Or... could do this tile instead of above. Vanity has already been purchased though.

For a flip home I would keep it very simple, like the top example. The bottom example may be too taste specific. ANd yes, IMHO, in a perfect world, I think rooms should relate to a unified vision of some kind. Era, mood, origin, colors, something. My 2 cents.

Oh my on the lower level bath! Can you imagine what Christina on Flip or Flop might say?

Lol, i have no idea what that means littlebug. But i think you are right mtn, just because I like it doesnt mean everyone else does.

I prefer bathrooms to harmonize with the rooms next to them rather than with each other. When I see all the baths in the house done identically, it screams "flip" or "builder discount here" to me.

This is tough. I like a house to have a similar vibe from room to room but yet for each room be a bit unique too. Bathrooms I suppose should represent the overall feel of the house but they are also a very personal space that often can also be a bit special too. Think jewel box powder rooms. The top and bottom are very different though so not sure if I would go that far....I love the third bath a lot.

Since it is a flip house, I would be most concerned about what the prospective buyers might like. Do the bathrooms you show reflect the taste of buyers in your area? Are there comparable new spec homes in the area that are selling? How are those appointed? Personally, I love the tile in the second picture much more than plain black slate, but I'm probably not your target buyer.

I would stick to a general unified theme that is not too taste specific for prospective buyers -- ie, simple white tiles, gray floors like the first example. While I like the cement tile, it might be too much for a flip and seems inconsistent with the other bathroom.

I'd keep to some unifying element..for example the cement tile has the colors of upper master bath..dark gray and medium brown. So it's okay that it's different. But. In that case, I'd go for a darker vanity. To keep this slightly unifying element going on.

Now if it wasn't for a flip, it'd be a different story..depending on the house of course. It does have to connect in some way..but there are different ways in which you convey the connection. One of them is the homeowner-it all comes together because it's done/thought out by a certain person. A little bit different when that person inhabiting the space is supposedly not you-and still has to find it making some inner sense.

Bathrooms not near each other will look totally weird if they match. I'd be turned off.

For a flip, I'd strive for consistency. The bathroom at the top has the right elements to allow for the buyer to bring in their own color preferences in the accessories. I don't think you can go wrong with clean and simple.

For a flip home, you don't want to inject too much personality. Neutral and simple is the way to go. You want it to appeal to as many people as possible. white subway tiles are a great choice.

I have to say, it drives me BONKERS when bathrooms match. But that's only because I understand the economics behind it. It's done by builders and flippers because it's cheaper, and requires fewer decisions. 1 tile, 1 countertop, 1 cabinet style. Done. So I cringe when I'm watching a flip show and the fake home buyers at the "open house" go "ooh, look, they used the same tile, that's really nice!" Like it's a feature rather than a cost savings. But most people don't think like that. They've seen enough HGTV real estate shows and builder show homes to think that it means "flow" (my least favourite HGTV word).

So, in my house, bathrooms will absolutely never match (I save money elsewhere). But in a flip house, buyers are probably expecting it, and you don't want to spend more money than you have to.

And I agree that the tile in the second picture is too wild for a flip. I think you could probably get away with the 3rd one in a powder room, though. It's trendy and edgy without being too colourful.

I'd be careful with that third tile..it's trendy and nice all right but it is a harsh contrast. I would never pass on a house because of some tile if I liked it as a whole..but I'd be miserable in that bath while saving money to change it..as nice as it is.

"Most people don't think like that"-frankly, I already don't know what most people think. It's so scripted on TV and then taught and then taught some more..it's hard to judge what people themselves think, and what we are told they think. Well some people are plainly not that interested. Like I'm not interested in gadgets for example. That's very understandable. But the people who watch the shows..well they are probably interested to some degree..and I suspect they think what we think-a bit of this and a bit of that, lol

I don't think they should match, but they should look like they belong in the same house, and within reason the overall quality should be consistent.

Nothing, to me, looks worse than a house with a palatial master bath with marble and chandeliers, and kids' bathrooms with plastic tub surrounds and other cheap finishes top to bottom.

The flip side of all bathrooms being the same (which, at least is a way of using a consistent quality throughout) are bathrooms that are so different that it also indicates big box store discounts. Just at different times, like

Masterbath: every big box trend 2001

Hall bath: every big box trend 2009

Powder room every big box trend 2013.

Or #1 "late Edwardian subway tile and nickel

#2 "transitional"

#3 large format pure contemporary. . . like a cavalcade of different trends and tastes.

Yes, that's a very valid point, palimpsest, but I was thinking of a listing I saw today where the downstairs was all kind of mid-00s with ochre walls, cherry shaker cabinets, and, of course, tumbled travertine bath, while the upstairs had been all redone to meet the current gray/aqua ikea-modern style, except for the tumbled travertine bath. Both baths were newly renovated, incidentally.

So you can reach the same point by starting on the opposite side of the circle. :)

Aprilneverends, you're right about the shows being scripted. But I've heard the same comments in real life, and on other forums I participate in (which are made up of people of similar age and economic background rather than a mutual interest in design, housing is a sub category of a general life forum.) I think it's an effect of the shows and builder show homes.

I don't really have an issue with "big box store 2001" and "big box store 2009" in the same house. Assuming we're talking about a suburban tract house. It's probably not going to have a distinct style to begin with. And part of the reason matching bugs me so much is that it basically means if you're ever going to renovate or redecorate, you have to do the entire house all at once or not at all. And I think most people would rather buy a house with 1 bathroom they like, and a second bathroom that needs to be renovated; rather than 2 outdated but matching bathrooms.

But then, a lot of my opinions are based on my grandmothers' love of redecorating. They were both regularly redoing one room or another. GM 1 only had 1 bathroom. GM 2 had 2, and they never matched. But then, big box stores didn't exist. So whatever they did to their rooms, always reflected their own style, to my childhood eyes, anyway. Maybe I just wasn't aware of how much they were imitating BH&G.

Well, maybe they weren't imitating, amber. who knows. my own Grandma was very much into all things home..great taste, really..and we didn't have neither shows nor magazines about decor..nothing. I do remember us having one book. It was called "The Modern Apartment", and the style was sixties since it was probably when the book came out. But I was a kid in seventies and eighties..:) We had some trends going on obviously.. they just arrived, like, ten years later or so. Maybe faster with fashion. But it was pretty much impossible to buy in a store anyway. You had "to get it" somehow. Nice things didn't reach the stores..evaporated somewhere in the middle..if they rarely did it was such a rage..people would spend hours upon hours standing in line..it was like Black Friday lol..just on some random days. Certain things you could get if you signed up for it and had to wait for months, in some sort of virtual line...some books, for example..

We have redone both of our bathrooms. They are on different floors of our home but both very public. They have NOTHING in common. One is done in standard subway tile the other in large carrera marble look ceramic, 10x12s. One has a vanity one a pedestal sink. One is all about a very large accessible shower the other is a typical family bathroom. By the time we sell we will never know what a fopaux it was. We worried about our needs and likes. When I think about it not sure the prior rooms harkened back to each other either--maybe that is why we didn't let us hamper our desires?

#3 is entirely appropriate for early 1900s vintage house - tile sorta reminiscent of the ubiquitous black & white geometric ceramic tile although obviously of more modern design. #1 &2 for midcentury or later. All colors appear suitably neutral.....meaning it wouldnt be hard for people to add their own colors/styles to make it their own.

I must not get out much. Before I read this thread I had no idea bathrooms were supposed to match in a house LOL. I think the rooms are supposed to "flow," one into the next... ie look and feel visually cohesive.... but without being totally matching.

By match, i did not mean replicate. I meant compliment, have a similar feel.

I am not going to do any wild tile. It's too permanent. Thanks for the help. My husband is happy :)

Janelle or anyone, do you know more about the #3 b&w tile? Manufacturer etc.? I really like it and have a circa 1906 bathroom it would look great in ...houses that era had little hex tiles, sometimes just plain single color, sometimes arranged in very intricate geometric patterns reminiscent of that design. It's not for everyone or every situation, but for the right house, the right type of bathroom that would be a masterful stroke designwise. Sure you want to try to please the average buyer but I dont think "flip" needs to be bland or aim only for lowest common denominator - I guess thats where the skill comes in, knowing when to add some style and when to be more restrained.

I would want to remember it is a flip and not an example of your personal style unless you have your own tv show. If they loose money, they are still getting paid. If you loose money it hurts. Do it well. Know what you are doing and watch the market for your area

Current Resident, it's a pretty common design in cement(encaustic) tiles..very traditional pattern. Check sites like Villa Lagoon Tile or Cement Tile Shop

https://www.villalagoontile.com/

http://www.cementtileshop.com/

there are more of course but you'll find there quite a few options I believe..check also theirs in-stock and small lots that are very well priced and are available right away

something to know about cement tile though-it is slippery when wet. so if it's a concern to you-take that into account

It's actually from home depot online. Super popular and pretty inexpensive.

Current resident, I feel in love with an encaustic tile from Home Depot on line but many of them are not rated for wet area floors. If you find ones you like be sure to pull up the spec sheet and make sure the wet DOCF is greater than .4 or the can be as slippery as ice when wet. Others need regular sealing for real cement is porous. But they are so pretty!

I guess I am always surprised (because the matching bathrooms question comes up regularly), that the same general population who gets worried when two shades of white are "off" and would vehemently talk someone out of furnishing three rooms in the same house in the three styles below, think it's perfectly fine, or even preferable (to avoid looking "builder" or "cheap") to do three bathrooms in the same house in three styles as below.

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I can't imagine anyone would do those 3 rooms (bathroom or otherwise) in the same house. They're all so different that I can't see anyone loving all of them enough to put the money into them.

But something like this? I got both these pictures from the "transitional" section of the Houzz photos. There's some light grey in both, and they're both considered "transitional". But other than that, there's really nothing tying them together, but I would totally do them in the same house. (I actually missed the rustic boxes when I picked these photos.)

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And I wouldn't tell someone they shouldn't match in order to avoid looking cheap. I would tell them that they don't HAVE to match.

*I* know it's cheap. But it only bothers me that there are people who think the cheapest option is the best because it makes it "cohesive". If you love whatever tile choice so much that you want it in every room, then go for it. But realistically, people are drawn to several options and struggle to pick the one that they love enough to have everywhere. If they're willing to pay for the extra leftovers for every different room, then they really aren't limited to 1 choice.

I don't think they have/need to and frankly wouldn't want them to match. We have two en-suite bathrooms. They're at different ends of the house. Each bathroom goes with/ties into the corresponding bedroom. The non-master bathroom has two entry doors. One steps right into a bedroom and the other door steps into a small hall. It's decor works with the bedroom, the office right next to it and the kitchen. Actually it "works" with then entire house except for the master suite. But even if the master suite was the same decor as the rest of the house I wouldn't want the bathrooms to look alike.

For a flip house, it probably needs to be as neutral and similar as possible. People buying such houses are shopping for the HGTV look.

As for those three rooms that are so different - only in a decorator show house with a REALLY bad chairman!

Sometimes, people buy flip houses without regard to HGTV. Location, price, convenience.... and perhaps something not real matchy-matchy.