I've just become a homeowner. First home. A 1930 colonial that needed some work done. We could have left it alone, but we didn't and we are renovating it as best as we can, on a budget.

My husband is handy (I thought he was handier, but now I see his limits, to his defense, though, he's a computer guy).

We've tackled the bathroom first. Completely gutted it. Now we are at the point of tiling and I have a big question where to end the tiles.

If you look at the pictures, you can see that the area around the tub is tiled high and once it comes outside the tub, only half wall is tiled.

I had bought the bullnose tile to border the tub tiles, while the accent tile would be the end of tiling everywhere else around the room.

My question is this: the guy tiling the bathroom is a friend of mine from Italy. He tells me over there they stop tiling just like in the picture, and he considers the bullnose useless.

I look at it and I'm not convinced, but the problem is that I don't like the bullnose bordering it either. The bullnose I have is just like the tiles, except smaller, like 8" x 2" (the tiles are 8x12).

Would the accent border on the side work, maybe just a line of little squares instead of the four that go around the room?

Any other ideas? What do you girls think?

Also, what color would you paint the walls (the floor matches the tiles, too)?

Thank you so much,
Elisa

(for more pictures you can check out my blog below)

Should I play it safe and match it to the American Standard Cadet 3?

I do like the Kohler Cimarron, but I worry that the two whites are not going to match.

(I've just learned about the Toto, but I worry about opening that can of worms, meaning I will never buy the toilet because first I would have to research ALL the options all over again!)

Thanks again,
Elisa

Otherwise at the end of the tiling I'd either go with the bullnose or try running the accent tile down the side of the tiles and see if you like that. If you don't like it, pull 'em off and scrap off the goop.

It's your bathroom, you have to live with it, like it and pay for it - no matter what they do in Italy.

I've tried a few combinations with the accent piece, and I'm leaning towards the accent piece alone going around, as opposed to the accent piece and the bullnose going around. What do you think?

If the accent tiles have a nice edge, I wouldn't add the bullnose to it. Consider the option of just bullnose down the vertical edge of the tub/shower.

sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings! ;)

Kidding aside, I am sure there are plenty of men on these boards, too, but I've really read mostly women, so that's why I thought it was more women.

The accent tile will have a clean edge that matches the faucets too, in brushed nickel.

Are you saying to have the accent and bullnose coming down the sides but only using the accent horizontally (like on top of the shower tiles)?

Or are you saying to only use the bullnose coming down without accent?

Thanks,
Elisa

The bullnose might look best on its own up that section of wall. Also what is going to be around your window area?

Draw up some alternatives.

The bullnose alone looks funny to me because it's the same as the tile, so there is not much point in using it alone anyway. It doesn't add anything, if not just a little more slope coming down to the wall. But we can achieve that in reverse with spackling the walls.

We have to put molding back around the window.

Thanks again!