This is such a great thread!! I really like the idea of vertical subways and then accent glass tiles running vertically in the shower to simulate the waterfall (I saw metalic ones this way in a video on the HGTV site). I have a small city bathroom so not much room to play with. My mind in dancing around this idea but if I did that then the only 'wow' would be that one vertical stripe within the shower. (All four walls will be tiled since the moisture situation makes this the only real choice so that leaves painting the walls outside the shower not an option.) If I go the traditional horizontal subway tile route with an accent strip all around the whole bathroom then the 'wow' is everywhere but the overall looks isn't as modern as I'd like. I really like the modernness of the vertical layout but how can I incorporate the glass tiles elsewhere besides the one vertical stripe in the shower? Anyone have any creative ideas?

Wow - thank you so much for your helpful responses! I just love this website :-) I've decided to go with the white hex and the Laticrete Silver Shadow grout - I looked online and saw several pictures and I really like it! (is it darker or lighter than the Mapei Warm Gray Bill V? I think they are very close according to this website - http://www.grout-aide.com/colors2.html) I actually really like the black/white example Bill V shared as it doesn't over-do the black flowers but after a bit more thought, I think that the all white hex will give us more options if we decide to change the paint later or the next homeowner has all boys :-) I'll have to save my idea of having black honed granite for our kitchen remodel next summer! * Side note, this will just be the girls' bathroom - we are currently adding a master upstairs as well and a powder downstairs for guests - you will certainly be seeing many more questions from me as we get closer to making final decisions in both of those spaces as well ;) Thanks for all the responses re: grout not matching between the two spaces. Bill V, I'm definitely giving consideration to both being the same as you suggest but going to leave that up to my husband to decide. I saw a picture on this forum that has the grout you suggested as their surround and it looks lovely with the chrome!!! alku05, yes, please share pictures! Does your granite have the garnet speckles? I read online that some of these slabs do and some don't - obviously with any of the paint options I'm looking at the red garnet speckles won't work ;) I also read that this slab resembles marble but without as much worry about staining - certainly something I'm going to look more into! - On that note, do you think the space will look balanced if I picked a granite like this one (with grey and/or white tones) if we go with all white and just the lighter grey grout? Thanks to all who responded - if there are any other suggestions or pictures you could share with me, I'm all ears and of course appreciate all the help!

tiger-- are you using the Opera Glass? I just installed a band of 1x2" glass tiles in Puccini Purple with my calacatta marble field tiles. I love them! Using Bill's recommendation, we used Laticrete's Silver Shadow on the marble and the glass, and it looks great. Especially because it's a "cold gray" rather than a warm gray. My guess is that Platinum will have a similar effect. Looking forward to seeing your pics, and I will try to get some up soon too.

Hi Sue - This is not REALLY what you are talking about - but kind of. It's using tumbled stone in a subway pattern. I'm considering this for my kitchen backsplash (using the small sample of light blue glass in the middle).