mariofo no it isn't crema marfil, it is a natural stone called pearl honed. The picture actually shows the tile to be a shade lighter than what it is in person. The tile place is recommending a color called straw which is a little dark. I wan't to keep the backsplash on the light side and was looking for a color a little lighter that doesn't have a grey or pink cast to them. How did you do the test the day before on extra tiles, did you mix and put some on the tile??

Yvette Im sorry your upset, It does look lighter in todays photos to me. You have very poor photo quality and in truth you are comparing a Showroom floor with white marble or glass contrast relfecting and a complete different lighting schematic to your tub alcove. There is some solice in lighting. This is repeated on these forums time and again. Stone itself comes in dye lots and VERIES drastically. Stone wicks moisture, from thinset substrate and grout as it cures it gets darker before it lightens. Some thinsets can take 30 days to fully cure, some portland grouts do normalize over 7-10+ days. and there is a dozen things that can go wrong with hand mixed and installed grout. I cannot see close enough the details of your install but I can tell you I have had to watch sales people at tile shops like a hawk in that they are usually not a person to take advise from. Can you be 100% certain they sold you the proper color/brand or did they sell you something similar to sell you something. ? You should have more recourse if you Payed a tile professional to source and purchase the materials themselves grout included and if you have a contract and stayed hands off. One thing homeonwers dont consider when they get involved with these things is the importance of putting all the liability in the contractors hands to afford recourse. People that do the shopping finding deals choosing materials, and then hiring labor have little to no recourse so i hope thats not you.. I suggest further patience and see how it lightens, play with lighting and start to focus on other aspects of your room..

When I just looked using "what is" this is what I found. "Rectified tiles are ceramic or porcelain tiles that have been precisely ground and machined to give them near-perfect straight edges and exact dimensions. These tiles provide a very clean, symmetrical look, and allow for extremely fine grout lines of 3mm or less (typically using unsanded grout,." I would ask for another quote if the first one did not explain the difference and just gave you a name and price.

@SJ McCarthy Everyone has been super helpful and either the brick is a look you like or you don't which I get but no one has mentioned the brick against the wood laminate except you. The washed grayish brown brick looks completely fine against my existing wood laminate - I included a picture with my floor and the brick tiles and there is nothing wrong with it. The reddish brown brick suggested here is also a washed looked and something I am considering. Both the brick I selected and the tone that was suggested are warm. You say that I am trying to add a very warm floor to cool tones, but how is that wrong? You can mix gray/white cool tones in the same room as warm tones so I am not following where you say that is an issue. I see it all over Pinterest and HGTV with gray walls and orangish brown wood floors and the same toned wood in bamboo shades and baskets so..... And yes, I am saying I want a floor to add warmth due to all the cool tones. Most people select wood floors to add the warm element. I am in a situation where I can't add wood floors so I need another option. I have looked at silver travertine, brown travertine and everything in the middle. I've been to 4 flooring stores. I do not like the look of travertine because I see too much orange in the options that would go with my color scheme. I appreciate your suggestion but I spent $4,000 on the laminate I have throughout my downstairs 3 years ago. It's not going anywhere anytime soon.