They're both subsidiaries of the same parent company, and most of their products are very similar. Even before they were both taken over years ago, they were each other's biggest competitors because their product lines were so close.

The Tile Shop has black and white hex tiles and also a black and white plaid tile. Jeffery Court makes a hex carrara marble tile with black diamonds, which you can special order from the Home Depot. Jeffrey Court Marble Tile Shop Porcelain I am doing a hall/guest bathroom, which also serves as the "boys" bathroom when my two sons are at home. I will be doing a black and white floor with a carrara look alike marble in the bath/shower surround. I did opt for a carrara marble countertop. I think the ceramic and porcelain will be easier to maintain with growing boys. Even with grown boys, they don't like to clean up, so guess who ends up cleaning the bathroom :-(. HTH

Beware of All Marble if they are tied into Marble.com. We have one of their sites here in my town, all I can say is eeewww, sceezy experience there. Eeeewww, can't tell you how bad it was to shop there, can't describe. Shop around, find a REAL granite place. Marble.com wanted almost 3 times what we paid and it was the yuckiest experience of my very long shopping career - won't give you actual names of granite unless you really push, have to fill out a form and sit through a VERY long sales pitch before they will take you into their granite 'showroom', can't just walk around, need a salesperson who shows you the samples that you pick out along their wall, and this of course, only after you have signed their sales agreement outlining payments which are out of line versus other places. They have lots of granite available, but all as a number and a colored price - you have to know your granite to price-shop there since most don't have their granties numbered instead of named. Yes, tehy can get granite in your house incredibly fast, but at a HUGE mark-up! Sceevy, sceevy, sceevy if it is the same company that has places in NJ, NY, and, CT.... We visited a location in CT - a true buyer beware situtation if it is....

@otterkill - Shoot me but I think the inset rug - especially the trim around it - is lovely. It was definitely design decision but I don't think you chose it because it was "trendy" back then but because it appealed to you aesthetically on a personal level. I think there is a huge difference between stuff I see that has an individual's stamp on it like your tile rug versus stuff that seems to be chosen off the rack in a ubiquitous "trendy" style which has no element revealing an individual's taste. Here's one of my inspiration photos for my balcony - a tile rug :-)