Irishcreamgirl - thank you for the compliment (curious if you'll still like it now that it's grouted!) and the starting point was being the faucet, between the two windows. Petra - thank you for your kind comments, including about the whole struggle we're having at home with health. :-/ Amity - you are so kind, thank you for following the progress and liking the flavor of the icing. :) Again, WE SHALL SEE if you still like it once you see the grout! Kinda scary! But I'm not afraid of honest feedback so once you see it, be brutally honest! Prill - thank you for the feedback! Sciencechick - thanks for your vote! Francoise - why thank you! Wow - that's quite the compliment!! :) Bmorepanic - thank you for reminding me about the rules for caulking! I looked and looked for that and was so glad to find your comment! Malhgold - how right you were! I should have demanded to see samples on extra tiles or did my homework and done it on my own well ahead of time! I agree about it being one of the more difficult choices. That and the faucet were the two hardest so far! Red Eared Slider - thank you! Dianalo - I'm agreeing with you more and more. ;) Either that or something that truly blends in with the base color of the tile. Ah well, you live you learn! And again, I don't hate it. Just not the picture of blending in I had in mind. But the lightest color I offered any of you so in the end you still gave good advice (the majority of them I mean)! Honorbilkit - thank you for your .02! Cat mom - thanks for liking the kitchen! Jakabedy - that "overall impression" is the problem I'm having at the moment. It's okay when you look at individual pieces but all together it looks nice but not great. Hard to explain. I'll post a pic as soon as I can. Pharao - ding ding ding and we have a winner! ;) No - it's okay the way it is, REALLY IT IS! But anyway, I see your point now that it's a bit too late! hahaha. I just was so afraid of it getting stained! Boxerpups - okay I'm dying for you to see it since you think it's a lovely color. It just doesn't have the overall impression I expected (everything looks gray now, beside a countertop that's gray, so there's just not enough warmth and when the marble wasn't yet grouted, it did indeed look a lot more white, even though the shadows in between the tiles gave the impression of a darker grout!). Also it just doesn't feel very "period" which as you may recall, I get a little hung up on sometimes - especially considering I did something so "out there" by attempting to make stainless look period...so this just adds more modern to an already modern thing happening. But again, this can be lived with and with the right color for the upper cabs and all the nick nacks put back in place, etc., it might look better! Onedogedie - I'm reading you loud and clear! Mtnrdredux - Thanks for loving the kitchen! The uppers are original, from 1913. The lowers are what we just replaced since the ones before were put in in the late '70's we think. I'm glad you don't think it's trying too hard! That's funny cause that's something I work hard at - keeping things balanced and relatively simple while still taking into consideration that it's an old house, etc. I appreciate that - and am curious if you'll still think that after you see the grout (not quite the look I was after but it might still pass for not trying too hard)! As for timeless, I feel this grout makes things look a bit more modern (my kitchen is now starting to look like the loft-style hair salon I go to)!! Thank you...

Forgive the lighting.... but I will tell you this. We wanted white tile with white grout and were told by a store called Floor and Decor that Avalanche is the whitest white. I have no idea if that is true or not but I do know that it did not come out white. We even used the FlexColor CQ which is supposed to guarantee an even grout tone. This is darker than the frost color which we have used before. When I saw it I thought it must have been mislabeled. Mapei tech came out and said it’s the right color. I’m not an expert but I know this isn’t white. It’s either a quality control issue or it just never matches the sample. I‘ll spare everyone the details but let’s just say that I would not recommend using Avalanche for a white grout even though it’s the “whitest white”. And i would steer you away from Mapei altogether. Use at your own risk.

beautiful! we are doing fez as a backsplash. our design team suggested no grout but I can’t get on board with that idea since every photo i see has grout. Do you know how thick your grout lines were? 1mm as suggested or did you go bugger?

Has anyone installed Bond Nimbus tile and if so have a grout recommendation? I was going to go with Rain Mapei grout but I’m worried it’s too blue. Thanks!