What about mosaic tile? Lots of colors, styles, sizes, and finishes to choose from. You can also mix tiles or keep it simple and uniform - whatever you prefer! This fireplace was done in a single color of iridescent tiles, very sleek and modern! (other colors available!)

Thank you. My husband and I chose the tile (per recommendation at the tile store) and used a professional tiler (per recommendation at the tile store) for the install. It isn't a flip. This is a family home that we purchased and spent a year renovating—not DIY but with all professional hired help and a contractor to oversee the job. This tile person wasn't hired by him, though, as he was happy to use the person that we were told was very good by the tile store…. My heart is sinking. I absolutely hate the idea of retiling the shower as there is matching tile on all walls, including shower. I'm hoping there is some other idea out there that will help. I do personally think the tiler should have informed us if the tiles we supplied to him weren't suited to be mitered…we discussed it even before tiles were purchased and he didn't mention any specifications. I'm just worried now that if we put it on him to fix it, we'll end up with a bigger mess...

Paint your house and ceiling first. You are probably asking for trouble if you put the floors down only to paint over the top of them. If you can, remove the tiles in the kitchen and paint just behind the line of the splashback too. Once painting is done replace kitchen benchtop then splashback. I would call the bathroom its own job and do it individually, unless you only need to paint the ceiling and if a tiler doesn't need to be brought in for anything else in the house? A lot of bathrooms now are getting tiled from floor to the ceiling if this is the case, paint the ceiling first, then tile. If walls need to be painted, it wouldn't really matter if you did them first or last, though if you did it first expect to do some touch-ups. I guess if you really wanted, you could do the first coat before tiles then second after... I don't exactly like stopping and starting painting, so I would do the walls (if they needed to be done) in one hit, after its been tiled. Well that's the order in which I would do everything... Really, for what you're asking, the painting could be done at anytime, but to make life easy on yourself, I would definitely recommend doing it before the floor.

after watching my daughter and her husband agonize over the way their expensive timber floor has not held up well after 3 years, I would recommend tiles/wood look tiles with under heating. Their beautiful warm expensive floor looks like it always needs a clean and polish, not from neglect, they have cared for it well. One of the boards now has a slight and painful moan when it's stepped on :-( I grew up in a completely wood floor home and although it looked wonderful, my Mother hated it. ....and the mats ! Wood is a lot harder to maintain than tiles ,(no matter what the die hards say) the modern wood finishes are much better than they used to be.... But a piece of wood is rather arty no matter what it's used for and it does demand to be loved and cared for.....and if something goes wrong it's a lot more expensive to fix than sand and cement. Ultimately you have to be happy. BTW underheating tiles is warmer than timber :-)