We chose white marble with small black marble squares because it was cheap at HD ( LOL -sad but true!). About 15.00/sf. And we liked the way it looked with the white Daltile Rittenhouse Square subway tiles. I must admit we didn't even consider ceramic basketweave for the floor - I wish I knew why but I don't; we just both knew that wasn't the look we wanted. Maybe because the marble somehow seemed more warm? In some way, I think it was the texture. I think we needed another texture in the room and marble was just enough of a variation from the ceramic subway tiles, chair rail, window molding, etc. I am a little worried about the black and white contrast being a bit harsh or stark but the basketweave has a lot of grey in it, along with some sandy streaks. We are using some of it as a 4" border on the wall just below the chair rail in hopes that the very small amount of black will be toned down by the grey. And that was why we tried to choose a kind of warm grey for the grout. There are some gorgeous pictures of ming green basketweaves here on GW. They are stunning and much softer looking than the black, IMHO. I wish I could have had both. Maybe we'll add on a bathroom next and I will get to choose green for the next bathroom. I think I remember seeing some lovely blue basketweave. It might have been on the Ann Sacks tile site. It was absolutely fabulous. Had some kind of Hollywood, or Bollywood, glamour to it. The blue was almost a gentian or lapis. Have fun choosing. We are at the port-a-potty in the driveway stage of this and its not so much fun tight now but in a few weeks I think it will all be worth it.

I have the Subway Ceramics Avalon / Minas with a medium gray grout. And a Shaw's white sink, if anyone is considering that, by the way. (My contractor could have ordered it directly, but at his request, I went through a tile store, and by the time everyone had put their sugar onto it, it was OBSCENELY expensive.) I'm not an installation expert, but at least with the Subway Ceramics, the installers use little plastic spacers between the tiles (I think some others have their own spacers?) when they put them up, they don't do it freehand, so how much grout you get is a function of 1) the limits set by the curvature of the tile and 2) what size spacers they use. So you might be willing to go a little darker with a smaller grout line, or with a handmade tile that refuses to go close together, you might want to stay light. The traditional color is close to concrete. But most modern people don't seem to like that, so do what pleases you!

The TCNA standards; for all grout joints 1/8" and over use sanded grout. For all grout joints 1/8" and under, use non sanded. You can see at 1/8" you have a choice. Where possible we always use sanded grout as it is stronger than non sanded. Have you looked into Fusion Pro (Custom Blend), Plasma (Laticrete), or Flexcolor CQ (Mapei) as a grout? They are virtually stain proof and require no sealing. SUre they will get dirty, but the color will always be perfect.

Don't get a dark / contrasting grout - it will show ever imperfection in the laying / grouting of the tile.