Here is a picture of the bathroom with the tumbled marble. For both selections, I am stumped on what tile to put around the surround of the soaker tub. I love the floor in the first pic. Perhaps I could use that floor with these shower tiles? But then what to put around tub? There are just too many choices when building! Some I am fine with, but then I think I'm ok with choices like the bathroom and the tub surround stumps me!

Chloe, the most beautiful bathroom floor I have ever seen belongs to one of my clients and is in her new beach house. It is almost like glass tile, but it has NO seams! She told me it comes in sheets when I asked her how it was put in since it has no seams. She didn't know what it is called, so I called the place where she got it, but the woman never called me back with the name of the stuff.

Would you like me to try again? It is THE nicest bathroom floor.

Not Chloe, but would love to learn more about the "almost glass tile" in sheets. We are planning to do a bath remodel soon and that sounds like a fabulous look and likely very functional.TIA

Tibb, I sure would, thank you! I actually have seen some tile I like, but then shy away from it because I'm not a fan of seems on some tile. Besides, that, which style do you like of the two? Thanks

I will do my best to find out what that floor is. I've emailed my client to ask her where she got it again, and I'll call them.

I was staying at her beach house, and a friend came by to visit, and he and I were literally bent over trying to figure out how on earth this floor was put in because of there being no seams. We couldn't do it. But the pattern and color is also gorgeous, an wonderful mix of contemporary with traditional. Hard to explain w/o showing it.

Meantime, I like the pebbly-floor. And for general surround, I think subway tile ALWAYS looks good.

Thanks Tibb! I wondered if I could put subway tile on the shower walls with the pebble floor, so your message made me feel I could. I'd do white, do you think a white porcelain or a kind of white see through glass? A little trim too would be nice, not just plain subway!

I think I'd go with the traditional white porcelain, but then, I'm not able to imagine a milky subway tile.

I think it would be beautiful if you did a pebbly trim to match the floor. And I also think white and earth tones are beautiful in bathrooms.

I am totally, totally opposed to the glass doors, though!

Lol. They're so good looking, but they are a PAINâ¦to keep clean, to keep water from leaking outâ¦That is one expense I'll never have to worry about!

Well what do you have if not glass doors? I don't want to do shower curtains! I guess I didn't explain the subway tile very well, I probably don't know all the right names for them. I know there is your standard all white subway tile we've all seen for years, but now there is a nice, contemporary looking subway tile that is glass, not porcelain, but you can't see through it. That's what I mean, white porcelain vs white glass subway tile.

Oh, I see. What is the difference, in looks, maintenance and price, between glass subway tiles and porcelain? That's what I'd weigh when making the decision.

I have shower curtains! Woo hoo! Cheesy plastic liner I can throw away when it gets moldy, and a nice linen curtain from RH outlet. But, you don't want curtains. Can the shower be made to be big enough that you don't need anything? That's the best option of all, IMO.

chloe, when do you have to have the bathroom floor decision made? I might be going to their house in the near future to do a favor for them. If so, I'll bring my camera and take a pic of that floor. I just can't say when it'll be.

Chloe,

Honest opinion, to me, pebble tile is trendy,and worse yet, I think it is yesterday's trend. It might vary, but I stayed in a hotel once with it and it was not comfy at all. Frankly, too, I also think tumbled marble is "out" or about to be. To me, it peaked when the Tuscan craze was in, and now that kind of natural look is less in demand.

I'm a big fan of subway, it always seems like a good fallback, but OTOH I too think it is very au courant. But I use it anyway, feeling trapped in the quest to avoid trends, yet still get the vibe I want. For our new project, I am using subway behind our range, penny round in a PR, white glass arabesque in the girls shower, white matte ceramic planking for my son's, 5' jadeite squares in running bond for the hall bath, and a honed aqua glass subway in the master. The subway in the master will be 20% offset running bond, just so it feels a little different. We just did our primary home three years ago and most of them are subway too!

I would try to think of materials and styles that fit your home's exterior (turn of the last century vibe?).

I think it is wise to go conservative and simpler with things that are expensive to replace. Subway tile will always work, AND it's good looking.

Still working on that floor!

My husband has poo pood the tumbled marble. I'm fine with that as I liked it, but thought it's been overdone as was unsure, but since it's his bathroom and we want it to be a bit more masculine, I thought he might like that.

We both love the floor in the other photo with the pebble tile. I did worry if we would tire of the pebble tile, but it would only be on the shower floor. If our starting point is that floor, what are some suggestions for the shower floor and walls and also the built in tub surround? I like the idea of something classic that will stand the test of time (why I was looking at the tumbled marble) with a touch of something that will stand out. This is hard because I'll like one or toe elements (like the floor and shower floor) but then get stuck on something like shower walls or tub surround and I get frustrated.

My husband also likes the look of the attached bathroom as well.

We both like this, but my bathroom will be marble with white cabinets, so I don't want to overuse marble in the house.

Tibb, yes I can wait for the pic, excited to see it! Also, our builder was making the shower in my bathroom kind of all enclosed in the corner with a walk in opening, no door, no shower curtain. At first I liked the idea, but then thought I might be cold lol. I know what you are saying about shower curtains, however, I look forward to my OCD going away a little bit when we move because now I change/buy shower curtains couple times during the year. I don't want to do that anymore I'm getting older, I'm getting tired LOL I just want one thing and that's it and no temptations when I see shower curtains I love lol

Might the seamless flooring be thin porcelain slabs? They come in large sizes, however there would be seams, depending on the floor size. There are various manufacturers and different patterns. The imitation patterns look real because it's photographic reproduction.

For the bathroom as large as my house.....

Hi Chloe,

As far as "suggestions that are classic and standing the test of time", I would lean toward one of the following:

Basket weave, herringbone, subway of various sizes (horizontal -- not nec 50% offset -- or vertical), octagon, penny round.

In marble or porcelain or limestone.

Look at ADKO, Ann Sacks basics, Lowes and HD. Maybe also American Restoration Tile.

You can make it more interesting with pencil liner. Ie, in my son's bathroom I used a very light blue crackle pencil liner that goes around the room, and the window, as well as outlining a "rug" on the floor. In my DH's bathroom I used charcoal pencil liner to copy this design from (oddly enough) Ben Stiller's bathroom.

You can also have things laser cut..they can do almost anything. For example, in the girls' jack and jill bath, we have a mosaic white hex that says "Girls", similar to this:

In my shower I have a laser cut paisley that i designed made from matte and shiny marble.

These were some choices for a turn of the century home, and to me, your house style would be a good match for any of these looks.

PS Open showers are not particularly cold, in my experience. You could put a radiant floor in to make sure it will be warm. Personally I'm a bit tired of glass shower doors. DO be aware too that sometimes they are difficult to clean. Frankly I don't usually care about that since we have help, but if the help is not able to get it clean, that's an issue. We have very hard well water, that is treated extensively, yet, causes issues. You may want to find out from neighbors (?) what the water is like. If i had it do over, it would also influence some faucet choices.

I liked the clever "faux wood" tile patterns the first time I saw them in Florida twenty years ago, and they still look fun and fresh in the right applications. There was a Southern Living idea house near us with that type of tile in a bathroom with a sort of updated farmhouse vibe (barn doors, iron strap hinges and hardware on doors, etc.) and it looked great. Just another thought, but agree in principle with the suggestions mtn has already made. I think arabesque tiles are due for more widespread use--- or overdue, as the motif is both ancient and graceful (and of course used often in decor where religion prohibits any use of representational art or design).

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