Aargh!! I hate my tiles!!

[OrtsandNoughts]

AIBU to get my tiles removed mid way through fitting? And not seem like I’m completely crazy?
I’m having my en-suite renovated. I’ve chosen a feature wall of Portuguese tiles which I love but found it hard to match up a plain tile for the rest of the walls. I’ve bought plain off-white rustic tiles which looked a good match as a sample. But now they’re on the wall, they’ve got a dark edging which makes them look dirty. This wasn’t apparent when I just had one or two as samples.

The tiler is halfway through and I really don’t think I like them. The tiler is due back tomorrow to finish the job.So what do I do?

1. Stop the job, get him to rip them off and find a replacement tile? This would add extra time and expense to a job that’s already taken ages and been over budget. Plus I’d look stupid!
2. Wait to see how they look finished (it’s not grouted yet and the sanitary ware isn’t in)
3. Accept I have terrible taste and suck it up.

Any advice welcome. Please be kind. I’ve not done anything of this magnitude before. It’s been my dream to change my en-suite for so long and to have it as my little sanctuary. But it’s been a nightmare (the company doing it have not been great and I can’t wait for it to be finished) I don’t think it’s even going to be worth all the upheaval it if I hate the end result. 😩
The first photo is the sample , the second is the tile on the wall.
To add insult to injury, my son says it looks like a gents public toilet which was not the look I was going for!!

Thank you all for your kind messages. I appreciate the honesty and those who said they’ve made mistakes with decisions and reversed them. It make me feel less stupid! I’m leaning towards removing them and starting again as now I have that seed of doubt (and the image of the gents urinal!) I won’t ever be able to get rid of it and enjoy my en-suite.
For those that suggested white grout, the problem is the edges of the tiles have a sort of dark tide mark that makes them look dirty and which I don’t think will change even with white grout. It’s only become apparent when the tiles have been put on the wall.
Here is a picture of my Portuguese tiles. It’s only as sample as they’re not fitted yet. I love these and am afraid they will be ruined by the others. Also there’s no natural light -photo to show as it is now (but it really is a work in progress)

Thanks Negroany. Yours look lovely. Can you tell me the name and supplier of the tiles please?

I think the tiling in the corner is wrong, and them being vertical and not offset is an issue.

But I also think (regardless of the "dirty" look) they don't go at all with the lovely feature tiles.

I'd take the hit but just get bog standard square white tiles instead. At least it won't cost too much more.

Sometimes you really can’t know what they will look lie until they are up, but I agree these have a reclaimed/recycled look and may give a shabby chic look that is clearly not what you’re after. Pop down to topps tiles and find something else while you can.

I had my bathrooms/en suites done last year and it has spoiled me for even posh hotel bathrooms so I actually miss my home when on holiday now. I love my own ensuite, it brings my happy out whenever I walk into it, so totally understand how you want to feel. Fix it now if you can stretch to new tiles.

The corner tiling is awful. I’d not be happy with that at all.
Are they meant to be that way up? Should they not be the other way?

Option 1, definitely. At first I was going to say ask the tiler to grout a section and see how it looks but I don’t think those tiles can be improved. If they’d gone in subway style that might have helped.

Agree, they should have started in the corner with whole tiles and worked outwards. I don't have an issue with the tiles being portrait, it's the new in thing. Subway style is currently dated.

Yeah that looks mouldy. I would have the tiler stop and find something else that goes better with the blue tiles.

Yeh it looks weird doesn’t it? Surprised a tiler has chosen to work outwards in.

No idea about the way round the tiles should go, just thought it looked unusual. I have no idea what’s in though 😅

I'm sorry, I can't remember, and the spare boxes are behind the bath panel.

Change them, they don’t go with the lovely blue and white ones anyway. Mind you, I’m notorious for being bad at interiors. I once chose checkerboard matt sage and mustard tiles for a guest cloakroom. They looked awful and showed every drop of water (or piss)

Sorry op, they do look dirty. It’ll bother you for years to come if you don’t change them now. Your blue tiles are lovely though, I think a nice clean white tile would look great. I can see your vision of the rustic though, but in practice they don’t quite look right. However I do agree they might look a little better with grout in.

Unless the other tiles are by the bath / basin / shower, you don’t need to tile every wall. Would painting the other walls white work? Needs special bathroom paint to cope with the moisture but would be cheaper too.

@the5thgoldengirl I try my best 🥁

You’ll never settle with them. Just get them redone. I did the same with our kitchen tiles. Dh wasn’t amused but as soon as they were up I just knew they were all wrong. We kept them for a bit just to see but the kitchen is impossible to avoid and every time I went in there, there was my mistake staring back at me everywhere 😩
If you stop now perhaps wherever you bought the tiles could take back any unopened boxes against some different ones?

The edges look like they’re mouldy, I’d go with a plain white tile to show off the beautiful feature tiles.

Most tile places refund unopened boxes, so yes, that can offset the new cost. And if you go for a basic white, they will be cheaper anyway.

And I think square tiles, given the feature tiles are square.

I don't much like tiles (well, grout), which is why I only had half wall height tiled, except round the shower.

That is the correct way to install tiles into a corner - and tiles can be installed portrait or landscape (unless they have an obvious top and bottom, such as a picture, on them) and can be installed in line or offset.

When tiling a wall, it's a bit like wallpapering: you begin tiling from the centre of the wall and work outwards along the wall, so the tiles will inevitably need cutting down at the edges of the walls in order to fit. The reason for doing it this way is because walls are never dead straight. So you need to drop a plumbline down the centre of the wall to create a truly vertical line to begin tiling.

It’s up to you but I think in time you just won’t be analysing it in the way you are now when they are brand new and fresh to the eye.

Why are they vertical and not overlapping? Looks v odd.

Yep, get them down. Try a faux zellige tile in white or pearl.