It will darken sooner than you think.

I would have gone closer to the color of the floor. what color is the grout?

I don't know I asked my contractor to match the color. I should have been more on top of it.

Well I know one thing having renovated two kitchens in two years... once everything else is put in, it WILL look much better. Right now it's all you see.

I've found that anything I did that I wasn't thrilled with at first, I got comfortable with once the job was completely done. Don't panic. ;0

We changed our grout three times. The tiler used Polyblend's "Delorean Grey," which was the "best" match to our gray tiles. However, we later found that all of the Polyblend-branded gray-colored grouts were all too warm (our gray tile is extremely neutral in hue), and all actually looked brownish-beige after it dried. When dry, the Polyblend grouts look very different from the color swatch on the box or from their web samples. We went with a Bostik Hyrdoment grout, which was a much better match to our gray tiles.

As for, "getting used to stuff you're initially not happy with . . . " this color mis-match bothered me to no end. I debated this in my mind for two years and have finally come to the conclusion that re-grouting is the only solution. The tile guys offered to remove the grout at no charge (which really isn't that hard), but we'll probably re-grout ourselves. We test-grouted several different brands of grout on the actual tile to make sure, that when dry, the Hydroment grout's color matched.

You could cover it with a darker colored grout colorant which will also seal the grout

Here is a link that might be useful: Aquamix grout colorant

Terriks I like that idea. My contractor hasn't said anything about sealing the grout, is this a necessary step?

I think if you want it to look like wood, I agree that the grout prevents that, and it looks like it would have to darken quite a bit to match the tile... I, however, freely admit that I am no expert about how much the grout might darken...But if you get a color you're happy with, it'll be good now and not get too dark later, right? So I would hate to take the chance that it will eventually look right, and would hope to get it fixed now.

Ritamay the tile is called Ulvio by Woodland Tile

You're not going to be happy with that grout over time. You'll start seeing wear (traffic) paths, as well as staining from spills, etc.. Your best bet at this point would be to go with terrik's recommendation. You coat those joints with the Aquamix colorant which is a one part epoxy base, not only can you confidently change the grout color to any color you wish, but it'll also permanently seal the joints and give them a finish that makes them as easy to keep clean as the face of the tile.

I agree with coloring the grout darker. My parents used the Daltile Timber Glen in dune with a toothpick thin gout. It is already darker than it was. The grout is too light for the tile right now and it is also too wide, which will both b improved by darkening.

The flooring is beautiful. If you are able to darken the grout I would but if it is darn near impossible (read: pita) or $$$ then I would leave it. It really is beautiful!

I asked my tiler which he would rather do: remove the old grout and re-grout, or use the colorant. He said re-grouting would be easier for him (remember, he's doing this for free). We saw him do it, and it wasn't as difficult as I had thought. They just took it out with a utility knife. They did about 50% of the floor, since we still had stuff on it that was too hard to move at the time. I bought a $400 Fein oscillating tool for the job, and I plan to remove the rest myself.

The other argument is that you could apply the colorant yourself, one section at a time, without paying for more labor. When I do stuff myself, I take forever, but I do it about a million times more carefully than any worker seems to care to do.

Grout seems to be the black hole of flooring knowledge. Daltile is a very good high-line supplier, but another tile supplier was able to solve most of our problems (mainly, finding the Hydroment grout samples there). At first we had a lot of effluorescence, but they had the product that removes it effectively there as well. Good luck!

If your installer balks at the colorant, this is something that although time consuming and will take a little elbow grease, it's not super difficult. In the following link to a forum thread from years ago, check out reply #2. You'll see from #1 that this thread completely changed the way I look at colorants, and since this thread, I'll swear by them:

Here is a link that might be useful: Using Grout Colorant

I don't think it looks too light. Dark grout is no panacea - I have dark grey and it shows anything light - beyond getting down on hands and knees and cleaning it out it is very hard to keep looking clean. The lighter grout might be just as easy to maintain.

Always listen to Bill, and I agree with him. It will start to look dirty in places--I know this from experience.