(I don't care what your tiler thinks! And you MUST be able to buy off DH somehow!)

If you can get a really good match for the different marble tiles, it might work, but there can be quite a bit of variation among different batches of the "same" stone. It might be too busy because there are soooo many shapes already. But if the colors are a good match, it's probably fine. I do like the big hex for a big bathroom.

I'm not sure you should not be doing the GOOD tile though. Renegotiate.

Such a matter of personal taste. I have never liked it.

The tiler is willing to try and work with the "good"tile, but incase It is too fragile I need a backup tile at the ready. The bathroom is not big which was somewhat my concern. It is only 8 by 13. I still have time to buy in stock tile but if I choose a special order I need to do so in a week or two and it is really hard for me to wrap my head or heart around a new direction now.

Stick with your original plan. It's a good one. Do you need a different tiler?

Oh, I loved your encaustic tile. I also like the large marble hex.

I understand your thinking. In my upstairs original full 1939 bath, I renovated with the small hex tile floor and white subway tile walls. Then, to update the new master bath addition, I went with the herringbone pattern, grey wood tile with a marble subway shower and marble vanity top. Like you, I wanted my master to be more upscale than the guest bath. I went with a Parisian 1930s look as my splurge. Same era, different country, but I figured it would translate well. I'm so glad I went with my heart's desire! My bath is 8 x 20.

I love your plan but would talk to tiler some more to determine if his comments are truly valid or he's just talking cr@p. Again I think it is pretty as well as imaginative

I love the look, but if it is real marble for the shower, I would head over to the bathroom forum. The overwhelming consensus is no marble in a shower. Pretty much every week there is someone with issues and the issues are wide ranging and pervasive. Sorry.

I llive in a house of the same generation and I know exactly what you mean about trying to work with the age yet keep it modern at the same time. I think the look you've hit on works for both - but I would look for alternatives for the shower.

Thanks for so much for the feed back. I like the tiler and found many saying the same as he is. The original tile I love is a ceramic floor and wall tile and every store recommends either porcelain or stone for they are stronger and denser for floors. My guy is willing to use it but worries we may need to keep a lot of spare boxes for future repairs of cracks and I want this to be a once and done project.

Dyh, I love your master bath! Do you recall you floor tile source? I am having a difficult time finding wood grains that work with marble and my furniture pieces.

daisy, I looked into an encaustic style tile because of your project after you posted about using them here! I love how you turned a very sad tragedy around and made something even better than it was originally. I should have mentioned the marble tile samples I have above are actually porcelain, because we have marble kitchen counters I know now to avoid etching products.

It sounds like your installer might have a legitimate reason to not like the tile.

But no ceramics? We can't use ceramic on floors now? Is that new? I used ceramic tile on the floor and shower floor of my bathroom (and then the counter since the sink top I ordered didn't fit grr) and my installers were fine with it. My ~60 year old ceramic bathroom floors look pretty good considering our seismic situation.

What kind of weight are you applying to your bathroom floor that requires DENSE tile? That doesn't pass the smell test. Yeah, some ceramics are unsuitable for high traffic areas, some unsuitable for wet areas due to poor sealing, but all ceramics bad? I am highly skeptical. I suggest testing any tile before you buy, just as if it were a kitchen countertop material. And refer to the material data info stuff that tile manufacturers put out. They will tell you if a tile won't work in a bathroom. Tile stores are pretty good at telling you what things cost and how long it will take to fill your order.

I'm sorry, I don't care for it, but that shouldn't make any difference because you obviously really like it. I don't like light-colored floors in bathrooms; they always look cold to me. There again, it's all a matter of personal preference. Good luck with your project.

Thanks Ingrid, I actually do not really like it I am looking at second choice options and my DH really liked it and I am not sure if I do or don't and he is one who likes to make decorating decisions with me, boohoo some wife's do not know how good they have it!

flori, i think he said that all porcelain is ceramic but not all ceramic is porcelain. To be called Porcelain it has a certification system but to be called ceramic does not need such a rating. Denser means more impervious to water marks and stains and the strength is found in thicker tiles. I have not ruled it out yet just considering other options. My tiler has a favorite store to work with and they do carry the tile and it is rated for floors but They too mentioned I might want to look at porcelain tiles for my bath floors.

My floor tile is Seta in Silver.

Seta Porcelain floor tile, 6x24, in Silver from BestTile.

Bianco Carrara Marble subway tile in shower from BestTile.

The square shower floor tile is porcelain, but there's no link available.

So you're not going with the encaustic tile? I love it, and hope to use some in our next house. The floor has to be nice and level to avoid breakage. Some tile people might not want to take the time to do it right. ??

Dyhgardens, thanks I might just pull a Single White Female and copy your whole beautiful bath! If I do I owe you a decorators free!

Allison, my bath is a new second floor addition so it should be very level hopefully. I should ask if that will make a difference in the tiles acceptability. There are other encaustic tiles that are recommended by my guy, I just do not like them as much :(.

What manufacturer does he recommend? I don't want to fall in love with the wrong ones. :D

I have samples of palazzo by Stonepeak that he does recommend they are porcelain but they are too dark for my project. I should be getting more this weekend and I will tell you the brands as I get them. Here is a link to Stonepeak' s line. http://www.tileamerica.com/tile-products/?category_id=6&product_id=295&action=colors

Thanks. Not what I would want, and dark like you said.

I have just finished speaking at length with my tiler. His main issue with my tile of choice is it has an absorption rating of greater than 3 but less than 7 and as such should not be applied to bathroom floors specifically but he would use it in halls or even possibly kitchens where water puddles are less likely. Here is a chart with industry recommendations

Non-vitreousWater absorption of more than 7.0% by volume.Tile for non-wet areas. Around fireplaces, for example. Typically intended for walls, hobby and crafts use.

Semi-vitreousWater absorption of more than 3.0 percent, but not more than 7.0 percent.Tile for areas that may get wet on occasion, but are unlikely to see constant or standing water. Kitchen backsplashes or countertops, for example.

VitreousWater absorption of more than 0.5 percent, but not more than 3.0 percent.Virtually any indoor application including shower walls and floors. Outdoors in areas that do not freeze. (Although some vitreous tiles will pass the frost test, and can be used outdoors. The frost test is discussed later in this article.)

ImperviousWater absorption of 0.5 percent or less.Any indoor or outdoor application.

He mentioned Anne sacks' tiles as an option to look into for baths.

i have now decided to definitely not use the original tile in this project, might save it for my vestibule floor when I finally tackle ripping out the old tile.

I have a sample of Dyhgardens' seta tile and my DH loves it and I am looking at Ann Sack's encaustics to order some samples too.

link to Ann Sack encaustic tile for Allison they are more like my orginal choice than the Stonepeak http://www.annsacks.com/search?q=Encaustic+

Roarah I love that encaustic tile! But understand the water absorption issue.

I am trying to find a hex tile similar to the large one you first posted. Where is that tile from if I might ask?

Missymoo12, the tile is white Marmi 12x13.75 hexagon in statuario they have a Calcutta imitation too with a bit more veining and some gold in it. It is porcelain with a wear code4 and shade variation 2. I got these from Tile America. The tile is 5.99 per sf.

http://www.tileamerica.com/tile-products?category_id=1&product_id=307&action=colors

Missy, here is a page with other large hex options.

http://www.tileamerica.com/tile-products?category_id=10&attribute_options%5B%5D=94

For a bathroom, the COF (coefficient of friction) is important. YOu need a COF greater than 0.6 wet

Most polished marble is slick enough to be dangerous.

Oh thank you lazy gardens. The tile is a porcelain marble loolalike not real marble in a honed finish but I will look up its COF rating today and will keep COFs in mind when looking at options from now on. Thank you very much.

I don't know about you, but we are more likely to have water puddles in entry ways rather than the bathroom. The only time our bathroom floor gets wet at all is after bathing the dog and he shakes, but we wipe it up immediately.

Thanks. I've seen the AS tile, assuming you've seen what Walker Zanger has to offer as well. I think they are best suited for walls, but says low traffic floors too.

Have you looked at Village Lagoon website and read their FAQ section?

"A high quality effective sealant must be used for shower, spa, or pool
use. Villa Lagoon tiles have been tested using numerous sealants. We can
make recommendations with your order, if the application falls outside
of the scope of our house sealant."

I don't think using them in bathrooms or wet areas is necessarily bad, unless they are not sealed. A large Mexican restaurant in our area is covered with these tiles, so lots of traffic and its in their bathrooms also. A lot of trades people are uncomfortable working with something outside their norm, and do not want the homeowner coming back to say they were not warned if/when something goes wrong down the road. So they will advise against.

Thank you, Allison. I have seen walker Zanger but have not seen Village Lagoon yet. I hope not to have standing water but we are doing a jetted curbless large shower so not sure how much water will puddle. Hopefully none. I also have young kids who may shower in this room who do create lots of puddles in their own bathroom.

i am going to ask about sealing them it seems that would counter the absorption issues.

off to look into Village Lagoon. Thanks.

I know the Stonepeak Palazzo is too dark for you but I love the grey for our master bath. So similar to the Montauk black slate floor I'm using for the bathroom floor.

I've been looking for a smaller format tile for the shower floor to coordinate with the slate and I'm thinking it might be better to use porcelain tiles rather than real slate in a wet shower.

Tnfarmhouse, i only thought the patterned Stonepeak was too dark compared to my first choice encaustic style tile. I have the large rectangle grey Stonepeak tile as one of my floor choices. It does have a nice slate look and the edging is pretty. Their small square mosaic is lovely for a shower floor too.

My pic would not attach. Here is the small grey palazzo tile. Very pretty.

I have the Stonepeak Bardiglietto (grey) porcelain in my sunroom. I like it, but i didn't like their white Statuarietto in person.

Sunroom before finished:

Then, here's the Seta Grey porcelain in my master, but the lighting isn't bright in this photo. Sorry that the lighting is a bit off! I can't find my other photos right now, but this shows the marble subway in the shower.

Thanks roarah for the tile info. I'm putting it on the short list!

There is tile designed for the floor, much harder, and there is tile designed for the wall. I have set tile for people. I never, ever commented on the choice of tile in a negative fashion.

make sure he uses the appropriate trowel for the size of the tile.

and the right thinset, especially in the shower.

Tim, if a tile is rated for dry floor areas is it ok for a bathroom floor, not shower floor but abutting a curbless shower stall? His concern was the tiles water absorption rating. Thanks.

Have you looked at Sarah Baldwin, or newravenna.com? Site doesn't load for me right now, though.

Edie, "Silk Road' for New Ravenna Mosaics · More Info

I have the Ann Sacks Los Jardines in Gris in my laundry room. I LOVE IT!!!