I have been reading Maria's blog for about 4-5 years and I'm confident that she would strongly discourage you from accent tile. I'm also certain she would say that bathrooms should be all white (you can add/change color by painting walls) and that wood floors are neutral, like jeans and you don't need to worry about coordinating with wood floors unless they're a "bossy" finish.

If you want variety in your tile, I think Maria would advise you to use "ceramic architecture." Which I think is shown in this photo, if I understand correctly...

Here is a link that might be useful: Maria's favorite bathrooms

I read the article about ceramic architectural and how some people abuse the term/concept...
I even emailed her secretary about having an on-line consult--but an hour of her time was a little steep--I don't think my husband would see the value in it...
I don't want to use Cesarstone or a man-made countertop--and any granite you use (marble is too hard to maintain IMO) is going to have some other traces of color...maybe a limestone if we seal it well might work but granite is about bullet-proof IMO...

Thanks for the reminder--at least I know my LVT is the right wood tone--not too dark or light...

I'm a huge fan of Maria's and think she's saved me a ton of money by teaching me about undertones through her blog writing. She's not a fan of granite at all. Here's a link about countertops. It was written when she redid her kitchen, but her white on white method applies to bathrooms and kitchens alike. We've had quartz countertops in our for 8 years and they look the same today as they did when we had them installed; I wouldn't rule out quartz yet...

Here is a link that might be useful: Maria's countertop

I know what she likes--and Jeff from Flipping Out loves quartz--and other decorators like Candace Olsen--
but I don't like quartz--
it isn't plastic but reminds me of plastic/acrylic. Just don't think I would be happy with it

thanks for the response

I don't know how large of an accent area you are speaking of, but mother of pearl tile comes in almost pure white to beiges and tan, to hues of blue.

My bathroom remodel is about to get underway. It is all ordered and demo date set. It's mostly Torreon Travertine, My sinks, tub, baseboards and doors are white. I am adding a mother of pearl tiny brick laid tile to the face of my built in shower bench. It is white with tan. I bought samples from Tilebar.com
I chose mini brick oyster white. You can read the reviews and see photos of the customers who used the product. We ordered several color samples of the pearl tile and chose this one for our project. It runs $17.99 a sf sheet.
Good Luck