I have installed pebble tiles in several showersPros - very elegant, gives a sense of space as pebbles are different so no long defining linesCons - difficult to clean, must determine at outset if you want the stones deep in grout (you see lots more grout but the surface is smoother) or not so deep (you see less grout, but the surface is bumpier).Some people recommend epoxy grout, I don't for the simple reason it is much harder to get the grouting even with pebbles than tiles so more time needs to be taken.

Red berm that's very interesting for i appreciate the chemistry behind it but one must remember that olivine being a non-living thing will only absorb only so much CO2 then it's done. An analogy : A sponge (per its size) can only soak up so much water. Tree's & plants thru photosynthesis get rid of CO2 by converting CO2 back to oxygen. But even that process is not perfect, for after a tree dies and falls it starts to decay releasing CO2 back to our atmosphere w/out further producing oxygen (e.g. burning wood for heat produces CO2 & CO...oxygen is not perserved in this case for oxygen is needed to burn the wood. Ideally: Plants surrounding the fireplace shall convert the CO2 back to oxygen as fast as the fireplace converts the oxygen to CO2

I work as a colourist and the easiest method for a upmarket look is to choose an exact colour to match one of the colours in the tile. I would take the tile to a paint shop and get the colourist it match exactly one of the greys in the tile. Make the depth of the colour a light version. All white walls are on the way out. Lappatto tiles usually have some texture as they are semi polished. This is the latest look in tiles as they give a shine without the maintenance of polished porcelain which had been in. They are usually less slippery than satin or polished tiles depending on the brand.

Comes down to taste/preference of effect and of course budget! Agree that if you select the wrong fitting it can be almost too blinding and overpowering.....strip is great, but individual spots I find are particularly effective and a softer option for highlighting external aspects, of course though it depends upon what you're endeavouring to achieve. My advice is to ensure you invest in quality for external. There is also LED and LED if you know what I mean ;) The quality LED external fitting won't require separate led globes, but is all integrated. You can also get uplights that throw light sideways to avoid the blinding effect like examples belowOther comment is that if you're not 100% sure about how/where to position/what to buy, you may be better to consider a more flexible option of say a spike spot that you can play around with the positioning and direction, and of course move around to elsewhere to highlight other external aspects Black's always a great colour option externally. I think an edge/strip (either pebbles or even soft/garden/mondo grass) particularly to a wall is a good element to include to soften/break-up the extent of hard surfaces. You could always just leave the main pour 15cm short and then fill in the edge strip later either with pebbles or garden depending upon what you think is better....just a long as you rough power cables somewhere there before you do the main section you can sort it out/finalise decisions in due course