Decision time: floor

We have to pick the concrete floor colour ASAP.  I want to co-ordinate the colour with the bathroom tile.  I am picking the tile first because we get to see that in real life (not just an image in a glossy brochure).  My first love was penny rounds but they aren't easy to find. We picked up a sample of black penny rounds but I worry that black floors will show all kinds of soap scum.  So my next idea was grey square porcelain.  Square because of the shower.  I want the glass wall to fall in a 'seam' (grout line).  Porcelain because I want to be able to use cleaners without worrying about destroying the natural stone.

Our first choice was the large, really dark (graphite) porcelain tile from stone-tile sales outlet. (In the above photo the other tiles are sitting on it...it blends into the hardwood a bit...)  The graphite tiles are a steal at $4.95 sq/ft. Love it! Done deal, right? Not quite - you see every decision we make in this household is researched, debated, scrutinized and debated some more.  So I was feeling quite proud -a little smug perhaps, at having selected this tile so quickly - and it was on SALE even!  Double score!  But I just couldn't go to bed without doing a little product testing. I thought I would test out how slippery it is when wet (not bad) and I found out that it leaves ridonkulous water marks. Seriously the worst cloudy/splotchy water stains I have ever seen. No-Thank-You!

I am going with the much more expensive grey tile from Ciot (indicated with an arrow).  Its lovely. 18x18. Porcelain. Very busy in an organic type of way.  No splotches when wet. Good traction. It will hide dirt, hair, dust bunnies, and everything else that makes it way onto the bathroom floor.  Its VERY neutral so I can't imagine we will grow tired of it.  $9.19/sqft - yikes! But its small room. Whatever. I will make it up somewhere else.

(Btw the top two tiles are porcelain veneer from Saltillo - okay products - under $4/sqft - but the first is too light, and the second too dark)

Now back to the most important decision - concrete colour.  We can rule out 99% of the colour chart. (No red, pink, yellow, orange, blue, green etc.)...White is cool, but apparently the most expensive option.  We like Monsoon and Smoke.  The oval on the top left is 1 bag monsoon, with 1 bag smoke below it.  The oval on the bottom right is 2 bags monsoon, 2 bags smoke.  My current favorite is 2 bags smoke. Is that my final answer - you bet (for now anyways).