As to the size of the tiles, it can be a personal preference. Some prefer the large clean visually uncluttered expanses of porcelain that large format tiles give. Others like the visual business that you;ll get when using smaller tiles.

Some mix and match; large tiles on the lower part of the wall, a small mosaic deco band at mid-wall height, and mid-sized tiles on the upper portion of the walls.

You can set them square or on a diagonal, or square on the lower part of the wall and diagonal on the upper.

Think in terms of odds and evens, and having things centered on the wall.

If one of your short walls was 36" wide, then you could cover it with two (an even number) 18" tiles and a single grout joint in the middle. That is visually offensive to some, so another way would be to put a whole 18" tile centered on the wall, and flank it with two 9" wide half tiles. That gives you three, or an odd number of tiles.

Or center one 18" tile on the diagonal and fill in on the sides.

With tiles, it's best to center the layout on each wall. It can be tweaked a bit to minimize waste. You can also carry cut "waste" pieces from the end of one wall and wrap them through the corner by using the "waste" piece as the first piece on the adjacent wall. That's done with diagonal layouts, and sometimes, but not always, with running bond layouts.

Myriad choices available.

Find a post by Bill Vincent, click on his name and go to his website. He has quite a few photos, some may help you gain focus as you work through the design process.

You listed the sizes of your walls in "square feet" instead of listing the dimensions, say 5' wide by 7' tall. Specific dimensions for the floor and for each wall will help us help you with a layout more than overall sqft numbers.

Another option for minimizing waste would be to use the 18" tiles on the walls as you desire. Then take all the waste pieces and cut them into smaller squares. 3" squares, for example. Then use those smaller squares to tile your shower floor.

Mongo

I am horrid with choices - I like too many different things!!! The good thing is I do know what I don't like!! Here are the measurements for the shower.

floor - 29" wide x 40" long
seat - 29"w x 18" high x 11" deep (on the back wall)
wall to wall 51"
shower height 85"
door opening 24" w

Are those the measurements you were looking for? It does have a ceiling also that we'll replace. Choices choices.

The large tiles look wonderful in a shower. Have them put up on a staggered pattern with a couple of niches. I recently did one like that, with 4" tiles on the ceiling and 2" tiles on the floor....ceiling was staggered and the floor was a straight lay.

I'm about to do my OWN tub surround in 18x18's. Does that tell you anything? :-)

Unfortunately, as for clicking on my name to go to my site, once iVillage took over the site, I was requested to take my site off my profile. However, it seems okay to post the link in here all I want!

For the gallery, go to the bottom of the front page and hit the link:

Here is a link that might be useful: My website

Wait! Mongo explain this to me, please.

"Then take all the waste pieces and cut them into smaller squares. 3" squares, for example. Then use those smaller squares to tile your shower floor."

Don't you then end up with sharp edges on all your tiles? It can't be easy to soften every tile edge and what would you use on porcelain tile that would round that edge? Something that anyone can do or does it require tools that only pros are likely to have or have access to? I hate sharp edges on tiles anywhere but especially on floors where I'm barefoot. However I LOVE using up what could be waste material othewise.

If it's thru body color porcelain, you can use a belt sander.

dlm,

To show you what a glutton for punishment I am, the shower that I showed in the Kerdi Shower thread?

Every stinking piece of tile that went into that shower was cut. But after tiling a 5' by 7' shower, along with the ceiling, I only had a couple of pieces of waste tile.

Unlike Einstein Bill who is smart enough to use power tools, Caveman Mongo used a carborundum stone to ease the edges. Here's a shot of one of my slightly tired stones:

Mongo

A belt sander? Really? Whoda thunk?

Oy! Mongo! What a job! It's all about the power - gotta have power tools! What fun is it if there's no noise?

So THAT'S what you look like sir Bill? A face to go with the name!! This site needs avatars!

I have 24x24 tiles in my shower (porceline) and they're gorgeous. On the other hand, I have 4x4' in the shower/tub down stairs, so all sizes work :) My 24x24 look like a wall of leather..and I just love them.

We did cut down the 24x24 to 6x6 which will be used as an accent tile in another house. I had it done with a lazer so the edges ended up polished when they were cut. So how's that for high tech :oP

In the morning I'm off to the tile store. Going to try and come up with a game plan. Plus it was appreciation day (pay day) so I'm motivated again!!! We call it appreciation day because its the day the company says "we appreciate" you>!