Patty-2010 -- I'm just now seeing your message about the picture of the red flowers. I believe it is a Pottery Barn framed print, but I myself got it at a yard sale. Don't you love it? And this should interest people who wonder whatever happens to the decor of rooms that people feature on this site -- I've made a few changes to the bath since I first posted. I'll post a photo when I get home later, but I'll tell you that we did change the hanging light, and I changed the picture. I know I said I never would, but we inherited a small chandelier from my sister in law, so we thought we'd go with a different style. Look for the photo later.

A small powder room is what it is - you aren't going to make it feel like a football field no matter what you do! I've seen large tiles in small baths that look great and I've seen really small tiles that look great (we're doing a mosaic in our powder room at the moment) but I don't think they really do anything to make the space feel bigger one way or the other. And even the middle of the road size like subways look good. About the only thing I don't care for are the old 4 x 4's but that's a personal preference and there are probably new ones that could make me change my mind.

If your quartz countertop is solid or just has flecks of sparkle, it's nice to bring some pattern in with the floor tile. You can also add some pattern to the floor with the way you lay the tile. Try to find a tile store that also sells quartz so you can coordinate the two. Be aware that you may have to add a new subfloor for the tile, which would make the tile higher than the hardwood in the hallway. This happened in our kitchen when we replaced sheet vinyl with porcelain tile. I do not like the wooden "speed bump" strip between the hardwood and tile. We would have liked to use porcelain tile in our guest bath remodel, but again, it would be higher than the adjacent carpet. We used Armstrong Alterna LVT. There aren't as many color and pattern choices as porcelain tile, but it it has a limestone composite base and is grouted just like real tile, so it's not really vinyl-y. Nice stuff, and a lot cheaper than porcelain tile.

I etched 12" black marble tiles (it was sold as New St.Laurent marble, but I've since been told that it's limestone) with vinegar. What I noticed with the 12" tiles, was 'pooling' in the etching. As I poured the vinegar on a tile it seemed etch more in the first area that the vinegar contacted, kind of like the pattern on a pancake--darker in the middle, lighter as the batter spreads out to form a circle. I then decided to dip each tile in a vinegar and water solution (I don't remember the ratio, maybe 50/50) to even out the etching. Small hex tiles might not be so noticeable, but if they are on a backing, I'd think it would work just as well. Another thing I noticed was the vinegar became less effective as I used more tiles in the solution, as the vinegar was neutralized by the calcium in the stone, so I had to add more vinegar at intervals. I also had a dipping container with water and baking soda, to neutralize the acetic acid, so that it didn't continue to dissolve the stone. So, three containers: water/vinegar-->water baking soda-->and plain water to rinse. Since I wanted a satiny finish, as opposed to the glass-like shine, I wet-sanded the tiles by hand after etching with vinegar. I still love the way they feel--very mellow, but not hard and glassy.OTOH, I also wet-sanded a slab of polished carrara (I couldn't dip a whole slab ;), and it feels and looks about the same as the tiles. The black marble/limestone is sealed--the carrara is unsealed. I've had no issues with stains on either. Good luck!