Is coloured grout old fashioned?

[sussexsongbird]

My DH and I are making our first foray into property development and are currently on the bathroom. We have gone for a simple white suite with chunky chrome mixer taps but as the room is currently fully tiled our best option with the walls is to fully tile over what is there. We have chosen a large marble effect tile and are creating a feature strip out of natural marble mosaic. My DH assumed we would use white grout and thinks coloured grout is old fashioned but I thought coloured grout was on trend and would be more practical - not showing its age as quickly as white. What do you think? If coloured, what colour? Links below to the two tiles.

Mosaic tile:
www.wickes.co.uk/invt/220977
(we are cutting each tile into three strips to create a 4 inch border strip)

Main tile:
www.diy.com/nav/decor/tiles/wall-tiles/ceramic_tiles/-specificproducttype-natural___brown/Purity-Latte-Marble-Effect-Gloss-Wall-Tile-Pack-10-11767504?utm_campaign=bazaarvoice&utm_medium=SearchVoice&utm_source=RatingsAndReviews&utm_content=Default

[sussexsongbird]

PS the only window is small and high so the room does not get a lot of natural light.

[GuinevereOfTheRoyalCourt]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "coloured" grout, but I wouldn't choose pure white grout with those tiles. It will stand out a bit too much, so I'd go for an off-white, cream shade. Tile shops usually have little strips of grout that you can hold against the tile to find the best match.

In terms of practicality, pale grouts are fine so long as you seal them. They do stain otherwise.

[sussexsongbird]

I just meant a lightish colour to match the tiles really. Wickes do something called "sandstone" or another called "beige".

Pardon my novice ignorance but what product to you use to seal the grout?

[fussychica]

We had red grout with white tiles laid diagonally in 1981!
With those tiles I'd go cream/beige rather than white.

[wonkylegs]

We've got a matt version of that tile in our bathroom with White grout. It's looks fine and doesn't stand out too much. It looks right with the White sealant around the shower/bath/basin too. Ours hasn't discoloured.
The disadvantages of a coloured / tinted grout is that if damage occurs you need to regrout the whole bathroom as you may not be able to get the same shade again for patch repair whereas you can always get White. We needed to re grout the shower but not the rest of the bathroom and you can't tell where the new bit and old bit are as they match so well despite being done 9 yrs apart.

[ceres]

we have similar mosaics to yours in the bathroom but we went with white grout. i like a bit of contrast and white gives more of a contrast with the colours in the tiles. also i think there is a risk with cream/beige grout in that it can look like white grout which has discoloured.

[sussexsongbird]

Wonkeylegs and ceres - can either of you show me a picture of the tiles/mosaic with white grout? I can't find anything online and my imagination is having a day off. Baby brain or something.