Regarding my questions about sealing, I contacted Linda Kennedy, National Sales Manager at linda.encore@mac.com. I didn't ask Linda about grout. I didn't have the knowledge to have a discussion with my tiler about sanded vs nonsanded grout & the size of the grout lines. GW provides a great education. I lucked out as my grout lines look great & I don't have any visible lippage. I'm sure you know this but be sure your tiler caulks, rather than grouts, where your tile meets your countertop. Also, not a bad idea to play around with your tiles & lay them out as you want them installed in case your tiler doesn't have an artistic eye regarding the color variation.

Adrienne, my sister's name BTW, I was hoping you would share where you got the MOP tiles. I have been looking for some time for MOP tiles that don't break the budget - although everything breaks the budget lately!!! Can't help you on the grout color though - sorry. Maybe bumping this up again will get you a response.

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..

I think dark brown grout would make the tile colors pop.