I'm quite lucky that we have quite a large bathroom for over here. There all normally so small in older homes! I have a a lot of space to fill and was only going to use the tiles in the bath and on the floor. I find fully tiled bathrooms very very confining. White wall for the rest, apparently, according to the design guru. But it's ok, I've been told when it comes time to decorate the garage I can have whatever I want!!!!

I agree with you the pillars are unfortunate. The replacement tiles will stand out no matter how close they come to matching so you're better off making sure they are clearly different so the gray one is better. Putting busy mosaic tiles could look nice but will interrupt the flow between rooms which I'm guessing is your problem with the columns in the first place. You will need to create a dextrous solution to tying into the 2x4 wall on the left side but I think it can be done tastefully- maybe beveling it back once you get past he end of that wall.

Excuse my duh-ness but i'm having difficulty trying to follow whats going on here. Are these two photos an exact replica of your house and pool ? If not a hasty sketch with dimensions could help a lot. By kitchen wall do you mean the wall behind the bar ? And where is the pool wall ? Are you considering the covered area as being "inside" ? Sorry for all those questions lol Sometimes when you have a design problem you need to turn it inside out or on it's head. If you can't beat it maybe embrace it by making a feature of it : i.e. contrast by having the lightest colored pool surround and a great blue or tile inside and under the overhang, something that will echo the water color ? If you have a great covered area as in photo you'll most likely be spending a lot of time there and it could be soothing to be able to sometimes retire into a darker inside. In my book, 10M isn't small and also contrasting two floor colors doesn't necessarily make a space seem smaller and confined and may in fact even open it up. Could it be that you've thought yourself into a box here ? Sometimes one needs to give it all a good shake up and see how it resettles.

I've always had a tile and glass shower and it's a bit frustrating to clean. However, like you, I love the look of tile and glass so I deal with it. What did you decide to do?