The mosaic are 3/4" clear glass by Modwalls - "Brio Clear White". I will be painting the backs of each tile with a bake-on heat hardened acrylic made especially for glass. Yeah, crazy AND ambitious.

So give it to me straight - am I bonkers? Because the more I look at it, the more I want to make it happen. The tile is bought, the paint is bought, it's the pattern that has yet to be finalized.

Hakatai has a custom program with a plaid pattern that you can plug in whatever color you want. They make it and it arrives already done in sheets just waiting on your to install it.

I would also suggest rethinking the black tiles. Black in a bathroom will show hard water deposits, toilet paper lint, and soap scum quite readily. It will never look quite clean.

You also look to have some clearance issues with the toilet. You need a minimum of a 30" space for a toilet by code, but 36" is about as small as an adult human feels comfortable using. You might consider doing a wall hung unit with the tank in the wall for a cleaner look. You might also consider removing the glass wall and doing the whole thing as a wet room to help out with the clearance issues.

Are you planning on using a trench drain with your shower? You will need to if you are going to use large scale tiles for it. You cannot get the slope needed for drainage because the large tiles cannot follow the countour. Or you can divide the shower into quadrants with a disctinct cut line from corner to corner and have 4 sloping planes to a center drain. That's not the easiest thing to accomplish though, and not that many pros can do it.

I do like the juxtaposition of the green with the black, but I think that a medium to not too dark gray would be less maintainence. And then possibly include a gray in with your plaid to tie it all together.

it's always nice to see someone do something a little different, and in a way, I think it ends up being a little more timeless because it won't be like every other bathroom that was remodeled in the last 10 years. It will be harder to peg the bathroom as having been remodedled in 2012.

Is this an apartment that will be for rent?

I did look at Hakatai extensively, and there were a number of things that deterred me from ordering their products. First of all, the vitreous tile has an opaque, speckled look to it that I am not a huge fan of.

Secondly, all of the greens available in opaque vitreous tiles are either grass greens or sage greens, and it was very important to us that we achieve super vibrant apple/lime/chartreuse shades (which are absurdly difficult to track down, incidentally - I've got mosaic tile nearly coming out my ears with all the samples I've gotten, salespeople I've tapped into, and websites I've browsed).

This is my boyfriend on the cover of a magazine, and trust me, the bike is even louder in person. So you can see where we're coming from with lime lime lime.

In addition, back-painted glass has a vibrancy and glow that I have been drawn to ever since I started this whole remodel project. Like I said, the glass tiles and paint are already bought, I'm crazy and committed and it's about time I put my art degree to good use.

As for the dark tiles, they aren't quite as dark as the computer monitor shows (and the tiles on the walls were oriented incorrectly, they will follow the flow of the floor tiles and run vertically up the walls). The reason we chose a raised shower with a teak slat floor is because we loved the look of the big field tiles - and you can't really grade a walk-in without tiny mosaics on the floor. Plus having the shower a little more self-contained seemed smart (there will likely be a lime green bath mat next to the shower and the towel bar will go on the wall opposite the showerhead). I also played around with light tiles in the shower stall, but there was just no comparison to how the dark tiles really make the mosaic pop. I spent a lot of time and vetted exactly which dark porcelain 12x24 tile to stick with, and durability and ease of cleaning was definitely a huge factor in the decision. The tile actually has a lot of activity in the color (think like a stained concrete, almost) and the surface is a bit more polished than leathery - smooth enough to be easy to clean, but not so shiny it shows dirt, and not so smooth as to be slippery.

The paint I'm using on the backs of the tiles is extremely similar (if not identical) to the paint they use to produce commercial back-painted tiles, so I have no worries about the long-term durability of the paint and finish. Consistency isn't a problem either - I'm a painter, and if I can't get four colors right, I might as well hang up my brushes and call it quits :).

The shower pan is actually going to be poured concrete, which will be painted with a mildew resistant epoxy paint, all hidden by the teak grate, so the grading is very simple.

The clearance on the toilet is only a little less than 36", the sketchup is a little deceiving in that regard. I really wish we could get a cooler toilet, but we're re-using the one that was original to the bathroom out of simplicity and budget concerns.

As an aside, here are the actual fixtures we're using:

Andreadeg, we'll be living in this apartment for the next few years at least. We're running our business out of the shop space below. The apartment is 900sqft, 1 bedroom with an open kitchen/living room.

I generally leave grout colour choices to others, but I might lean to a light grey or white.

Bold.

Vibrant.

From the design point-of-view, I like the hints of the lime tile elsewhere in the room.

From the technician point-of-view, I highly encourage you not go off the reservation with the epoxy paint and instead use a proper membrane on your shower floor.

Your application is perfect for a topical membrane like Hydroban. Cement board on your walls for the tile backer. Then form your sloped shower floor. Then hit everything with Hydroban. It paints on just like an epoxy paint would, but it's formulated to be a proper waterproof membrane. Then you tile right on the Hydroban.

Light grout or dark charcoal grout, it's an interesting choice. I'm normally a huge fan of charcoal, but for your case, I'm reluctant, so I'd recommend you make a mockup of each.

The light grout you have now will cause the green colors to shine, the wall will blend as a whole. Well, it'll blend as well as a wall of lime plaid mosaic can blend. lol

Seriously, with light grout your plaid pattern right now runs on a diagonal and it allows the greens to shine. If you go with dark grout, it'll accentuate the horizontal and vertical crosshatch pattern of the grout.

It could look awesome. Or the vertical/horizontal of the charcoal grout might neutralize or conflict with the diagonal plaid. But my gut instinct is to stay away from charcoal grout, I think it'll detract from the overall effect you have with the wall as is. It might look great, but it'll certainly take you down an alternative design path as far as the diagonal plaid.

White grout or silver or light gray...tough. A silver might look nice, but I'd want it to be a very light silver or a light gray. If not, then white. And as a crazy thought, look at a grout with a hint of green, the only one I can think of off the top of my head would be Laticrete's "Sea Glass."

You probably know this, but when you set the glass, use a white thinset. Gray thinset can muddle the color of the glass.

As to the tile mix, I prefer your original without the neutrals. Stay bold.

Good luck with your project!

There's one big problem I can see- get ready for some really high water bills. And some wrinkled skin.

Oh yeah- I think a light grout would show off the plaid more, and not make that grid pattern that dark grout makes. Maybe glow in the dark grout :D

But I just have to say that that's a LOT of 3/4" tile to hand paint! 10,000+ tiles for a 6'x8' wall. Would you be painting loose tiles individually and then using a mosaic template creator and paper sheets to create your own sheets or are you thinking of painting already joined sheets individually? My suggestion to make this go easier would be to use a foam roller to paint entire sheets (if they are paper faced) and then pick the sheets apart to put into the mosaic template and repaper the face. You can get a lot done at once then, and the trickier step is in the configuring. The only issue that I can think of would be the paper and adhesive going through the heat set process. I wonder how easy/difficult that would make the adhesive to remove when you wanted to after the thinset dries?

I also suggest that you do your pattern straight up and down rather than diagonally, and just install the sheets diagonally. That will help to better create the plaid pattern without the crosshatch effect of the pattern itself being diagonal with square tile. (Unless that more muted linear look is the look you are going for.) You will have cut tiles at the corners, but you'd probably have that anyway. If you do the glass wall first, then the large format tile can help to cover the cut corners---with caulk of course at the change of plane to finish it off.

I like the introduction of the grey, but I think it should be the darkest tone in the palette instead of the darker green. Keep the lime the lightest tone, then a mid tone green, and maybe a light and dark grey or another green with the darker gray. I would also suggest carrying the pattern onto the ceiling or else planning something equally spectacular (but subtle) for the ceiling if you don't want to wrap the tile onto it. Maybe silver metallic paint to go with the chrome fixtures? Aluminum diamond tread? Formica has a series of Decometal laminates that come in a shiny polished silver metal finish or diamondplate that could be quite something on the ceiling!

An epoxy coated concrete floor won't pass inspection most places for a shower floor. I suggest using a trench drain and sloping everything towards the front curb. It will be a LOT technically easier! Then you can cover the floor with the Hydroban and the black tile and use your teak mat or not. That's the beauty of a trench drain. You can use very large format tile for it and not have to cut it.

The clear glass partition wall will be the expensive part of the equation, so if you're on a budget, just put in a tension pole and shower curtain for the meantime until you can afford the glass. I'd want Starphire (low iron) glass for the partition because it's perfectly clear with no hint of the green that most glass will have. But, it's expensive, so that's why I suggest the shower curtain as a temporary solution.

I hope you take pics and document the project, because I think this will be a great look!

Step one: inspect all the tiles and pull up any that are chipped, cracked, or discolored. Stinky Airedale included for scale.

The cheapest glass mosaic tiles (spectra, I think) are those with the speckles, but skip those and you will find gorgeous vibrant colors. I did a preliminary search; the results below also include some other colors but you will see lots of lovely chartreuse and limey lime-lime!

Also, I'll bet Susan Jablon mosaics can set up a plaid design for you--they do all kinds of custom mixes. You can call them at 1-866-939-1033; they are very responsive and helpful.

It's on now! Painting takes about three thin coats to eliminate any brushstrokes. Hour wait between coats and before baking. I am super happy with the colors I have mixed so far (2 out of 5). The lightest green has a lot of yellow in it, it almost has a lemony glow to it which I think is just superb.

The tiles are baked at 350 degrees with a ramped heat/cool cycle. Paper burns at 451 degrees so keeping them on the paper backing is perfectly safe - and keeping them on the face paper protects the tile faces from errant sponge brush strokes.

Bless all of you who have tried to deter me from this project, but I know I wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than my vision, since I know it's a reachable goal. I've never been daunted by large or tedious work, and since DB (dear boyfriend?) has insisted on subbing out pretty much everything else in this whole apartment project, I have to hold on to what little I do get to dirty my hands with. I'll be attacking concrete kitchen countertops with equal gusto.

Each tile is removed from the original paper, rinsed, dried, inspected, dressed of any stray paint blobs, and sorted.

Each square foot is arranged carefully. The two dark shades are oriented with vertical tile ribs, and the two lighter are horizontal. The \ diagonal tile is oriented vertically, the / horizontally. As an added touch of awesome, I matched the grey shade of tile precisely to the paint color on the walls.

Our tile guy did an amazing job with the field tile and the shower pan (including the appropriate lip for the slat shower floor).

I am so in love with this Ottimo tile - it was everything I hoped it would be.

So, the mosaic installation begins today - the Gardenweb captive audience will have semi-finished pictures by the end of the week, and you can all help me pick out grout!

It's up! I just finished "gluing" all the tiles that fell out after de-papering (too lazy to take a pic I guess). Whew! I have my kitchen back again! I have to say, this looks pretty awesome, and once it's grouted and we trim in the field tile, boy I can't wait!

Mosaic is grouted - wow, what a difference! It really pulls everything together. Tile guy is gonna grout the field tile tomorrow, glass is coming Thursday or Friday. Vanity will be done tomorrow or the day after - we are going to make a stainless countertop for it! I'll probably make a new thread for the project.

I did a variation of an amish quilt pattern for my kitchen backsplash (18 sf) with 1/2" Sicis waterglass -- a 'pattern' that only looks like a pattern if you really pay attention to it -- otherwise it can look random, but it's not. I didn't even have a grid to set them in, because grids didn't come in that size, so I had to set each one individually on top of gridded paper I printed out to the exact size of the tiles. *Oh* yeah I did. Over a long period of evenings in front of the tv.

And being a HUGE fan of green, especially chartreuse (people who know me know that my name means 'spring green' in a particular language), I am grooving even more on your choice of colors and attention to shades. I know that technically you could have done something else with your time, and that after all it's 'just a bathroom', but sometimes people like us just have to do something precisely our way Because It's There. : )

So BRAVISSIMA! If you'd had Sicis or Bisazza do it for you it would have cost thousands of dollars. Might be fun to calculate it sometime to make yourself feel good : )

Next question: you're making a stainless countertop? I'd love to hear about that too.

Bet you were good with Legos when you were a kid :)

Just thought I'd point out some things and put up another progress pic. The stainless countertop is being made right now, but the plumbing will probably get finished up this week and you can see the bathroom cleaned with all the fixtures.

It appears in the photographs that there are a lot of "sheet lines" or odd delineations in the pattern, but you're gonna have to take my word for it that they're completely not noticeable in life size (shrinking it down to photo size exaggerates it for some reason).

The glass installers were great - the brushed nickel channel is so nice and crisp and the single pane allows the mosaic to show its full glory.

This pic does better justice to the actual experience of the tile pattern:

What is the size of your glass panel? I'm about to order ours, same idea ...

I'm in need of some wisdom here. So, all our windows are sill-less, and in other parts of the apartment, we painted the interior of the window space with the color of the nearby (but not attached) accent wall. We're considering doing the same in the bathroom with the lime-iest lime green.

Opinions?

Bonus eye candy:

Ipe is in - with a light steel-wool sanding, it feels heavenly under my toes. I can't wait to take a shower!

I like the lime green accent around the windows, I think that will look sharp. It seems logical.

Love the Ipe too. Why choose ipe over teak? I'm assuming I'll do teak, but haven't seriously considered anything else, your Ipe looks lovely.

Also pondering storage options. We're considering making floating ipe shelves and installing them in the tile wall where the temp control and showerhead are. The other option would be a bench with a caddy underneath that would live on the other side of the raised shower area, underneath the towel bar. A quick scootch to the edge of the decking and you have a seat and your shampoos.

My white subway tile now looks ridiculously boring. Thanks a lot...

I don't think your subway is boring at all - and if you'd believe it, the original idea for the bathroom looked an awful lot like what you have going on. I had in my head a crisp and 'retro' look, cross handles and octagon floor - inspired by the old train station across the street. White, pale blues, and chocolate brown all centered around this poster:

Since the rest of the house had a decidedly contemporary bent, I had to scrap that dream. Maybe in 5-10 years when we get a real house (this is just a 1BR apartment over the shop where we run the 'family business').