Half bath - vanity search and floor grout question

[Susie]

I started a thread about updating our half bath almost exactly a year ago, yikes!  Since then, we've been living with the blush pink tile and pedestal sink while we thought about how to move forward.  For a variety of reasons, we've now decided to replace the tile floor and the sink.  I went tile shopping yesterday, and chose a marble look porcelain tile in 8" hex:





This will be very similar in size/scale to the square tiles that are there now.  My first question, is what general grout color would you use with a tile like this?  Generally I prefer darker grouts in a setting like this, but none of the grays or browns look quite right with all the variation.  Will I regret a light greige that just goes with the background?

My next question relates to the vanity.  My ideal is something like this:

30" wide, apron front sink, drilled for either single handle or wide set faucet, and cabinet doors rather than drawers.  We do have space for 36" if we had to, but it might be uncomfortably close to the toilet for larger people.  The apron front sink is to maximize sink size/depth.  I miss having a utility sink, and this bath is right by the laundry.  I'm looking for something that has enough capacity to comfortably clean paint brushes, soak and treat laundry stains, etc.  Right now the pedestal sink is falling really short of the mark.  Finally, I have a small volume RO system for water for my orchids that I'd love to hide in the vanity cabinet, which is why I'm looking for doors vs. drawers.  I could move off some of these wants if I have to, but this is my ideal.

I found the one above, but it's one of maybe 2 that I've found... at all.  I know it's a really specific ask, but has anyone seen anything like this?  Or alternatively, have any other ideas for how to accomplish these goals?

[momin2013]

I personally prefer grout lines to be as invisible as possible, so I'd go very light grey/almost white. (I realize light grout is harder to keep clean, though).

I really like the vanity pic you've posted. I agree with not going too wide, otherwise the toilet area will feel tight. I also agree with cabinet doors vs. drawers, as that will make it more functional for storage.

[orval]

I have tile in my shower that has some brownish veins. I used ivory grout. The bulk of my tile is ivory but the grout is kind of a gray/beige, more like the veins in the tile. Looks like sand or concrete color.

www.lowes.com/pd/MAPEI-Ultracolor-Plus-FA-25-lb-Ivory-All-in-One-Sanded-Grout/5013310483

I also used cobblestone on my wood look floor tile. It actually looks more ivory next to the darker wood.

www.lowes.com/pd/MAPEI-Ultracolor-Plus-FA-25-lb-Cobblestone-Sanded-Grout/5004725495

[simpsongal]

Agree w/white grout (maybe off white?) I did that in our bathroom and it blends pretty well even when it's not perfectly clean. Just looks light - I'd fear a darker grout would look too busy with the strong pattern/veining in the tile (while it lovely, btw

Did you consider a more plain tile on the wall? I wonder if having both veining on the floor and wall will be a lot in the space. It might be fine esp if the darker bits are not as common in the pattern repeat, plus fine once you load the room w/the toilet, vaniety and a shade of some sort.  You could do a plain tile on the wall w/slightly darker grout like a light taupe, that might look sharp.  We have that in our downstairs shower (picket tile and light taupe grout).

Pottery Barn has a vanity like that: www.potterybarn.com/products/mason-reclaimed-wood-single-sink-vanity-wax-pine-finish/?pkey=cbathroom-vanities
It's 31.5"

You might want to consider a high gooseneck faucet too, or even one with a pull down separate sprayer. I don't use a sink much with laundry but it sounds like you anticipate using it a lot.

Yay for all the renovations on H&G!

[mrsukyankee]

Pretty tile. I agree, I'd get a grout that works with the lightness. I like that sink furniture.

[Susie]

simpsongal I like that aesthetic of that PB vanity, and if I give up the idea of hiding the RO system in the vanity, drawers would be fine.  Obviously we have no storage right now with a pedestal sink, so any gained is bonus.  

I'm unfortunately finding that the combination of apron front sink + cabinet for RO system is a hard combination.  The RO system would be hard plumbed into the water line and wouldn't be able to do the in/out sliding motion of a drawer.  It would also be too tall to fit in a drawer.  The filtration piece is 17" wide, maybe 10-12" tall, and the tank is 11" dia., so the idea is that it would just barely fit along the back of a 30" cabinet.

If I can't make it work, we can put the RO system in the basement, just hanging there, not in any kind of cabinet to make it prettier.  But the RO water is for orchids that I grow on the 2nd floor, and 2 flights of stairs to get water is annoying.  We have hard tap water, and orchids are extra about salts dissolved in the water, so here I am with the very extra bath vanity needs.  My other option is to put the RO system in the kids' bathroom (upstairs), under that vanity.  I think I'd rather either of those options than give up my nice big apron front sink in the 1st floor half bath.

At least at this point I'm not thinking of putting tile up the walls - definitely not the matching tile.  The 3x36 just happens to be on the same sample board as the hexes.  I think it would be a lot of look.  Wainscoting is more likely (and may not be immediate).  

[definitelyO]

well this is super gross - but I would not do white grout (we have white floor tile and grout now) -my DS freaking splashes when peeing all.the.time. It's his job to clean the bathroom - but it's disgusting and has stained the white grout. Doesn't help that the grout lines are so wide.... I want to take out the white tile and grout and replace with something darker.

[libbygrl109]

Would you consider semi-custom? When we redid our bathroom, it was close to impossible to get a stock cabinet that fit our area and didn’t look cheap. We stumbled on Curtis Lumber’s bathroom section, and ended up getting a semi-custom Bertch vanity and was able to choose our top.

[SusanBAnthony]

I wouldn't do light grout, no way. I agree it would look better but I have no interest in ever scrubbing grout. The mot it's getting is a regular mopping. So medium grey or brown or darker only, no exceptions.

[mpm]

Our kids’ bathroom has original 1965 white hex tile and original 1965 white grout. Maybe they just used really great grout in the 60s, but I’ve never once scrubbed it in the more than 7 years we’ve lived here, and it is still very white with no noticeable stains. 🤷‍♀️

[rubytue]

I just had a grout selection panic today. I ended up at our local The Tile Shop (it’s a chain) and they have this sample deck with little 1/4 inch strips so you can put it between two tiles. It was really awesome. Example photo, but I didn’t snap one of the whole deck. They had probably 20 options, most light (and the guy push me toward light, cause everyone is doing light).

After seeing all those options today, I think I’d find a light brown that plays off the gold in the tile (and might not show dribble stains).

Attachments:

[mrsukyankee]

In the bathroom reno of our last house, we used a dark grout with simple white tiles. I think it actually looked good and made it so much easier to take care of:

[Susie]

Update:  the tile is done! 



We haven't made a ton of progress on the vanity.  I've stopped looking so much at "bathroom vanities," and more to sinks that are actually kitchen or laundry sinks.  It could either be wall mounted and braced as needed, or we could do a cabinet beneath -- not sure yet.  Still exploring options.  In the meantime, I don't think we're going to put the pink pedestal back, we'll just have to wash hands in the nearby kitchen sink.  I will use the time and space to touch up the trim paint, and repair the wall where the pedestal was so we have a blank canvas.  

[momin2013]

Tile looks very pretty - I think it’s a great start!

[mrsukyankee]

Love the tile!

[gt7301b]

Looks great!!