I don't think I'd go with a shiny porcelain, as it's more slippery. I know, people do polished marble, but it is slippery. I've heard people here say that the shiny tiles also show water spots and stuff more. A white would also do that. You seem to like things light. Somehow the beige is darker than the wood was? Do you think that with a beige tile you might start seeing the yellow undertones that you don't care for in a lot of the beige paints?

I ordered the shiny (look like marble) porcelain tile for my foyer. Unfortunately it won't be in for 2 more weeks and thus won't be installed for 2-3 weeks. When it is I'll be glad to post photo's. Sorry, I don't have a sample either. The tile store by my house doesn't have samples or anything. The name brand of the tile is one only they carry. It's from Premier flooring.

I guess unglazed vs shiney depends on the look and feel you want in the foyer. We wanted ours a little bit formal so we went with the shiney.

Squirrel, I think the stone look is what I loved in the store and when I had the sample here I still loved it. I actually like it in front of my office.

But when so many of the tiles are in the foyer area in-between the two rooms where the bathroom is that does not have much light, it looks darker than my putty file cabinets and and that is what I do not like. So I like the look in the foyer that is in front of my office but not in the middle foyer.

I went with not shiny so no one would slip but maybe my modern office needs a shiny look and maybe no one will slip since the foyers are not too big?

Thanks brutuses for leting me know you went with the shiny look and that look is more formal. What color is your tile?

There are two tiles at Lowes that maybe I didn't like at first since one tile looked too white but maybe I need to buy a box and try out a lot on my floor to get a better look. I wish I had money to hire a designer to hold my hand. LOL

Brutuses, What size tile did you buy? I bought the 12 X 12. I wonder if I need some of other sizes and mine is just boring? Maybe I need another day to get used to the look. I fear that if I get glossy someone would slip. I know the tile idea is the right idea for me. I better get some sleep since I have so much work to do tomorrow.

I have porcelain ceramic in my guest bath and it is not slippery at all. In fact, it is the slate that is quite textured and rough but it is porcelain ceramic.

One of our sons and his wife have granite in their large foyer and it is not slippery either. If it was, I am sure through the years, their busy, overactive son would have fallen on it, if not the wife whose job requires she dress wear heels, and she does and she does and she does (a closet made for shoes and it is full of heels).

Patricia, so your porceain ceramic tiles in your guest bathroom are textured and rought like the ones I have now in my home? What color are they? Is the granite textured and rough and not smooth that your son and his wife have in their foyer? Thanks for replying.

I really love the stone look in my front foyer in the light this morning. It is the tiles in the middle hallway that look too dark due to no natural light there and not much artificial light either that makes me think I should lighten up.

My tile is 18x18 and will be laid on the diagonal. It is a light beige with some veining. I wish I had a photo to show you, darn. It's difficult to describe and even harder to picture something like this. LOL

Thank you brutuses for letting me know about your tile.

I think I want mine also laid on the diagonal after seeing a kitchen like that in my complex in a townhouse that was for rent for $2500.00 a month. The kitchen had a shiny white marble tile with veining that I really liked and had big tiles on the diagnonal. My foyers are both small so I thought I should go with the smaller tiles but now I wonder if bigger would be better with less grout lines.

I wish you had a picture also. I remember your walls being that beautiful green color. I never liked green until joining this forum either and now I am liking shades of green a lot and have been even buying clothes that are shades of green.

I may try living with my tiles on the floor for another day to see how I feel in the morning. Maybe the rought stone look is not right for my office and I need smooth. I just feared an older client with a cane would slip so that is why I chose rough.

Lynn, mine are slate/blue gray but that is only the color. Ceramic porcelain tile is supposed to be (according to sources in the tile business locally who were counseling us on tile versus stone, etc) is it's not the real mccoy (slate, travertine, marble, granite)but its pretense is pretty good and so is its durability.

lynn, when you put in small tile it makes the area look busy and confined, whereas a larger tile on the diagonal will lengthen the space. The rule with diagonal tile is that you are able to fit 3 side by side (point to point) across the floor without any cuts. That's to ensure the pattern does not look chopped up and thus defeat the purpose of diagnonal tiling. DH is bringing home the camera today with photo's of the kitchen floor that is also large tiles done on the diagonal. That will give you an idea of how they can make a small space appear larger.

Thanks Patricia for letting me know. I love tiles that look like slate. The blue/gray would not go in my office and I think it will clash with my magazine rack.

Maybe my beige tile is not so bad and just needs to be on the diagonal.

I may try the white Rialto stone like tiles (I have beige Rialto right now that look like stone) and the white tiles that have veins in them that are shiny. I think my mistake last time was only having one tile. It really makes a difference seeing so many on the floor. Plus I am missing the grout so something does not look right.

It is amazing me how much I am starting to like the beige toned stone looking tiles in the front of my office with the natural light from the window making it look very nice with variations but I still dislike the ones in my foyer hallway that do not have any light hitting them.

Thanks Brutuses for letting me understand that small tiles just make the floor busy and maybe I should go bigger on the diagonal or at least put the ones I have on the diagonal. I can't wait to see your kitchen. I think I wll go with the bigger tiles in my kitchen so your pictures will help me with my kitchen and I think I want a smooth floor in the kitchen.

I just tried the tiles on the diagonal and it looks better but only two fit next to each other in the small longer hallway in the middle of the two rooms in my office so I guess, the area can't handle bigger tiles. I will try the look now in my front foyer area.

Eventually I will want to put the porcelain ceramic tiles in my kitchen or a new Linoleum floor since that floor is shot also.

Lynn, this is JMHO. I have had linoleum floors, I have had tile floors and I have had wood floors. Most of the houses I ever lived were done in parquet or hardwood before I moved away. There is nothing that feels as good underfoot while cooking as wood flooring. Do your feet a favor.

Should there be some light installed in your foyer, Lynn? So then it wouldn't actually be a problem. Something with a bit of a shine will look lighter, if there's any light around to reflect off of it.

What people wear on their feet will also influence how slippery the smooth, shiny surfaces will be to walk on. I always wear socks, which are slippery (even on carpeted steps). Barefeet have more traction. Shoe soles vary. My very worn sneaker bottoms can be terribly slippery outdoors and I have to be careful where I'm walking. Our dog skidded on the hardwoods.

Something with a texture really holds on to dirt and it can get ground in over time and hard to get out.

Lynn: We have linoleum floors in our kitchen, and they're just great for dogs. We went with the sheet rather than the tile linoleum (cheaper) with one color throughout, although the Marmoleum site shows some pretty spectacular linoleum floors with many designs and colors.

BUT: if we had had the budget, and had been completely renovating our kitchen, I might have gone with hardwood, as Patricia suggested.

lynn, I thought I was going to have grouted tile to show, but I don't, it's the ungrouted, but it shows the tile down. The camera's battery died today so he couldn't take updated photo. LOL Always something.

Brutuses, The tile looks great on an angle and is very pretty. Can you find out the name of the tile? So is it down without the grout until it is grouted? What a nice bright kitchen you have. Thank you for sharing.

It's Verona Ivory from Lowe's, but it's been discontinued. However, they have other tile very, very similar to this tile. Why they discontinued this one I don't know. They have one that is very close to this one, with just a tad more beige in it.

It is attached to the floor and then after it dries for a couple of days, the grout is addded to the seams.

Thank you Brutuses. I looked it up and I could not find another tile that replaced it. I will update you and everyone else what I end up doing. Thanks for letting me know that the grout is added last.

Brutuses, Is your tile smooth or does it have rough areas like my tile that has distressing on it? I have a white piece of the White Rialto here that I like the lighter look better (like off-white and beige) but the Rialto Beige (beige/brown) tile looks better in the front foyer by the window and the "white" one that is really off-white and beige looks better in the foyer area by the bathroom since it is so dark there.

The Rialto tiles I have here are a 5 rating for heavy footage areas and they have a glaze mixed into creation but not on top for stain resistance and is not slippery but now I am wondering if all the nicks and crannies on the tile will be difficult to keep clean and I think I want a lighter tile with less brown in it.

If I did not have my furkidz or if they never missed the puppy pads, I would just put wood everywhere but the bathrooms and the kitchen since the tile is so hard and not as warm and pretty to me.

One of my clients checked out the bulb wattage requirements and found out my hallway near my bathrooms can take 100 watts so he replaced the 60 watt bulb with a 100 watt bulb so that the tile does not looks so dark. I may stay with the tile I have that has beiges and browns in it. I just wish it had whites and beiges instead but it does look like it will hide the dirt and be very neutral to go with any wood floor I get in the office rooms and people won't slip due to the roughness of it. I am going to live with the tile on the floor a few days and maybe stop at one more tile place to be sure.

I have another lamp that will be here any day now to give off 500 watts of natural light that I am hoping will give my office more light it needs. If not, then I will have to add track lighting.

For my kitchen I am going to wait to see how I like the tile but I may end up going with another Linoleum floor that is soft, easy to clean and waterfproof. I am sure a wood floor in the kitchen would look so nice and be comfortable on my feet but I know my dishwasher is next to die on me and I can't handle another damaged floor.

Thank you so much everyone. I am still open to opinions. :)

All my tile is smooth.

Tile has several ratings.
Glazed products perform according to the hardness of their glaze. This hardness is determined by the manufacturer and rated using a PEI scale (Porcelain Enamel Institute). This PEI rating will determine the proper usage of each product.

PEI I Tiles suitable for interior wall application.
PEI II Tiles suitable for residential bathrooms where softer footwear is worn.
PEI III Tiles suited to general residential traffic, except kitchens, entrance halls, and other areas subjected to continuous heavy use.
PEI IV Tiles suited for all residential and light to medium commercial areas.
PEI V+ Tiles suitable for heavy traffic and wet areas where safety and maximum performance are a major concern such as exterior hallways, food service, salad bars, building entrances, around swimming pools or shopping centers.

If you are going to have clients walking on the tile, I think the tile would have to be at least PEI IV.

In addition, tile has a coefficient of friction for both wet and dry.

The tile I have in my bathroom is porcelain with a PEI IV rating and coefficient of friction > .6. The tile has three benefits. It is not slippery, it does not show water spots, and, because the design has marble-like veining, it does a terrific job of hiding dirt.

suero, Thanks for the information on the tiles. I agree that I need at least a PEI IV rating for my tiles. Hoping for updated pics with grout in them from Brutuses. I am thinking of going back to buy the Rialto Beige tile since I keep bringing home samples and just seem to love that one the best that looks a lot like Brutuses tile in my opinion but hers is a tiny bit lighter so prettier to me.