Where to Have Tiles in the Bathroom?
There are several options depending on budget and looks
Kate Burt
26 July 2019
Houzz UK. I'm a journalist and editor, previously for the Independent, Guardian and various magazines. I'm now excited to part of the editorial team at Houzz UK & Ireland, bringing the best of British and Irish design, interiors and architecture to Houzz.com.
Houzz UK. I'm a journalist and editor, previously for the Independent, Guardian and... More
Where should you put the tiles in your bathroom? All over? Just around the shower? On a sloping ceiling? Amid the array of choices to be made when renovating a bathroom, this is one of those that could really affect the cost of your project, since tiling is a highly skilled job. Equally, it can make or break the look of your finished room.
It pays to have a interior designer or architect involved whose taste you trust – they’ll be full of ideas (and reassuring decisiveness). Meanwhile, though, let these schemes get the creative cogs turning.
It pays to have a interior designer or architect involved whose taste you trust – they’ll be full of ideas (and reassuring decisiveness). Meanwhile, though, let these schemes get the creative cogs turning.
Tile the bare necessities
In this walk-in shower room, tiles only cover the bits of wall that will get wet – the floor, shower walls and behind the basins. The designer has chosen to match the grout carefully, so it’s virtually invisible, giving a smooth, streamlined look.
Find bathroom designers and fitters in your area.
In this walk-in shower room, tiles only cover the bits of wall that will get wet – the floor, shower walls and behind the basins. The designer has chosen to match the grout carefully, so it’s virtually invisible, giving a smooth, streamlined look.
Find bathroom designers and fitters in your area.
Focus on the floor
The designer of this striking utility-meets-glamour shower room has confidently done away with any wall tiling at all, covering only the floor with luxurious marble tiles.
Walls plastered in micro-cement like this one (on the right) can be sealed to ensure waterproofing, and there are various equivalent options for bricks, depending on whether you paint them or leave them bare.
Do consult a professional about waterproofing areas that will get very wet, as the consequences of even the smallest opportunities for water to go where it’s not meant to can cause long-term bathroom pain.
Tile Talk: An Alphabetical Guide to Tile Terms
The designer of this striking utility-meets-glamour shower room has confidently done away with any wall tiling at all, covering only the floor with luxurious marble tiles.
Walls plastered in micro-cement like this one (on the right) can be sealed to ensure waterproofing, and there are various equivalent options for bricks, depending on whether you paint them or leave them bare.
Do consult a professional about waterproofing areas that will get very wet, as the consequences of even the smallest opportunities for water to go where it’s not meant to can cause long-term bathroom pain.
Tile Talk: An Alphabetical Guide to Tile Terms
Take it halfway
The tiles in this bathroom run around the walls uniformly at shoulder height for a very neat look. The details that make this style of tiling work are the choice of paint colour on the walls above, and the trim, which is key to helping tiles run nicely into a plain wall.
Here, the soft pink paint colour works beautifully with the brass fittings and dark blue vanity unit, while the trim is stylish brass – visible as a design detail but not shouty.
The tiles in this bathroom run around the walls uniformly at shoulder height for a very neat look. The details that make this style of tiling work are the choice of paint colour on the walls above, and the trim, which is key to helping tiles run nicely into a plain wall.
Here, the soft pink paint colour works beautifully with the brass fittings and dark blue vanity unit, while the trim is stylish brass – visible as a design detail but not shouty.
Go top-to-toe
Floor-to-ceiling tiles can lend a real air of swish hotel style to a bathroom. This windowless space has pale tiles covering every bit of wall, and even the bath panel, for total streamlining.
Where natural light is lacking, visual continuity like this can really help to open up a dark room (and larger tiles, like these, can also have the effect of stretching a smaller space).
Although the floor has different-coloured tiles, they blend with the ceiling, bath and basin for an unfussy look.
Floor-to-ceiling tiles can lend a real air of swish hotel style to a bathroom. This windowless space has pale tiles covering every bit of wall, and even the bath panel, for total streamlining.
Where natural light is lacking, visual continuity like this can really help to open up a dark room (and larger tiles, like these, can also have the effect of stretching a smaller space).
Although the floor has different-coloured tiles, they blend with the ceiling, bath and basin for an unfussy look.
Here, the same all-over approach has been taken with the tiling, but in this case, the bright room gives more scope for a busier choice of tile – smaller in size and varied in tone.
The key to keeping the whole look airy and bright is the pale palette. The colour variation is gentle and doesn’t break up the view, which is already punctuated by the bold black taps and shower fittings.
Take a look at tiles on offer at Houzz
The key to keeping the whole look airy and bright is the pale palette. The colour variation is gentle and doesn’t break up the view, which is already punctuated by the bold black taps and shower fittings.
Take a look at tiles on offer at Houzz
Make half tiling have a purpose
The tiling in this scheme is the star of the show, yet it barely covers half of the room. The designer has given ordinary white metro tiles standout by laying them in a herringbone pattern. At the same time, the painted sections feel deliberate – the area above the basin is for storage and a mirror, while the other end of the shower (just seen in the reflection), which is finished with a stylish jagged edge, leaves room for a cabinet.
The tiling in this scheme is the star of the show, yet it barely covers half of the room. The designer has given ordinary white metro tiles standout by laying them in a herringbone pattern. At the same time, the painted sections feel deliberate – the area above the basin is for storage and a mirror, while the other end of the shower (just seen in the reflection), which is finished with a stylish jagged edge, leaves room for a cabinet.
Work in feature tiling
If you’ve fallen for more expensive tiles, but aren’t sure the budget will stretch, consider using them in a small area of the bathroom. Here, a patterned design forms an extended splashback behind the basin, yet still makes quite the impact.
Reduce usage even more if needs be by choosing just enough tiles to protect the area directly behind the basin. Keep other tiles plain to maximise your feature.
Read more:
How to Wow with Mosaic Bathroom Tiles
8 Spectacular Ways to Use Highlighter Tiles in the Bathroom
Tell us:
Did we miss a spot? Tell us your thoughts on bathroom titling in Comments.
If you’ve fallen for more expensive tiles, but aren’t sure the budget will stretch, consider using them in a small area of the bathroom. Here, a patterned design forms an extended splashback behind the basin, yet still makes quite the impact.
Reduce usage even more if needs be by choosing just enough tiles to protect the area directly behind the basin. Keep other tiles plain to maximise your feature.
Read more:
How to Wow with Mosaic Bathroom Tiles
8 Spectacular Ways to Use Highlighter Tiles in the Bathroom
Tell us:
Did we miss a spot? Tell us your thoughts on bathroom titling in Comments.
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I wouldn't tile any part of my bathroom. The grouting always discolours and you are always stuck with the colour/pattern of the tiles. I would use shower panels in the shower and bead and butt panelling otherwise known as tongue and groove which you can paint any colour you want and change it when you want. We had this all around a bathroom and it was great. It had a 'shelf' to the top on which you could stand things.
To those moaning about grout - rectified tiles, larger tiles, non white grout, epoxy grout - you can still have the benefits of tile, without spending time scrubbing grout
In most parts of continental Europe and Asia, a wallpapered/painted bathroom would be considered highly unhygienic.