Hello Dub M, Well it also depends on what else colour wise you're choosing for your scheme.. Whether you want bold and dramatic or whether you want something lighter in feel... Using them sparingly with a lot of plain in between or perhaps as boarders can then lend themselves to accent rather than statement... All depends on what you want from them as they're versatile! For pale schemes.. Think of colours such as creams, wheat and pale sun hued creams with hints of yellow.. Light and earthy tones on the cream, wheat, canvas, hessian colours perhaps beige and pale mustards, or pale golden creams and burnt siena with hints of brown,ochres .. For bold consider dark almost purple blues and hints of mauve.. Also Charcoal and greys with black and brown hues... For a warm but dramatic look.. The colours are chalky and have depth... Include wood work and again wall covering is versatile in that it could be half height or whole height.. Put tiles and colours together to see what you like.. Paint onto squares of paper no less than A4 and place them where you might want to use them.. Look throughout the day to see how they react and interact with their space and the changing light.. From one colour you can begin to mix it to blend and become another.. In this way you can see colours interact with each other. Use versions of them by working with lighter and or darker varieties of the chosen colour.. Here's a doodle to show the colours blue and others I'm suggesting so you can see the blue is still quite dominant. I rather like blue and elements of yellows, old golds and creams.. Look at the tiles themselves too for inspiration... : ))

I recognise the phrase ' you've always imagined'. Lots of times I have had in my mind something such as Fired Earth Tiles, herringbone parquet, teak worktops etc etc and then you wake up and realise you are on a budget - like most people! I have to say, I am constantly surprised at the cost and range of materials out there so don't feel short changed if you don't choose your initial idea. I wanted handmade Emerie and Cie Moroccan tiles in my kitchen, but that was before I costed them and needed to sit down. I ended up with Green Quartzite and they were a seventh of the cost and they look fantastic. My hall is tiled and we don't have underfloor heating, but we do all wear cork soled slippers (:

Ok, so I've tried to delete this post as I've just picked up the rest of the laminate and think that the flooring will need to be replaced. The floor level isn't the only issue. Previous owners have welded other tiles to the original ones (which is where the black glue is coming from). Also, we are soon to be running a new mains water pipe through the house and the flooring will need to come up in the hall. We are having a new boiler and pipe replaced because it currently takes 15 minutes to run a bath. I will be contacting a restoration company today to see if they can advise.

This was a hall floor tiled in Tranent in East Lothian, finished off with a steel grey grout.