Would doing a picture frame around the window work, maybe with your listello?

That would help with the right side but it also then makes the left side piece smaller. Any other ideas, please.

Editing the height of the shower wall to 96". We are thinking about running the tile vertically from the bottom up. We would then have, starting at the center of the wall, (not window), then we would have 5- 12" tile across with a 4 1/2" band on each far side of the wall. The height of each of these tiles would be cut to 21 1/2" so that they come right up under the window sill, 2 tile high.

The area on the right side of the window, 39" high, could be arranged so that we would have a 13 1/2" high tile X 23 1/2" laid horizonal, with the 4 1/2 band beside it, which matches the width of the vertical tile on the right side. Then a 12" band of listello running the entire length of the right side of the window, 28". Above that would be a repeat of what is below the listello.

The left side of the window is 22" wide. From the window sill up, a 13 1/2" tile laid horizonal by 171/2" with another 13 1/2" by 41/2" to match the narrow tile on the right side. Then the listello running the entire 22". Above that a repeat of what is below the listello. Above the window from the ceiling down would be the 4 1/2" bands on the left and right, with the 12" tile, five across. The height of the tile would be 15".

There is no way to get around the different lengths of tile on each side of the window but we are hoping the listello is the best answer. Another option is to use 2 sets of the 12" listello but I am not sure how that would look. Here is a picture of the listello.

I am not sure why I don't get many responses to my questiosn. But I would appreciate your help and suggestions. My hubs is just about able to figure out anything but this really has up stumped.

Does anyone ever use listello as wide as the 39", running it along all three walls of the shower, so that it would be on both sides of the window, the height of the window?

Your question is very hard to understand. A sketch of your proposed layout would be helpful. Why can't you do a vertical layout, centered on the wall? 4 full tiles, with each side then having a 10-1/2" tile.

Thanks dekeoboe and catbuilder. I know my question was wordy. The bottom portion below the window wasn't of issue as much as the window area. Hubby spent most of yesterday drawing out ideas. The goal for me was to have as large of pieces as possible with clean lines. Here are the best we got, all are centered on the wall, not window. The guy who laid the tile in the rest of our home, suggested to brick lay it, but I don't care for all the broken lines.

1. Bricklaid horizontal with 8" listello band and listello around the window.2. Stacked horizontal with 12' band of listello and listello around the window.3. Vertical stacked with 12" band listello and smaller frame of listello around window. This is the most balanced look with a 4 1/2" piece of tile on each end. However the side walls with also have a partial piece of tile, so this may not look good with that.4. Same as #3 but window not framed with listello but with tile.

I forgot to take a picture of dekeoboe's suggestion - I will come back with that one.

This is dekeoboe's layout. I really like a 12" band of listello. Do you think we could drop the row above and below the listello to 8.5" to give me a 12" band? This layout may look best since the tile on the side wall that will abutt up to the 10 1/2" will also be a partial tile. I think the window can still be framed with listello as well, maybe not just as wide as in the other layouts. What do you think?

I like your #2. It just looks clean and simple. There isn't just one best way to do it and personal preferences will come into play.

I don't like the examples with the narrow strip of tile at the ceiling line. It makes the top of the window and ceiling area look too busy.

I am working on 3 bathrooms right now and the GC, tile contractor and I will consult on how we want to lay things out. We all have our different opinions, but I hear all the options and make the final choice. The tile contractor and I disagree on how to place the bullnose tile, but neither way is wrong, just personal preference and sometimes we compromise and come up with a blend of the two layouts that works even better.

Thanks chispa - I won't say my favorite yet, still hoping others will respond. Two would sure be easier to lay. The off center lines above the window kinda bothers me but our tile and grout match so closely and its only a 1/16 grout line. Hopefully the listello would be what would catch your eye.

Since you want a 12" listello, how about this, all horizontal tiles

4 rows of full tiles starting from the bottom

Then a row of tiles 6" tall (so split a tile)

12" listello

Another row of tiles 6" tall

2 rows of full tiles

Actually, the top row will probably be a short of the full 12" due to grout lines and the height of the window.

I can't help you with your layout problem but I like the looks of the vertically stacked tiles. DH with his photographer's eye concurs. ; ) I don't care for the listello around the window at all. Too too much.

Dekeoboe - hubs will draw that one out for me to see. Mayflowers - I prefer the vertical, hubs prefers the horizontal as doing the ceiling of the shower will be easier to do horizonatly. My original vision was that since our bathroom is longer than wider, the floor tile, which is laid long ways would flow over to the shower and up the wall. Now the shower floor tile are 1"x1", our only choice, but at least the eye could continue up the shower wall. I wanted the granite countertop and listello in the shower to be the two focal points but not really compete with each other. We are ready to start tiling tomorrow so a decision has to be made soon. Hubs is finishing up the painting and putting in new baseboards today. I will let you know what we decide.

mboston, a suggestion for your shower floor. I am also using smaller tiles on the floor, 2 x 2 in my case, and having all those lines adjacent to the wall tiles, is very visually distracting to me. I have taken a larger version of the shower floor tile and cut it to make a 3" or 4" border and the small tiles fill in the rest. It makes for a cleaner simpler transition between wall and floor.

I think this really comes down to personal preference, so, for what it's worth, I like option 2 best and option 1 least. To me, Option 2 seems the most clean and elegant, while option 1 looks a little cluttered. Framing the window with listello will emphasize the window and the view, so if you have a nice view, I would do it.

We have gone with #2, no listello around the window, just the band around the walls. There are a couple of sight modifications as the tile aren't exactly 12x24 and that throws everything off. But its all going to be horizontal. Ended up being that working out the window in the most balanced way eats up alot of tile. We wouldn't have enough if we did vertical, believe it or not. Two pros strongly suggested we stay away from vertical, so we bit the bullet and took their advice.

Hubs is in the process of tiling it now. So far so good, at least for the moment. My job was to sort the tile so that we don't have two exact same pieces together. There are a number of variations in the pieces, ended up with some boxes having 6 different pieces and others with 2 of the same tile, twice in one box of 6, go figure.

Chispa, just wanted to come back and tell you that I shared your idea with hubs and he wants to do that in our shower. I really didn't want the 1"x1", have had 2"x2" before and octagonal (I think, maybe hexagon) and really wanted larger this time but the tile we picked only comes with the matching 1"x1". If I were brave enough, I would have tried to find another tile for the floor but it took us forever to coordinate everything as it was. Hubs is still working on the walls. The window has really created issues and he ended up buying a large wet saw, which has helped. Hopefully, the floor will work out. Thanks for the suggestion.