Tiles and Layout

I can't speak to the choices you've listed.

But I have a question.

"Is white splashback with white grount a bad choice because of cleaning and maintenance?"

What colour is the cabinetry?

At my age I love that there are now grout-free options. I would go for something without grout, but that pleasure of choosing something 'grout-free' doesn't necessarily mean that much to other people. Anyway I believe there are improved lower maintenance grouts available these days.

The other thing is whether white is too stark, or difficult to match with wall paint. That of course depends on cabinetry and wall colour. Neutrals can be surprisingly tricky.

Re the white splash back and grout. Every splash back needs cleaning. If you wipe down the splash back on a regular basis, it will stay clean. Even if you had a splash back with no grout or is a dark colour, they still need cleaning.

I like tiles behind toilet as better for cleaning. But I don’t like fully tiled ensuite. Bit sterile

It’s an exciting time for you. I can’t comment on the larger tiles but there are good products available now to protect the grout and your shower screens etc. Enduroshield is one but Google it, there are a few to choose from.

Hi, regarding your tile size: if the floor and splash back tile sizes are very different, the grout lines won’t matter. But if it looks like the lines should, but don’t, match, it can be off putting. For instance, our splash back tiles are small, rectangular and laid vertically whereas our floor tiles are 600 x 600. Your eye, in this example, doesn’t try to “follow” the grout line. If it did and they were “off”, it could be visually dissonant, so I’d want tiles that were 100/200/300 or 600 wide. Not to say other tile sizes are wrong, just that you do need to consider the lines. Don’t forget though, unless you’re planning an early sale, choose what you love regardless of any “rules”.

As for your grout, even though we used modern grout, we have also sealed ours with a product bought from a local hardware store. Early days, but highly recommended that extra step

Thanks all for your feedback and suggestions. The cabinets in kitchen and galley will be oyster grey. Other rooms' cabinets will be prime oak.

I'm thinking about changing the wall tiles from 450x450 to 300x600 (hope the grout line will match the 600x600 floor tiles) or just to use the same 450 x 450 tiles for the rooms which we've selected different sizes of tiles.

I'm not a fan of full tiled ensuite as well, but not sure if there are any other options to go with 🤔 😅

The wall is Rottnest island.

The tiles we ended up selecting are totally different from what I have pictured …😂 I was looking for a light grey tile similar as the picture below.

Check the diff tiles are edged the same to allow the same grout line thickness if you want to line them up.
Make sure you brief the tiler with a written brief perhaps a drawing for him to sign with your alignment requirement.
Just bear in mind aligning to the floor want necessarily give you alignment to your fittings and fixtures. How do wall tiles work above vanity etc

On the builders tile layout diagrams. All rooms are “tile height-standard”. What height is that? The master ensuite states “tile height-2500”. I would double check that the tiles are the full wall height as per diagram.

TILE DIMENSIONS

While 600 x 600 is nominal dimension, tile may vary in size from 599 x 599, a 600 x 300 may also have same variation +,- 1 mm.

GROUT WIDTH

Grout width floor grout width is usually 2/ 2.5 mm while wall grout around 1.5 mm

Lining up grout lines requires a quality tiler ( and will only line up in one direction )

FLOOR TILES

600 x 600 floor tiles, some may require cutting to obtain fall to waste ( can be avoided with linear drain across a wall ( Not permissible some States of Australia )

Should height of tiling not specified, Possibly Variations to Contract