hello Jillianfl. Top photo is the one I used to remodle my last bathroom. I loved it and got lots of compliments on it. I'm now renovating a new home, and I have the same concerns about the shower flooring. Did you end up getting some advice? What did you end up going with? Thanks in advance!

Dottie - I could not have done this without an educated designer - it's not just about the design choices although I would never have come up with design choices as my brain isn't hardwired in those kinds of visually imaginative ways. I can appreciate things but I don't know how to pull them together and I wouldn't have the ability to figure out where to even start in terms of the sea of vendors. I am good about researching appliances and functions but get lost in the sea of visual possibilities :-) And I can't even imagine dealing with codes and such since Los Angeles is code crazy - I wanted to move some floor electrical outlets up a bit from the floor as I found it difficult to reach them when I had some hip issues so I was thinking about for the future - I was told that if I move a plug, the whole thing has to be rewired back to the panel box. And the darn kitchen sink has to be approved by the UL LOL - who would think a kitchen sink could be dangerous.

I installed Carrara dog bone tiles in my guest bath and Calacatta basket weave tiles in my master bath. My tiles were ordered through my designer but she purchased them at Emser which is also a retail source. They have a retail store in my location but I actually looked at Carrara and Calacatta tiles at another place when I was selecting my marble slabs. Unlike marble slabs, one doesn't need to "select" tiles as the tiles themselves are variegated although I would imagine one would order a sample and/or take a look at the stuff in person. I relied on my designer, my GC and the tile setters to do quality control of the tiles when they arrived and also set the tiles out they look well. However, with smaller tiles, I am not sure that kind of color matching is as important as with large tiles in which the individual pattern of the tiles needs to "go" with adjacent tiles. I relied on her expertise in terms of purchasing from a reliable supplier who sells good quality materials. FWIW, here is a picture of my floors - I especially like the Calacatta tiles because they have gold warm tones which complement the warmer tones and other tile work in my master bath. Here are some pictures of my master bath - They aren't the greatest shots because I wasn't trying to highlight the floors but it might give you some idea of why I like the Calacatta. My Calacatta tiles are honed as is my marble slab because I wanted a "softer" look in the mater bath. I used polished Carrara in my guest bath and that is gorgeous but that room has a more "glitzy" feel although it is still traditional in feel since it has the same wood cabinets and a copper sink. This is the master bath looking through my doorway. It's a small bath in an urban high rise. You can see how the Calacatta tiles have warm gold as well as gray. This is a view of the shower floor while under construction. I chose to have the same flooring so as to not chop up the space as much as possible. Here's another view with the floor kind of peeking out - I am posting because it shows why I deliberately opted for Calacatta because of how it complemented the rest of the colors in my master bath.

"I would rather go with a light color or white." There's your answer. "Should the shower base be the same color as the shower walls if I use the solid surface wall panels?" What do you like? I prefer light walls. "Is it okay to mix a solid surface shower material with a light colored granite or quartzite countertop? I know it depends on the pattern and color of the stone, but in general, is it okay to mix the two?" There are no shower police. Do you what you like. If it looks good to you, then go ahead.