stone cleaners. Finally, during the past week, I have noticed a bit of rust around the drain, where the water sits a bit before the shower dries out. I used a bit of BKF on it and now, after I shower, I dry off the floor around the drain by just throwing the bath mat into the shower and leaving it there until the next shower. I am willing to do that much. With those caveats, I have to say that I am loving the bathrooms. There is nothing quite like marble. It is so soothingly spa-like. I smile every time I go in there! Hope this helps.