wow, does that sounds NICE!

I just received a bunch of glass tile samples from my Waterworks person, and they are like candy. I want to eat them. They're SOOO beautiful. I really love what you're planning. It sounds incredible. I have one more bathroom to do, not for a bit but soon. Going to use glass tile there.

Anyway, back to your bathroom. If you're going for the subtle modern thing I absolutely LOVE the idea of using the subway tile vertically. If you were to do that, I think that the simple addition of the glass tile at chair rail height would give you a very beautiful installation and not over the top at all. Of the two options, I prefer the vertical subway with the glass chair rail. In the shower, you could perhaps even add a second row of glass tile somewhere. Perhaps six inches from the ceiling or something....and maybe even a pencil border around your shower floor tile. DROOLING.

If you go with the horizontal subway, then I might do a something a little more dramatic with the glass to bring it more up to date. But not sure how.

I am having a hell of a time picturing your vanity wall. not getting it. But it sounds gorgeous just the same.

Let us know what you decide!
Ivette

Pirula, Thanks for the suggestions, confirmation of my design, etc.

Below is a link to Jill77's bathroom to help visualize the vanity mirror and glass tile design.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jill77's Bathroom

Good question .. I'm trying to decide the same thing right now, and I need to make up my mind soon since he'll start tiling next week.

I'm using white subway tile and smaller glass subway tiles in greens and blues as my accent. They come in square foot sections so I was contemplating using the entire square foot as my feature strip ... or then again I can do 2 6 inch strips.

This has to be the hardest decision I've had to make yet! :>)

I'm doing a frameless shower door so I can see the tile, and I want it to make a statement.

I have the EXACT same question - I'm going to use predominantly white subways on the wall but I want to use blue and green accent tiles (either smaller subways or 1x1 mosaics) in a couple of places and I can't decide where. Also, what to do about floor color? I don't want white or beige, but I'm not sure what else would work - I'm considering grey but I'm worried it might look too dark. Thoughts?

biondanonima ... I'm using Marmoleum on my floors.

See link, Azzuro in the downstairs bath, Peacock Green for the upstairs bath, and Aquarius for the kitchen.

Their blues were not as nice in person as their greens.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marmoleum

Not sure if that link is working, try this one ...

Here is a link that might be useful: Marmoleum

This site is awesome. Three of us with the exact same design delimma able to bounce ideas around. Love it!

I can't really help with the floor question because it was our lack of ability to make a decision that made us default to wood. I wanted a limestone but DH couldn't deal with the fossils in it ... which is what I loved about the limestone (so organic). I'm apprehensive about wood floor in the bathroom, but have read plenty of posts here of folks happily living with it.

Does anyone have pictures of running the subway tile on the vertical? DH is highly skeptical of that idea!

I'm glad you posted this question! I am considering a similar idea in our master bath as far as doing subway tile vertically. I'm thinking of doing a foot wide band of watery blue glass tile running down the center of the shower wall, somewhat reminiscent of a waterfall. I'd love to see some pictures of subway laid vertically as well. I am having a hard time convincing the hubby that this is a cool modern take on the subway pattern!

I just posted a link to photos of our guest bath done in white subway and blue-green glass tiles in the gallery if anyone is interested. We used novanna travertine on the floors, it contrasts nicely with the crisp whites of the porcelain.

Here is a link that might be useful: bathroom remodel

Ooh I LOVE vertical subway tile - there was a great thread on the kitchen forum with skinny glass subways used vertically as a backsplash. I'd love to do my whole shower area that way!

I have been considering wood or maybe wood-look porcelain for the bathroom floor - I am scared of hardwood in there, though, because it does get WET. Does anyone have any experience with bamboo flooring? As much as I love the colors in the Marmoleum, I can't do lineoleum - it's got to be wood or tile. I've included a link to the grey tile I found at Expo that I liked - the color is actually a little more blue in real life but this is the idea. Too dark if the walls are white?

Here is a link that might be useful: Empress Grey by Crossville

Foxycandy, I love your bathroom - I especially love the ikea vanity and sink! What style is that? I am planning on either using dark wood like you have or bamboo for my bathroom vanity. Unfortunately I can't see your floors too well but I like what I can see!

Another related question - I have thought about just tiling the shower enclosure and painting the rest of the walls, but my contractor says it will look weird and that I should tile the whole room, floor to ceiling. Personally, I think floor to ceiling tile might look a little weird! Right now there's tile everywhere halfway up the walls with a bullnose trim, and the rest of the walls are painted (except in the shower, which is tiled up about 7 feet with paint above that). The problem is, the walls are super nasty plaster with who-knows-how-many layers of old paint and wallpaper, so it might be easier and cheaper just to tile them than to knock out and replace the plaster.

Bio - I saw an episode of HGTV's "I Want That Bath" that highlighted a shower that had a waterfall effect done in glass tile down one corner of the shower and "puddled" on the shower floor. I bet there's a picture on HGTV's website in the past episodes section.

foxycandy, thank you for those pictures .. now I know I am going to do the foot wide accent strip. But I wanted to see it!

I am doing vertical smaller subway tile in the kitchen as a backsplash. can't show you yet as they haven't even put the cabs in yet.

I'm only tiling the new big shower area, including the ceiling in the shower area ... I plan on wallpapering the rest of the bath. I don't really want any more tile than that.

Thanks for the compliments! It was pretty much a diy project but I think it turned out as planned.

biondanonima - Here are the items we used in the bathroom. I love Ikea (obviously) nice and cheap!

Vanity: Ikea Stenskar
Sink: Ikea Hollviken
Sink, Tub and Shower fixtures: Danze Parma
Toilet: Toto Ultramax

This is such a great thread!!

I really like the idea of vertical subways and then accent glass tiles running vertically in the shower to simulate the waterfall (I saw metalic ones this way in a video on the HGTV site). I have a small city bathroom so not much room to play with. My mind in dancing around this idea but if I did that then the only 'wow' would be that one vertical stripe within the shower. (All four walls will be tiled since the moisture situation makes this the only real choice so that leaves painting the walls outside the shower not an option.)

If I go the traditional horizontal subway tile route with an accent strip all around the whole bathroom then the 'wow' is everywhere but the overall looks isn't as modern as I'd like.

I really like the modernness of the vertical layout but how can I incorporate the glass tiles elsewhere besides the one vertical stripe in the shower? Anyone have any creative ideas?

Here's that waterfall design I mentioned above. There's no subway here and it's not a design that I'm going to do, but because someone else mentioned above, I thought I'd bass along.

Here is a link that might be useful: waterfall shower

vinoforall, how small is your bathroom? I have a small city bathroom too - 4.5' by 9.5' - and the contractors I've spoken to suggest floor to ceiling tile because of the moisture. However, the walls are currently half tile, half paint, and I haven't noticed any big moisture issues, although god only knows what the plaster looks like underneath the layers of paint and wallpaper. I just worry that ALL that tile will look sort of strange...

biondanonima, my bath is 5' x 6.5'. I've seen many bathrooms with all tile. I don't like the look of paint in a small bathroom with poor air circulation because the paint only looks good for a short period of time. But this is just me. I really think it comes down to personal taste.

Hi soonermagic, I found some images that I am using to help with ideas for my master bath. The first shows a vertical mosaic tile accent within a field of larger tile. I like how they did a wide band (like 12") and then smaller strips (like 1" to 2") throughout the room to break up the expanse.

The second and third shows bathrooms done almost entirely in a larger subway shape tile laid horizontally but in a stacked pattern instead of a brick pattern. I think you could break up this pattern with vertical accents. Are you using standard white 3x6 subways?

There are some other photos as well with ideas for vertical accents. The last photo could be an idea for a counterpoint to your wall with the mirrors.

Hope this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: inspiration photos

My tile design is somewhat similar except I'll be using 6x6 handmade white ceramic tile instead of the 3x6. With budget constraints I opted to do an 8 foot band of glass mosaic in a pattern around the shower walls (just 2 walls, the other 2 will be glass). I saw this design in a tile showroom and fell in love. The mosaic is from Oceanside and is called 'Marquis' from their facets line. I'll use their iridescent sandstone color which has tans and blues in it. I'll also use the 1x1 mosaic in the same color around the mirrors of the vanity. I think the band is a good way to add interest if you can't do the whole thing in glass. Also, if you have it around the mirror, it ties in nicely.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oceanside Glass Tile

Here's another creative idea, though there has already been several good ones. Thanks for the pictures and the interesting thread this has become.

You can get custom imaged tiles with a picture or design.
This is a relatively new type of tile printing process, and you can do a search for "custom printed tiles for murals" on yahoo.com They are availble in ceramic, glass, and porcelain.

I agree on the full-tile wisdom to avoid any moisture related problems, eg, mold or mildew. You can clean tile with strong cleansers and not worry!

Just wanted to post a progress pic. We're still quite a way from finishing up this bathroom, but the tile install is going great so far.

The curbs on the floor and ceiling will be wrapped in glass tile. A vertical stripe of the glass is going under a window and the vanity area will have lots of glass tile. DH vetoed the idea of running the subway tile on the vertical rather than horizontal, but I'm liking it so far.

I have found a great website with Subway Glass Tiles in 3x6" & 4x8" sizes as well as a 1x1" Mosaic and 1x2" Mosaics that match the suway glass tiles. It is a collection by Diamond Tech called Dimensions Glass Tiles and is avaliable through www.BuildersDepotDirect.com.

Here is a link that might be useful: BuildersDepotDirect