Thanks cat_mom and Maggie, hi and thanks for your interest! I don't have any pics yet beyond the last batch I posted awhile back as to choices... we're about to order the stuff although I've already got the vanity. The big decisions were whether to tile up the walls or not ... I asked the contractor to go ahead and work into his final estimate that we'll do so ... and the tub. I have a deep old white cast iron tub that I am 90% sure I'm going to have reglazed, because it is a tight fit into the alcove and nothing I'm seeing is really quite as thin and also deep and also cast iron. So if we do that, bathroom will be: Black wood vanity, 49" kohler black enamel cast iron vanity top, black tub, black toilet (hoping for Kohler Santa Rosa if the rough-in will fit), and absolute black 12x12 tiles 8' up the wall. Above that will be an off/soft white flat paint section and ceiling, and the door will be that color. Will have a beveled 4'x4' mirror and a beveled-mirror medicine cabinet. All the fixtures will be brass, and probably the knobs on the vanity too. Going with a couple round brass robe hooks (really knobs) instead of towel racks. Getting a black porcelain recessed toilet roll holder, and will have two 12x12 granite recessed niches in the tub alcove for shower and bath use. Will very likely add an all-glass sliding tub door ... though I'd love to do without that and without a shower curtain ideally ... I'm more of a bath person. (I was thinking I could always stash a shower curtain and rod in the hall closet for shower use occasionally... but most likely will go with the sliding glass door. I'm going to get a black plantation shutter box for the bathroom window. And for lighting I will likely have a sconce on each side of the vanity with a black silk pleated shade... so there will be soft light and it will go up and down from the sconces. I may add a dimmable recessed light above the vanity but really would like to leave that option open (pre-wired) till I see what that place looks like and how much I have to tinker with lighting to get the soft glowy effect I'm after instead of glare from all the shiny black and brass. :)

I would go with gray grout - white is difficult to maintain. I have white grout now and would never use it again. If you are iffy on the gray, just go with a lighter gray color...just dark enough so it doesn't look dingy. Good luck!

Good point on he trim. I will look around at other options! But the way I cook, Like my grandma taught me, things can get really messy really fast. I make big meals, with lots of ingredients. And do splash the back splash almost every meal. This is why I think I will be going with a darker color. I think it will look fresher longer. Unlike my old apartment that has red, brown, and green patches stained into the white grout. We also have the tile placed close, with no huge grout lines. So I think it will not look to busy or dirty once it filled in, and not just gaps.

are they real cement tiles or porcelain? if cement, seal them first before grouting. if doing a dark color, pipe in the grout carefully and don't smear it all over the tiles. do a few tiles at a time, and quickly wipe off excess. (I can't stress enough to seal them very well before grouting) if they're porcelain or ceramic, they're fine to do a dark color and grout like any other tile. I did a black w/mine (they are cement. i had to be very careful and not let the black grout get on the white portion. yes I sealed them 4 times prior to grouting! White on a bathroom floor will get dirty a lot quicker. the other option is to do a medium gray. gray visually disappears. pick a neutral gray, neither blue or beige. this is Custom Polyblend. look at Natural Gray, Platinum, Charcoal or bright white. (just know that the white will get dingy w/use) Mapei colors. Charcoal, Black, Pearl gray, Silver or White. I used this grout w/mine