I think the lighting where you took the picture is too dark. It is hard to see the colors of your samples. At least on my monitor, the whole picture has a weird yellow/brown tone.

Could you take the picture under daylight?

I took the picture with the lights on in the bathroom this afternoon, but I can definitely retake the picture tomorrow morning to see if I can do better. The tiles are sitting on my old dingy white bath mat, so that may be part of the problem.

I think that's closer, but it may be a bit too cool. You need to check the white balance setting if you have one, for the next photo.

Thanks, writersblock! That does look much better.

I like the floor tile and the countertop quartz together. I like the tie in of the shower floor and the room floor. The shower walls have to have cohesion and a limited # of elements.

Either the 1/3 large with 2/3 separated smaller separated by the chair rail or the accent square.

BTW I used big white subway tile in my shower and I love it. Mine are 8x24.

So, localeater, you are saying you don't recommend using an accent area WITH the 1/3 large on the bottom and 2/3 smaller on the top? That would be too many elements?

Tonight, in playing around with the white subway in the 2 sizes I have, I did come up with another layout. What about all large subway with an accent square of the smaller subway set in a herringbone pattern, framed with white chair rail tile? Maybe that would be enough interest.

Yes Bac that was what I was saying. All of the components you picked are lovely and will work I just wouldn't use them all.

Will you use shower curtain or glass enclosure? Will you niche or shelves or what are your plans for storage? What are you using for shower curb? What will be used for backsplash on vanity?

I think repeating the herringbone with smaller and different tiles might compete with the pretty floor rather than enhance it. I might 86 the marble mosaic.

As to shower curb, if you have one, I think the Quartz would not only look great it will function very well too.

Do you have any photos of showers where the bottom third is a large subway and the top two thirds is standard subway? The reverse is common, so I'm just wondering where you got that ratio and would want to see a real life example.

It seems your colors are a taupey greige and white, making the gray marble the odd man out. What are you doing for vanity backsplash? Maybe you could put a herringbone accent there if you find one in warmer tones to match the counter.

I'm not sure about laying the shower floor tile diagonally when it's adjacent to a herringbone floor. It feels like you're trying to embellish every tile surface with something special, and it may be too many shapes for a small room. It's good to give the eye a quiet place to rest.

I might agree with mayflowers about the diagonal shower floor competing as well but I am impartial for I did a grey herringbone main floor and a 2x2 mosaic shower floor to keep it simple. Initially I had planed for a basket weave shower floor but thought it distracted from my main pattern too much. Maybe lay it out first.

It is almost impossible for us to determine color matches for you. That is because everyone's monitor can read color slightly differently. So while the gray tile on my monitor might appear to have red undertones, on someone else's monitor it might appear to have blue or green undertones.

Only you, looking at the tile in the room can determine if it will work together.

Having said that, I agree that the marble accent might be too much. Without the accent, you already have four different tile shapes.

If trend is a concern, shy away from white subway tile as well. It has been far more prevelant this century than herringbone. Honestly both have been around since bathrooms were added to homes so not really a hot new trend either way. My 1920 orginal bath tile has an accent band around the shower/ tub area so I think they are safe too.

I love your choices but I can't help but wonder about all the white or light grout. Good luck keeping it clean. Softscrub is my new best friend.

On my light grey floors I chose a non contrasting grey grout to avoid the need to bleach white grout. It looks pretty good a year later. A little lighter grout might have looked better when perfect but the cosmetic compromise was worth the convince of a matched grout.

local - We're planning on a frameless shower door. Yes, we will add a niche on the end wall opposite the controls. The top of the shower curb will be a piece of the quartz. The backsplash on the vanity will be the quartz, but I have considered extending the tile from the shower along the wet wall at ~39", so that would form the backsplash.

rorarah - Yes, as much as I like the marble herringbone, I'm thinking I will not be including it. And yes, we will be using the quartz on the shower curb. We also plan to use it as at the bottom of the niche in the shower. And you are right about the shower floor and the 1" mosaic. We will need to lay it out first to decide which way looks best with the room floor. On the floors (shower and room), we are planning to use a grey grout.

mayflowers - My thoughts on the subway were to use the larger on the bottom because it's "heavier" looking, but maybe I'm way off on that. By the reverse, are you recommending switching the smaller to the bottom 1/3 or are you recommending using the larger on the bottom 2/3's with the smaller on the top 1/3? See my comment to local about the vanity backsplash. You make a good point about trying to embellish too much.

cpartist - Even tho I did ask about the greys working together, I was also looking for input on the whole tile scheme with shapes and layouts. I now see that adding the marble accent it too much.

writer - I think you mean the herringbone accent tile is a trend, but what about laying the room floor tile in a herringbone? The grout will be grey, so it will be a very subtle pattern. Still too trendy???

feather - We currently have 4" white ceramic tile in the shower. It's been there for almost 25 years and except for at the very bottom where it meets the base, it still looks darn good. I felt by using the much larger scale subway, I'll have much fewer grout lines to maintain.

I meant the larger tile on bottom but going two thirds up the wall with it. I'm curious where you got the idea of going one third and hoped you had some photos. This is the only photo I have in my Ideabooks of split shower tile.

Beach Vacation Home · More Info

I guess I had that thought because at one point I was considering continuing the chair rail and lower 1/3 of the tile into the room on the wall with the toilet and vanity. The tile wold then form the backsplash for the vanity. But then, I realized it would be the larger tile and that would not work as well as a backsplash as the smaller subway. I really like the picture you just posted with the grey stripe and the upper tile set on the diagonal, but I guess that would be too many patterns for my bathroom or would it????? I'm going to take a look at that picture on Houzz. Thanks.

That bathroom is more cottage than spa with the white tile and mosaic. You can see in the other photos how repeating the 12" diagonal tile on the floor and using the mosaic throughout makes it a cohesive design.

I like the look of a tile carried from the shower to the vanity as a backsplash. I do have some photos of larger subway tile used as a backsplash. I like it combined with an accent tile too. I think you can pull off a 12" H backsplash (2 rows of your 6 x 18") if you use a taller faucet. I don't mean one of those gooseneck faucets, but a traditional design like my Delta Cassidy. 6 x 12" would be a better scale for a backsplash though.

Private Client Irvine · More Info

Modern Bathroom · More Info

Using the counter material as backsplash, you could do a simple ogee edge for the counter and backsplash. It would be nice with your traditional wood stain. I can't recall your vanity style but I know your home is mostly traditional. An ogee thins down the side of the quartz or granite a bit instead of it being a thick block of counter material. If it's a single sink vanity where the sink is far enough away from the wall, I wouldn't even do a side splash.

Relaxation · More Info

And finally, I thought you might like this pretty tile. They framed the herringbone in the shower too.

Reaume Construction & Design · More Info

may - I especially like that last picture. I feel I should try to work in at least a touch of grey on the shower walls to tie in with the grey on the shower floor and room floor. We're probably going with the Moen Voss faucet at the sink and the vanity will not be right up to the wall on either side, so the backsplash will be at the back only. Thanks for all the pictures for ideas!

As I mentioned, I have X-posted this same question over on Home Decorating and localeater just posted 2 pics of tiled showers that would work well for my bathroom. I like the mosaic border in the second picture, but have no idea what it might be called so I can start searching for it. Any ideas? I do also like the two sizes of tile with the chair rail in the first pic. And the first one has a herringbone floor, too!

Bathroom · More Info

Master Shower, Bathroom · More Info

Bac the mosaic tile name is given in one of the other pictures on Houzz. It is Sonoma Tile Vihara glass in color Puka. Oh and I am glad you like these images.

These new shower pictures look right to me, with more percentage of the height of the shower wall on the bottom portion, below the chair rail. Doing it with 1/3 below the chair rail would look top-heavy and/or upside-down to me.

I do like your thoughts about tying in the floor by using gray mosaic in the shower. Are you using a pre-made niche', or can you also use your mosaic for the back of the niche'? Using it there, next to the quartz, ties it to your countertop, too.

This might be close to your materials. Herringbone floor in a warm gray, matching square tile for shower floor, large format subway for bottom of shower, subway for top. I don't think it's quite divided into thirds. I really like the pencil liner in the color of the floor tiles. There's a close-up of the vanity backsplash at the link.

Tustin Custom Baths Remodel · More Info

Tustin Custom Baths Remodel · More Info

We could go either way with the niche. If I find a mosaic, we'd use that in the niche, If not, I think we'd use the smaller subway in the niche.

mayflowers - you amaze me with the way you are able to find pictures on Houzz that have all the elements I'm considering for the bathroom.

It amazed me too! I just did a search on herringbone floor as that seems to be the one element you're sure of.