Hi, Can you also post what area of Sydney you are in? This will help attract the best responses form tilers on Houzz...

While I'm with Siriuskey regarding real timber, it would always be my choice, I recently saw a brand new house with very similar tiles down the long, wide hallway into and throughout the open plan kitchen and living area. It could be that it had a north facing, predominately glass wall allowing the sunshine to flood the room, but I was surprised just how good they looked. Perhaps you could check out the real estate websites to find an open house near you to check for yourself? I do think the quality, of both the tile and the expertise of the person laying the tiles, could make a huge difference also. In the meantime, perhaps your partner may see the light before the final decision is made ;)

Hi Chris, The Jolly edge will look the best if you are using Porcelain Tiles. If your Mitred Jolly edges are cut and grouted properly you should not have a problem with chipping. Your tiler can cut all the mitres on the factory edge and set their saw so it preserves a small amount of that edge so to avoiding a sharp point (which otherwise is vulnerable to chipping). If you can't find a tiler with a diamond saw machine like a Hasqvarna with sliding overhead arm, which can do your Mitre cuts, then you could try marking out all your cuts and take these tiles to a stone mason (granite fabricator) near you and ask them to do these cuts for you. A stonemason experienced in fabricating large sheet Porcelain tops such as Neolith or Quantum+6 would also be a good place to start as these will know how to treat your tiles. Hope this is of help. Regards, Malcolm

Jeff Leake - they are used for different purposes, one is to seal awkward gaps and the other is a overall put it on and leave. Silicone is messier and more expensive and to use it the way you suggested would most likely take four times as long to place not including clean up. This in turn bumps the bill up four times. This along with other reasons i.e discolouration, cleaning, longevity, ease of use the cost of silicon vs grout, masking tape is why tilers don't do it this way. The more time they spend on one job means the less jobs they can do in a week which loses profits. Add on to this with the more costs involved upfront for a tiler versus what the client pays (sometimes clients hold out on payment) means they go into debt and cant pay there suppliers and workers. Hopefully this answers your question. Macy-jean - Builders know a bit more than you might think and because a product says it does something does not mean it actually does it well or better than something else. They also know if it can be best used somewhere else with a better result. They always take time if something can cut down on time and money and can outlast another product in durability. 7 year warranty on builds means the less time they have to go back and fix something the more they save. Believe me they are always looking for something that cuts down on costs and time. They are also approached by different companies willing to give out freebies or competitive prices to try there product too and encouraged to endorse and switch other tradies to them also. This could be a longer conversation as there is more that goes into it but the short of it is Time and Costs.