mdln, my original plan was to do 4x4 tiles in a plain stacked pattern in light gray, the SAME tile I was taking out. My BD thought I was nuts. I finally found the original tile but there wasn't any trim available. I swore I wasn't going to do subways, but oh well. Call it overdone and a trend that has peaked, nobody I know has a subway tile anywhere in their house. When I asked my tile guy's supervisor about mixing grout colors, it sounded like it was simply company policy. He was nice about it and I didn't push it. I'm sure it's fraught with problems if the homeowner doesn't like the mix, since you don't get a little plastic stick to look at and you can't tell from wet grout what it will ultimately look like. I'm like you, if I ever tile myself (and that would be the day), I would mix and do sample boards. For now, I'm fine with the good job my guy did. I even got a thumbs up over at John Bridge.

Hi Fishers, It's a "Laura-Ashley color" you say... * What did the painter have it matched into?? * Did you see a can they used? * Were you given a CHOICE of brand?? * What ACTUAL paint-brand/base/series was it mixed into? * Do you know the actual prep-history??? Meaning... * Were the walls washed? * What sheen of paint was on the walls b4 this color? * Was it primed after any of this prep?? Bottom-line...with a decent Satin paint, this shouldn't happen at all! NORMALLY...a paint is fully cured in a month for light washing. (I have a hunch they had it matched into a "contractor-grade" paint....) Faron

The tile will be fine with the dog. Real wood would be fine with the dog too with regular nail clipping - the nails should be short enough that you don't hear his toenails click when he walks. However, I don't keep up on my dogs' nails that well, but any scratches blend in are not noticeable. The trick is to get a distressed wood floor. :) edited to add: we have a porcelain wood look tile from HD or Lowe's in the master bath. It wasn't too expensive and looks very nice. But personally I prefer read wood floors everywhere else, so that's why I gave you my experience above. This post was edited by tracie.erin on Fri, Jun 20, 14 at 9:16

Lisa - glad you're not sick of me. Are you feeling better? I got busy & haven't followed along, but I saw that you were quite sick. When I'm not totally self-absorbed, I've thought of you. I called the counter top company & was told that they could arrange for a service call... at a price. I declined. I figure if I keep damaging it, and don't want to live with the damage, I can get someone out when there's enough damage to make it worth my while. I really am thinking that a brown or grey Sharpie might diminish the look of the scratches enough to make me happy. No one else would ever see them unless I pointed them out, and then they'd probably say "but I can hardly see them."