How Much of My Bathroom Should I Tile?
When it comes to exactly where to have tiles in your bathroom, there are several options depending on budget and looks
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.
This article is from our Most Popular stories file
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.
This article is from our Most Popular stories file
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.
Not sure which flooring you should choose for your bathroom? Check out this expert guide.
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.
Not sure which flooring you should choose for your bathroom? Check out this expert guide.
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.
Read reviews of tilers in your area.
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.
Read reviews of tilers in your area.
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.
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.
Streamline a slope
Loft conversions often include a new bathroom and it’s not always obvious where tiling should start and finish. This walk-in shower is fully tiled, as the ceiling is low and likely to be doused daily.
The tiles continue at half-height in the rest of the room, but what’s clever is how they’re connected: the two triangular tiles on the narrow walls at either side of the shower link the awkwardly shaped enclosure with the rest of the space by helping the line of tiles to flow smoothly. Proof that the small touches are sometimes the ones that make a room.
Loft conversions often include a new bathroom and it’s not always obvious where tiling should start and finish. This walk-in shower is fully tiled, as the ceiling is low and likely to be doused daily.
The tiles continue at half-height in the rest of the room, but what’s clever is how they’re connected: the two triangular tiles on the narrow walls at either side of the shower link the awkwardly shaped enclosure with the rest of the space by helping the line of tiles to flow smoothly. Proof that the small touches are sometimes the ones that make a room.
In this loft bathroom, the sloping ceiling is high enough to avoid too much of a soaking, so tiles only cover the walls. Be sure to use appropriate paint in a scheme like this, though, as splashes are inevitable.
Tell us…
From experience, what advice can you share on bathroom tiling? Tell all in the Comments section.
Tell us…
From experience, what advice can you share on bathroom tiling? Tell all in the Comments section.
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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.