IMO the best is to have12 x24 tile on both the bathroom floor and shower walls since most bathroom are small that size tile makes the spaces feel larger and also keeps grout lines to a min. I just usually use either a premade shower pan or the same color tile just smaller for the shower floor. A pic of your bathroom would aslo be helpful/

I like the oversized subway on shower walls. It's a classic look. I just did a shower floor in hex and love the way it turned out. I haven't seen herringbone used on a shower floor before. But to PC's point above, if it's a rental, you might be better off just using a prefab pan. For the floor, I also agree with her about the 12 X 24 inch tiles. That's what I used recently and like it. I assume when you say marble in quotes you mean you're using a porcelain that looks like marble. Make sure it is not going to be slippery.

I would do a large format porcelain tile on the walls and floor. If you are doing marble on the shower floor it will need to be treated so I would stick with porcelain there too. Go simple if this is a rental.

Sorry, I added some clarifications/edits to my initial post. Thanks

1,2,1

Awesome thanks…my training is in chemistry and I always have a hard time making subjective and aesthetic decisions.

LOVE the herrinbone! Also the white subway. i recenly put in a new shower with large subway surround and love it. I have penny tile on the shower floor but that herringbone is beautiful and the contrast will be lovely.

You could also do penny on shower floor (same color as herringbone) and hex “marble” floor. with so many angles and lines in tiles, the circularity of penny tile might be nice.

Thanks Juliet.

I love your subway and penny tiles in your new shower!

To maintain less grout lines in a rental, I've decided on a 12 x24 for the walls. FOr the shower wals, do you prefer the plain white 12 x 24 or the "marbled" 12 x24 ? Not certain if I should match the "marble" bathroom floor or contrast it a bit.

Shower floor...yes, I love the herringbone...do you prefer one of these penny tiles instead? Might be hard to find the herringbone in matte in porcelain.

charcoal penny (I would pick a charcoal grout, though):

mosaic penny:

not sure what would look best?....charcoal is ultra modern and the mosaic more traditional, I think?

They are both amazing but I love the contrast of the charcoal!

I like plain white in the shower, and marble floor. others probably have other thoughts, however.

you could also do charcoal bathroom floor, marble shower floor and then either white or marble shower surround.

i have a white floor in another bathroom and hate it so im leary of a white marble floor.

I used the porcelain 12x 24 for walls. And a marble hex floor. I haven’t had any problems with the floor of the shower.

Memphis, very pretty!

• Memphis - very elegant! The marble really stands out!

• Good point about the white bathroom floors...maybe even a matte porcelain in a marbled look may be difficult to keep clean. I think the vein will help hide some of the dirt...charcoal is lovely, but I'm guessing every piece of dust will be visible on the dark tile??

• Lyndee mentioned that penny tile is very difficult to install. I'll have ask the installer tomorrow.

I asked my tiler if he was confident and skilled with penny and showed him pics of penny tile gone wrong. He then sent me pics of penny he’s done and we talked about the install. i had full faith he would do a good job.

Contractor texted he doesn't prefer penny tile for a rental - too much grout and more costly install. Going to trust his instinct and what some others have said. And, save it for my home removel.

So, here I am....

• shower walls: decided on white polished 12 x24 porcelain. simple. classic.

• shower floor: undecided still =(....maybe 2 in mosaic hex or charcoal herringbone

• bathroom floor: undecided (whatever is easier to clean and has a better longevity??

1. matte marble looking 12 x 24 porcelain (if this will clean well for a rental?) I like this one: https://www.flooranddecor.com/porcelain-tile/venato-ii-matte-porcelain-tile-100610781.html
2. a new selection 12 x 24 charcoal. mabye something like: https://www.flooranddecor.com/porcelain-tile/concept-gray-porcelain-tile-100340819.html

i think any of these options could work:

surround: white 12x24

shower floor: marble hex OR charcoal herringbone

floor: charcoal OR marble

i think they all work well together so i think youd be safe going with any of these combos.

Hi Since you are pulling ",part" of the tile, pull it all. Cost is minimal at this point in time. And the look will be well worth the work.
I just completed one , hexagon white floor, bianco Dolomite floor walls all "modern" lay up. Or you can stagger.
Tilted the floor and no shower pan. Water goes right down a long drain. All are lovely choices
 The only comment Black hard to keep clean.
Enjoy the best shower!

Coco, yes, we are pulling all the bathroom tile now. Thanks.

So, charcoal floor (2 below) will be hard to clean. How about matte porcelain marble like (1 below)?

So with respect to cleaning, which is easier (this is a rental condo)

1. matte "marble" look 12 x 24 porcelain (Floor and Decor Venato II)

or

2. charcoal glazed 12 x24 porcelain (Lowes Galvano)

or neither...

3. something else maybe a terrazzo

In your bathroom space, is there a window? There doesn’t appear to be one so my thought is keep bathroom floor light. Matte porcelain marble or terrazzo seem to both be nice options. The veins of the marble hopefully obscure anything on the floor.

I'm not sure why the charcoal tile will be hard to clean. It's tile. I had blue tile on my bathroom floor and it wasn't any harder to keep clean than a lighter tile. What's hard to clean is grout and MARBLE. Go for something 12x24 with a darker grout and you will be fine. If you do the white marble looking porcelain then do a gray grout.

@Lisa, I don't think the OP means the act of cleaning harder with charcoal, just that some colors and/or patterns are more or less likely to hide dust, dirt, hair better. I have white tile in the bathroom and I hate it because it needs to be cleaned EVERY DAY because everything shows up on it and it always looks dirty.

Juliet -

• no window in the shower or bathroom area so the idea of going lighter on the bathroom floor is excellent!

-was looking again at your shower and that your grey in the shower floor would be a nice combo, actually. Not black so it shows all the mineral deposits but a beautiful contrast. May I ask what brand ?

Lisa

• yes, all grout will be darker…probably Mapei warm grey for the 12 x 24 white subway tile too

Coco

• awesome suggestions - I actually ran experiment to find the right one! Thanks

Thank you to everyone for all your help ! I love this site.

This is what I decided on for my new shower at our rental. I looked at a dozen in stock gray/charcoal (Lowes, HD, Floor and Decor) and this one seems to show staining the least.

• shower floor Antrhacite procelain 2" hexagon with Mapei Fe grout &
• shower walls (12 x 24) artic white ceramic with Mapei warm grey grout &
• Bathroom floor - contractor doesn't have time for it now, it seems. I will probably stay away from a marble looking porcelain on the floor. Possibly a terrazzo...to match the grey shower floor/niche. Although I would like to stick to large tile to open the space. The 12 x 12 there are dreadful.

I really like the charcoal hex you selected. what’s the size of those?

I am nearly positive this is our shower floor tile. It’s more gray in person than the link shows. I struggled big time trying to figure out floor tile (for bathroom & shower floor) and finally found this at F&D. (I know people don't like F&D but o’well). i splurged on the backsplash wall tile.

Originally I wanted a dark charcoal, but eventually settled on medium gray floor tile because it looked better with the vanity color and i struggled to find medium sized hex and small pennies that worked together. plus sheer exhaustion from decisions.

https://www.flooranddecor.com/ceramic-tile/industria-matte-ceramic-penny-mosaic-100840776.html?rrec=true

Thanks Juliet! =) Its a 2" hex from F&D: https://www.flooranddecor.com/porcelain-tile/uptown-antracite-hexagon-porcelain-mosaic-100702083.html I wish it was the same color all the way through...why don't they make pocelain that way anymore! But, it seems higher quality. I love penny tile in general and the one you selected specifically, but it was on the avoid list for a rental.

Oh no, tile guy will ask me about the layout tomorrow.

What is the best layout for 12 x 24 vertical of horizontal?

This is not the best photo, but the shower is 44 (where valve is) x 60 (back wall with niche)

Shower ceilings is 7.5'

Talk to your tile guy about layout and have him do a dry lay. I prefer horizontal because it's more of a traditional feel. Vertical tile can make a shower appear bigger because your eye is drawn up but it is definitely more on the contemporary side. You will also need to decide how you are laying the tile (stacked or brick). Again I would discuss with your installer. In my master I was dead set against stacked until I spoke to the installer and he explained why stacked would work better in the space. Now it's done I am thrilled with it and think I would have been unhappy with it in a brick pattern. Are you putting the hexagon's in the niche or just running the tile?

This tile guy - "oh, whatever you want/prefer," but i'm leaning toward vertical so I can run the tile on the bathroom floor the same (long) direction.

our shower/bath area

another vertical example taken from the itnernet.

Sometimes the tile just fits better in one direction or another. the purpose of a dry layout is to visualize where cuts will be and whether one pattern produces sliver cuts (not desireable) as opposed to whole pieces or large cuts.

I believe the difference in color is too great with the white and brown.
Why? 3 reasons
1. The products that are cemented to the building you will not redo anytime soon. Messy , dirty, expensive and just not worth the trouble 
2. When you add a product to the building structure. Windows , floors they must last a long time. Durability, wear and tear, and STYLE. All equal a story of when the home was designed. 
The look over a period of time 10 years + and the home will become "out of date" Needs a face lift .
3. The homes we admire, the Museums, Churches, Libraries, Opera House have one common thread. At a glance they are timeless. Built in 1940, 1990 etc 
The crystal clear item is not seen 

For this reason I would not go "trendy". Generally our first choice is the right one. Simple and elegant 
How do you change this ad time moves on.
Color
Bedroom a change of bedspread. Bathroom towels become a dark navy or  deep forest green. Yellow for spring 
Paint a wall blue, hang a piece of art 
The change is simple and your money well spent for resale 
Take a moment to do another board 
Remove the brown and replace with a neutral. Try an Odegard runner - There are so many options 
Enjoy

Lisa, Thanks. Yes, I'm putting hexes in the niche too.

Juliet-after looking at the two layout - vertical vs horizontal and the dimensions...the horizontal had some small sliver pieces so I will run it vertically. very good point to look at that.

Excellent! i think you are going to have a lovely shower.

I would love to see your finished shower. Please post pictures so we can see what you actually used. Thanks!

Thank you everyone for all your help! Special HUGE thanks to Beth H for all the inspiration.

Here are some photos of the final product.

This last one is paned out after we tested the shower valve so the floor is partially wet.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos before the shower door went on.