Choosing bathroom tiles: tips, types, shapes, colors and design solutions.

Features of bathroom tiling

Several important nuances:

• When decorating a bathroom, first of all, pay attention to the dimensions of the room, its degree of illumination and the shade solution of the plumbing.
• For a small bathroom, tiling in light colors with not too large module sizes will be appropriate.
• With the help of a certain layout option, you can not only achieve an interesting design, but also visually adjust the dimensions of the space.
• Unusual effects can also be achieved by grouting the inter-tile joints, which can have a contrasting or monochromatic combination with the finish.

Tips for choosing tiles for the bathroom

Basic recommendations:

• Since water constantly gets on the finish, preference should be given to tiles with a fine-pored structure.
• To ensure that the floor covering has higher anti-slip properties, relief models are chosen for the coating.
• It is necessary to select products that are distinguished by good mechanical resistance, strength and thickness.
• Finishing tiles must be especially resistant to temperature changes.

Types of tiles

There are several options that have specific manufacturing technologies and practical properties:

• Tile. Contains sand, clay and minerals, is made by firing, and then covered with glaze. Ceramic tiles come in a variety of colors and are a fairly inexpensive material.
• Porcelain tiles. Durable and strong porcelain tiles are especially common in floor finishing. They have a non-slip surface and can easily withstand mechanical stress.
• Quartz vinyl. They are resistant to scratches, moisture, and mold. In addition, this type of cladding has good sound-absorbing properties.
• Glass. This finishing material is made of glass, which is highly durable and always looks quite stylish and unusual.

The photo shows a bathroom in the English style, with burgundy floor and wall tiles.

Options for finishing with tiles

Several popular solutions.

Shower cabin

Tiled cladding of a certain size and shape can decorate and turn a shower cabin into an incredibly stylish detail of the entire room.

Niche

With the help of a niche, you can fantasize in the design of the bathroom. For example, using decorative tiles or mosaics, you can create an interesting accent on a recess and visually highlight it against the general background.

Shelves

Colored ceramics, glass or mirror products in the lining of shelves will undoubtedly become a sophisticated addition to the interior, harmonize the space and will give it a certain elegance.

The photo shows the interior of a bathroom with shelves covered with brown mosaic.

Countertop

This solution is quite unusual and original. The countertop is often made using mosaic technique, decorated with ceramics, tiles imitating marble or other types of stone.

Floor

Such finish is always distinguished by its special strength, reliability and wear resistance. In floor decoration, both ordinary colored tile finishes and products imitating stone or wood are popular.

Walls

Modern wall models are distinguished by any shade solutions and imitation of a wide variety of textures. This facing can have a glossy, matte, textured or smooth surface and due to this create different optical illusions in the room.

Ceiling

Products in the form of large-sized slabs, square and rectangular models or mosaics are suitable for decorating the ceiling plane. Also, seamless products are often found on the ceiling, suitable for creating a design of any complexity.

Around the door

Door slopes and thresholds, faced with ordinary tiles or mosaics, acquire a very neat and beautiful appearance, and are also particularly durable.

Tile shapes and sizes

Modules in small squares are the most convenient and classic option, which is not difficult to lay.

A fairly trendy solution are figured models made in honeycombs or diamonds. They can have either a bright glossy or a more discreet matte finish.

The photo shows multi-colored hexagonal honeycomb tiles on the wall in the bathroom.

No less beautiful in the interior looks mosaic, allowing you to place accents in the room or pigeon-shaped tile, which also differs in different types of surface, flat or convex shape.

Tile color

The most universal solution is tiles in gray tones, which look relevant in any room, regardless of its size. To give the bathroom additional airiness, freshness and a feeling of lightness, use white finishing, which is a strong reflector of artificial and natural light.

A rather fashionable and stylish design is obtained using dark purple or black models, which have a certain mystery and mysticism.

The photo shows a bathroom with walls and a floor decorated with rectangular pink tiles.

The golden color looks especially expensive and luxurious, which is mainly used to create accent areas in the room. You can set a positive mood for the environment with the help of light green, yellow or orange shades, and achieve a peaceful and deep design with the help of lilac, blue and light blue tones.

The photo shows brown bamboo tiles in the interior of a bathroom, made in eco-style.

Turquoise or green tiles are quite easy to perceive, creating an incredibly effective interior. Beige finish is considered especially popular, contributing to the most comfortable atmosphere in a room of any stylistic direction.

The photo shows a shower in a bathroom, decorated with turquoise tiles in the shape of scales.

Photo of bathroom tile design

Design solutions used for tile products.

Wood-like

It is aesthetically attractive, practical and, unlike natural wood, has higher performance characteristics. Due to their authentic appearance, wood-like modules are in demand in rustic or eco-styles.

Marble-like

Surfaces decorated with marble-like products acquire an incredibly luxurious and elegant look. This type of finishing fits perfectly not only into classic but also into modern interiors, giving them a special chic and gloss.

Stone-like

It has the most natural and at the same time sophisticated look. The most popular are tiles imitating onyx, travertine, granite and other types of stone.

The photo shows the design of a modern bathroom with tile cladding imitating stone.

Under concrete

Due to such a facing material, the furnishings acquire a more powerful, weighty look and create a sense of reliability.

Tile panels

Such decor is a whole composition that is used for accent design. The panel can differ not only in a variety of patterns, but also even have a three-dimensional texture.

Matte tile

It is less slippery, has a softer and more muted shine and is perfect for finishing any surface.

Mirror

It is an aesthetic solution that significantly transforms the room and adds style and shine to it. In addition, mirror tiles visually expand the boundaries of space.

3D tiles

It has a multidimensional effect, giving the coating a lively look. These 3D models create the impression of volume, and also visually change the geometry of the room.

The photo shows white relief 3D tiles in waves on the wall in a small bathroom.

Tiles with drawings, patterns and ornaments

Patterned finish gives the decor interesting color transitions and forms an original and unique design of the room. Often such facing is used as accents.

The photo shows a bathroom interior with a wall covered with mosaics with Gzhel-style designs.

With decor

With the help of such elements, it is possible to significantly improve the aesthetics of the coating, and thanks to contrasting inserts, to achieve a brighter two-color design. Such decor can be various patterns, crystals, shells or glitter, which allow you to create a unique design.

Combined finishing

Due to different combinations of surfaces, it is possible to create a truly interesting interior of the room, as well as zone the space into separate areas. A special balance in the background design of the bathroom can be achieved by finishing half of the wall with tiles in combination with paint.

Bathroom finishing ideas in different styles

Options for using tile cladding in popular interior styles.

Shabby chic tiles in the bathroom interior

In this direction, tiles suggest imitation of various materials with patination, unobtrusive openwork patterns or floral designs. Shabby chic is characterized by more delicate blue, pink, smoky white, lilac, beige or cream shades.

Quite often, when tiling the floor, uneven laying is used to create the effect of an aged coating.

The photo shows beige tiles in the design of a bathroom in the shabby chic style.

Also, the floor plane is lined with tiles imitating light wood species, which form the most cozy interior.

Tiles in the Provence style

Models with an abundance of plant patterns, made in faded shades, are appropriate here. For a romantic, rustic and calm Provence, choose white, blue, delicate olive, turquoise or beige color scheme. In the design of the floor, simple textured models are used that will imitate a wooden covering.

The photo shows tile cladding in the interior of a small bathroom in the Provence style.

Marine theme

In this style, pebbles, striped models, photo tiles with various thematic illustrations with marine fauna, mosaic decoration with a cold ocean range or products in blue-light blue, green or even sand colors are very effective solutions.

Classic

Classic design is characterized by the use of tile cladding with imitation marble, expensive wood or products with a design in the form of carriage coupler. The interior is distinguished by a light color palette and sometimes the presence of unobtrusive floral motifs.

Scandinavian

For a bathroom decorated in a Scandinavian style, they prefer tiles that reproduce the textures of natural materials such as wood or stone. Also in Nordic design they use white, milky and cold light tones for cladding.

Eastern

Exquisite and charming ethnic theme, suggests finishing materials with colorful, expressive patterns and oriental ornaments, which are quite an extravagant solution, undoubtedly attracting attention.

The photo shows a Moroccan-style bathroom with walls decorated with white and patterned tiles.

Modern

In the modern high-tech direction, glossy tile models, mirror models, metal products are used, which can create a different play of contrasts. The urban loft style is characterized by finishing in cold tones, having a rougher texture or imitation of leather or brick. For a bathroom designed in the minimalist style, choose a lining in one or a maximum of two colors, distinguished by simple and strict forms.

Photo of tiles in the interior of a bathroom

Quite often in the design of the bathroom there are tiles with marine motifs, plant ornaments, geometric patterns, abstraction and other fantasy designs. To create a bright and unusual interior of the room, they prefer a lining of an interesting shape with an original color scheme.

The photo shows a mirrored rectangular tile of a brown shade on the wall in the bathroom.

In the design of the children’s bathroom, there is a decoration with expressive photo printing and drawings in the form of cartoon characters or funny animals. Porcelain stoneware stylized as a safari with striped zebras and giraffes or tiles with inserts with flowers, hearts or other decor look especially original.

The photo shows a children’s bathroom, finished with multi-colored white and yellow tiles with patterns.

Examples of finishing a combined bathroom

Here, using tiles of different colors, patterns or textures, it is possible to achieve visual zoning of the combined space into separate functional areas.

The photo shows tiles in the design of a combined bathroom.

If this room is small, you should not use too small tile fragments in it, and in a spacious bathroom, on the contrary, you can easily use mosaics, which can form a truly unique design