Is Travertine marble the new avocado suite?

[tak1ngchances]

I have picked out travertine marble tiles for the floor and bath panel of our family bathroom. Tiler came to do a cost estimate for the job y'day and said "everyone is getting those, they will date your house dreadfully in a few years' time".
I am thinking, shit - is travertine the next avocado suite?

Thoughts? And any alternative suggestions...we have a blank slate.

[ArtVandelay]

Thanks Noddy :)

I love that patterned tile look. I bet those retro tiles are ??????? though.

I found a link for my bathroom suites - Keramag Icon. These are quite minimalist bathrooms.

www.keramag.de/icon/8.html

I have my taps coming out of the walls (I'm so proud of my wall taps!)

I had quite a strict budget so if anyone wants some links to cheap branded bathroom suites and fixtures I can supply! This was sent to Germany so unsure of availability for UK. I actually ended up getting the fixtures from a hotel wholesaler in Italy, the quality is amazing but a 3rd of the price of Grohe etc.

[whomovedmychocolate]

I have replaced five bathrooms in the past six months. We did not use travertine though we have in the past (for window sills - they look lush in conservatories). We used a mixture of porcelain tiles, stone tiles and glazed ceramics. The tiny mosaic travertines look okay but it does depend entirely on what they are used with.

Also the open travertine is a fucking nightmare (this is the non glazed variety). I spent HOURS with a bottle of cif trying to get stains out of the non glazed variety so on a practical level avoid them.

However much worse is polished solid granite which is the bane of my life. I have to clean our ensuite DAILY with stuff which costs over £10 a can from Lakeland to stop the blinking watermarks. And yes it is sealed properly it just does mark and we have fairly full on lights so it shows up.

If you like travertine I think it's fine providing the bathroom is big enough (if you have to buy under 3m of tiles you are probably going OTT using travertine IMHO. In large rooms it can look great though.

We have hard floors throughout (except for one sitting room which has carpet) and the kitchen, dining room is ceramic tiled and in a nice run they look great.

Also avoid slate on bathroom floors unless it's calibrated, one shampoo bottle smashing on the slate causes problems, jarring your foot on the shards more so.

I think the problem with matt tiles is they show up a lot of marks whereas ceramic can hide more dirt etc (I know you should clean your bathrooms to avoid this but pah!)

[ArtVandelay]

WMMC - 5 in 6 months! I salute you :)

[RedHelenB]

Agree with ggirl!!

[whomovedmychocolate]

Thanks Art - only four more to go and we're done!

[EdlessAllenPoe]

10 bathrooms? >faints<

we spent two weeks on one in our tiny bungalow. (the old tiles were held on by an adhesive with voo-doo like qualities - the previous owners had tiled over them with 'new' beige ceramic tiles)

we did ours in large white with a blue glass stripe - anything other than very plain wasn't going to work in a small place.

i do think travertine already looks a bit five years ago. and it isn't so light and unassuming you don't notice it.

[libelulle]

artvandelay yes please!! I'm choosing bathroom fittings right now but unlike with the kitchen, i have much less sense of what I'm looking for or where from. Good quality on a strict budget sounds a very good start! In our last house we used bargain basement (and not even that cheap, irsuite from b and q, it was complete rubbish.

[libelulle]

Sorry - not even that cheap considering it was the cheapest they offered!

[Turniphead1]

Porcelain tiles in a large size 600mm x 600mm are great - ones I used a lot are by Casalgrande in the Metalwood range "Platino". Look great in the flesh. Wont date - but have a lovely greyish tinge.

[EdlessAllenPoe]

as a side question - for re-tiling a large bathroom cheaply - what would you go for? bathroom ceramics will be white and fairly plain.

i was thinking large size white ceramic.

[Sidge]

When we redid the bathroom in our old house we couldn't afford travertine, but I liked the concept. I find white tiles boring and too clinical (reminds me of work!) so wanted something more warm.

Pics on my profile of the end result - I loved it and don't think it would date particularly.

[BeeBread]

I agree that travertine has had its day. Apart from being everywhere, it's just a bit brown for my tastes. 

I've used these creamy porcelain tiles and mosaics in a couple of rooms and they are really creamy, slick looking and thick as stone tiles so are high quality - Casa Dolce Casa. Very ££££ though.

The ones I'm most pleased with are wood-effect tiles which were good value and look fab and fresh in a grey wash effect. I've paired them with FE mosaics for glamour and muted FE bathroom furniture and I love love love them. 

[ArtVandelay]

Edless - my 30x60 SnowWhite tiles made by Palazzo cost about 20? a square metre. You can get them from UK suppliers but I don't know what they cost in UK. The part I found expensive was the fitting - big tiles look shit unless they are absolutely bang-on. I paid 30? psqm for the fitting but they look amazing.

Libelulle - have a look at www.daniel.it/index_eng.htm

I got the Suvi range - which I think is lush but there are some absolute horrors on there as well! I bought them via the wholesaler Top Project Hotel Italy - can't find the details right now but google it. Its still probably more expensive than B&Q but compared to Hans Grohe and that ilk its very good value. My plumber and tile chaps think its awesome - really good quality.

WMMC - you are either The Queen or you have a hotel? :)

[justasecond]

Sorry took a while. Mine are similar to these, can't find the exact ones. They are large 31x91 and I've had the grout lines super small so it looks like panels rather than tiles plus I hate cleaning grout!
similar

[LittleFrieda]

White tiles with white ceramicware in bathrooms often looks awful as the tiles and the ceramicware are seldom the same shade of white: so one looks dingy. It's a also very bland and lacking interest.

My ensuite is in the process of being redone and I'm having pale blanco (which is very pale stone) travertine rather than the nocci which is walnut coloured. It's a big room, so I'm adding interest with a lovely big mirror and a persian rug.

[EdlessAllenPoe]

our fitter gets paid in cider :)

[tak1ngchances]

Sorry everyone for doing a post & run, we went to a wedding y'day and there was no network coverage down there.
DH and I are now agreed that we are not doing travertine. We're having these on the shower wall: www.toppstiles.co.uk/tprod6879/Metro-Whisper-Glass.html
And a splash back in the same colour glass (sheet glass) behind the sink. They are pale aqua, not grey as they seem in the pix on topps site.

So for the floor, I like some of the pale beige large porcelain tiles some of you have linked to. I want matt though, to create a nice contrast with the gloss of the tiles. What do you think...I won't be offended. I'll post pics once it's done!

[TeWiDoesTheHulaInHawaii]

Bee I really like those wood effect tiles - can I ask how much they were?

[LittleFrieda]

MrsCampbellBlack - the Henley floor tiles from Topps tiles are just lovely provided you are restrained with the remainder decor.

[LittleFrieda]

MrsCBlack

Sorry here is the to the Henley floor tiles.

[BeeBread]

Hi TeWi...

They were approx £50 psm. I saw them at World's End Tiles in Battersea but bought them from this online place because they had the right sizes in stock? They send out samples too - ours is the cappuccino.

They are about half the price of the equivalent from FE but more durable.

I randomised up the widths and it looks fab.

[MissMarjoribanks]

We went for a grey limestone, light on the walls and darker on the floor. Grey unit, large mirror cabinet, plain shower screen. Love it. Everyone who has been in has complimented us on the tiles. They are Tundra (wall) and Milan (floor) from Mandarin Stone.

[ArtVandelay]

Edless - your fitter sounds cool. My fitters are also cool - Gunther and Norbert :) - but sadly they require euros as payment.

[ArtVandelay]

Here is a picture of Gunther :)

www.fliesen-russ.de/meine-person/