Sorry, I completely misunderstood your post. I thought you meant a transition piece between the two floors (ie, schluter, t strip molding). Don't grout that joint between the two floors. It needs to be caulked if you go that route. Otherwise, the difference in expansion/contraction between the two materials will cause the grout to crack. As far as grout color, look at lots of pictures. I would think you'd lose a lot of the beautiful herringbone pattern if you tried to match the dominant color. The tones of the two floors are very similar, so they already connect on that level. I don't think you have an issue of transitioning in terms of grout color. I guess the more natural selection for a wood look would be a little darker than the main color, like a shadow between the boards. A lighter color or a gray will look more like a tile floor with grout. I wouldn't do something lighter, as in peachy. You can kind of see what it would look like lighter right now. The higher the contrast you have with the tile will affect how busy or pronounced the floor pattern will look. Maybe you could cut strips of colored construction paper to lay over the joints to see what appeals to you more. You've got some variation in the tile colors, but when you use a grout color that matches the flooring, the floor becomes one big solid mass of color. Here is a link that might be useful: herringbone tile pictures This post was edited by snookums2 on Thu, Aug 8, 13 at 23:15

Love herringbone! It is timeless and stunning! And that is just the price tag! I kid you not. The 2-3 times the labour is bang on. And that ASSUMES you have planks that are PERFECT for the install. If you do not, and they have to be cut, it could be the "3 -4 times" the labour. Engineered floors can be installed this way...but it is more common with solid hardwood. Expect 15% - 20% waste as well. These patterns are HIGH END floors. They are HEAVILY SOUGHT AFTER. They add tremendous amount of value to a home. Which means you need a home that can HANDLE that upgrade. If you home is $250K (in an area where $650K is expensive) but you put in $35K worth of herring bone, that may not be the right investment. It certainly can handle $15K hardwood...but $35K might be too much for the house/market to handle. Then again if you have a $1.5M house (other than Vancouver BC) a herring bone upgrade is right on track for the market to absorb the higher value floor. You will get some if not most of your investment back. The style of home and the inherent value of the home will tell you if the intense investment is worth it. But then again if you LOVE herring bone and don't care about the investment (you just want beautiful wood floors that scream out GORGEOUS AND EXPENSIVE) then have fun. It is your home. If you are going to the trouble/expense of putting in herring bone, PLEASE make sure your engineered hardwood floors can be refinished at least 3 times (offering 50-60 years of life). Anything less and you lose the longevity of this valuable pattern.

IMO and I'm no expert, I like it with the natural floor (the one that's not too pink) and gray walls. I am one of those people that thinks wood floors need to look like wood even though I love gray. My place is gray themed but my floors are mainly brown with gray tinges.. Good Luck

why would it fail? tony, are you purposely being obtuse or are you just ignorant? Numerous people have written multiple comments about why it would fail throughout this entire post. You making that comment either means you didn't read any of them, don't understand (in which case you should have asked for clarification) or you're just mentally retarded. sorry to be blunt, but your ridiculous mono-sentences and redundant questions have taken me to my tolerance limit. you're a grown adult and yet it's like dealing w/a petulant pre-teen the way you comment. yes, the tile layout looks wonderful (even though I can't see the entire thing, nor can I see how they went around the railing fasteners). enjoy it while you can.