White metro tiles in a bathroom, what floor?

[PinkCamelias]

Hi! I am stuck and I would appreciate some advice :)

I chose white metro tiles (glossy, not bevelled) with a bullnose or flat trim and a black pencil line for the walls. Chair rail height, except for the part with a walk in shower (with a white tray), and above the bathtub. The bathroom is in a former room, so it has a very big window and a high ceiling. House is from early 1900 with period features. It will be the kids' bathroom, with a grey vanity and a mirror cabinet above it (no other furniture planned so far).

What floor would go with that? It has to be larger format, so I cannot use the moisaic, hexagons etc., which would be easy; and has to be porcelain (as in, not real stone). I am hesitating between grey stone or concrete look tiles, or grey terrazzo. I've never used big format grey tiles, would they look fine? Or porcelain terrazzo, not too fake/flat looking? Terrazzo would be period appropriate, plenty of it in houses from that period, even if it would not have been used in a bathroom I suppose. In either case, would light or dark grey floor be better?

We have porcelain “terrazzo” tiles with a white background on the floor with white brick style tiles on the walls to half height. Dark blue paint above the white wall tiles.

Works well but you do need to get the whites to match iyswim. Or go for something completely different like green floor tiles.

Thank you! Getting the white to match would be a challenge, but I thought that it would not matter with a speckled look? I didn't think about a completely different colour on the floor, and now I have no time to look, because the builder has to order the tiles asap... Now that I think about it, it is quite hard to find colourful tiles in larger formats. I considered white, but didn't didn't find any in 60x60 cm size, and in any case the colour would not match, so I gave up.

Could you find a terrazzo tile with black and grey specks to echo the pencil line and vanity unit? Then maybe have a few accessories in a bright accent colour?

@PinkCamelias some ideas.

www.houzz.co.uk/photos/query/metro-tiles-bathroom

Yes I suppose I could do that. Won't make it to the shop anymore, but I will look again at the photos. So you think that terrazzo would be better than plain grey?
I've considered white stone or conrete look tiles too, but they are always off white, so I think they woukd look too cream with the white wall tiles.

Thank you! I've looked on Houzz and Pinterest, lots of inspiration there. Most have lovely small tiles on the floor, but I've found also other ideas, just fewer, so I am still wondering what would look best.

I think with grey, you'll have the issue of whether it matches or clashes with the vanity unit, where as with small specks it's not so critical. Perhaps a dark slate grey, if the unit is a light grey might work.

Marble effect is another option, with grey veining. I've got white metro tiles on the walls with marble effect porcelain tiles on the floor in my current bathroom and they look fine together. They are both matt though, not gloss.

Yes, exactly, they may clash. Not sure about the marble, I would gladly put it in my bathroom, but somehow not sure about the kids'.

These are the tiles I have been considering:

The vanity and the mirror cabinet will be Ikea Tannforsen in grey, which does not seem to be available in UK? But it is where I am:

I think I like the ones in the bottom left and right corners best. They pick out the grey without being too strong, and with lots of white to break it up and blend with the walls. The other options look like they might clash with the vanity unit, although it's hard to be sure based on photos. Does the one in the top right have green in it? That might be OK if you have something else in the room to echo it.

Our bathroom is tiny with metro tiles all around up to 2m. Half of it is shower so we could afford more expensive floor tiles. We put a geometric flower pattern in grey, white and green which is similar to the tiles in the entrance to our 1900s building (2nd pic). It’s opaque but not hard to clean and the busy pattern hides stray hairs etc.

Maybe bottom left for yours, OP?

@ClematisBlue49 and @Sgtmajormummy I attach the photos of the top right and bottom left in real life. Yes, the top left has a bit of green in it. The bottom left was my first choice, and I only started to hesitate, because I am not sure if it doesn't look to obviously like a terrazzo printed on a porcelain :) Perhaps I should just not worry and go with my first choice?

I didn't see the bottom right in the shop, because I only thought about it later while browsing the catalogue. The pattern looks exactly like the real terazzo in old houses here.

They are beautiful!

It would have been my choice without any doubts, because it is the best match for the type of the house. We have the whole basement in the original encaustic tiles, they are so pretty. Unfortunately, this bathroom's floor is on wooden joists, as is the whole construction of the house, and even after it has been levelled and sealed etc, it is still a bit uneven, and it will move with the house. The tiler (three of them even) told me that the small tiles may crack. They would also need thick grout which wouldn't look great. If I insisted, they would do it, but at my risk. I decided to not take it...

The one on the left in the most recent photo looks a bit too creamy, I think. I would go with whichever one has the coolest toned white in the background. I wouldn't worry about whether it looks printed or not.

Are they matt or gloss? I'm just wondering if it will look odd having shiny wall tiles with a matt floor. In my new bathroom I'm having the same tiles on the floor and walls as I wanted to avoid a dilemma over matching / complementary colours and finishes - I'm at the end of a renovation and decision fatigue was setting in!

I copied Alexandra Tolstoy's lovely bathroom floor tiles. I've used white gloss metro tiles for the shower. I'm about to do another bathroom using different wall tiles but am using the same floor tiles as I think they're really timeless and provide a strangely neutral base.

They are all matt, Clematis. I don't know if glossy floor tiles can be also non-slip? It is essential, because kids won't be very careful. The combination of glossy and matt does not bother me though if it's a patterned tile. It would, if I had found white floor tiles.

These are beautiful @TheCrowFlies ! What size are they, and where are they from? I wonder if available where I am, but I could check.

PS. @ClematisBlue49 I understand the renovation fatigue very well! I am taking so many decisions, that I don't understand why I still even care. I am at the same time planning a small guest bathroom in the attic😰

I'd go for a darker grey terrazzo (if you want terrazzo), as it means the floor grout will be darker, 'disappear', and not show the dirt. Terrazzo is also brilliant at not showing dirt.

I recommend these tiles which I used in a kitchen & bathroom (the delivery cost from Italy plus import tax wasn't at all bad - couldn't find anything as nice in the UK for the same price - samples arrived quickly).

https://tile.expert/en-gb/tile/piemme/venetian-marble

BTW, if by black pencil line you mean a black ceramic trim for the wall tiles, I think it'll look too harsh against the white tiles, better to get matching in white.

The larger ones are 15 x15cm with the corners cut off and the little black ones are 5x 5
I think they are pretty standard. I bought them from a local shop using this catalogue, the exact layout isn't in the catalogue but you can mix and match,

www.oldeenglishtiles.co.uk

Here's a photo of the Piemme tiles in the shower room (FogNat is the colour).

That looks great, @RogueFemale , especially with the dark grout in the white tiles, which brings it all together.

@PinkCamelias , good point about glossy tiles being too slippery for children.
Planning 2 bathrooms at once is daunting! Maybe have them both the same and you might get a bulk discount on the tiles?

Interesting about the grout, thank you! I like your floor very much. I'm in the EU, and TileExpert seems to operate here too. If I have to order quicker, from the shop here, I could also consider these (initially I thought they look too much like stone for that bathroom, althought I like them).

I also attach a photo of a pencil line I have in mind,

For the second one, which is a small guest bathroom in the attic, I chose already :) Initially I wanted all concrete, or concrete and white, etc., but first, I realized that this requires quite some effort to not make it look like a basic rental flat :) and second, I discovered I need some colour! So I will have these ash grey stone tiles on the floor, and these greyish blue tiles in the shower, behind the loo and behind the sink. Rest of the walls will be pained some matching light grey, plus an oak vanity (Ikea).

I have no idea what discounts they give here. It is all a bit convoluted, with your builder buying them for you, and you get a discount on VAT thanks to that, and he probably gets his discount from the shop! Of course I can buy online myself, but these are never the same shops, so I would have to look who sells online what I have chosen. I probably won't have time to do that, the works are now at the stage that they need them asap.

I like your ash grey/greyish blue scheme plus oak.

I am not convinced about white metro plus black pencil line plus terrazzo though. White metro plus black pencil line is very bold and clean and those muted terrazzos somehow don’t go with that look IMHO. Also a mix of periods - Victorian vs mid century. A more Victorian geometric floor like TheCrowFlies pic would work well if you want the pencil line. Or classic black and white.

Or, ditch the black pencil line so you just have plain white, and then a terrazzo will work. Agree the greyer terrazzos are a safer bet - less chance of the white not matching, plus you can use a greyer grout.