stone tile sealer

I am in need of some assistance, and am having trouble finding exactly what I need. I'm installing 2 tile floors in my newly built addition. One is a simple 12 x 12 tile and the other is a 6 x 24 inch wood-look tile. The only tile I've installed before was 8 x 8 and I used a 1/4 inch square trowel for them with great success. I've done some searching around, but can't seem to find the same answers anywhere. What size trowel should I use for those 2 floors? Will the 1/4 inch square trowel work for both? Either? I'm using the lft mortar for the 6 x 24 and flexbond for the 12 x 12. Each room is less than 100 square feet. The floor is perfect and flat too. It has 3/4 inch advantech flooring with cement board mortared and screwed with the joints done. Im just really stuck on which trowel to use for the tiles. Thanks in advance for the guidance. (I think the 1/2 inch trowel is WAY too big, but honestly, I don't know...)

We are replacing the floor in our 1950s bathroom. Not a complete overhaul, just the floor to fix an unsightly crack that runs the length of the bathroom and hopes to make it a little easier on the eyes too. The walls are light orange with a black stripe. My question is in regards to design for the tiles we pick. I'm thinking we should pick tiles that look like they fit the era of the rest of the bathroom and stay away from more modern ones. Just wondering if anybody has input or has seen/done this type of update and maybe if you could show me what you used. [ATTACH]77903[/ATTACH]