From feature walls to terrazzo floors, plus a look at the biggest bathroom tiling trends of the year.
When designing a bathroom, there is only a certain amount of excitement you can get from picking a basin or a shower cubicle. The real fun is in picking the tones, textures and patterns in your bathroom tiles. And, while white tiles will always be the classic option (and there are plenty of white bathroom tile ideas in our roundup), there is a whole world of colourful, patterned, painted, and otherwise striking bathroom tiles to choose from. Bathroom Cord Organizer
Selecting your bathroom tiles can be a bit of a balancing act between practical considerations – how well they clean, how resistant they are to wear and tear – and design decisions around colour, style, shape and placement.
We look at some clever tiling ideas, from handpainted tiles for elegant feature walls, to large-scale terrazzo tiles and tiny iridescent mosaics, and also consider some big tiling trends – the rise of the wet room, the best faux marble, and return of the kit kat tile, to name just a few.
We've scoured the best tile showrooms and retailers to find 22 of the best bathroom tile ideas...
Here's a wonderful example of using tiles in a small but effective way. This is where you can really splurge on something you love. The black tap sitting flush is a nice detail – and this is a case too for not always centralising your sink.
Pictured: Alalpardo porcelain tiles at Bert & May
This fabulous bathroom is about mixing from top to bottom – geometric Art Deco-style wallpaper, with organic marble-effect tiles, and dressed with a combination of rounded features and strict clean lines. Note the large format tile that is really key in making a marble effect look more realistic.
Pictured: Ruscello Gold Gloss Marble Effect Tiles at Walls and Floors
These Original Style tiles are handpainted with a kaleidoscopic pattern that would look striking on a large feature wall. Lilac is not the most commonly used bathroom colour, but it works beautifully with clean whites, light woods and greenery. These tiles are slightly antiqued too for a vintage feel that complements the classic roll top bath.
Pictured: Bohemia Penelope Tiles at Original Style
Picking up your feature tiles on a smaller scale around your bathroom is a really simple way to create a bit of cohesion. This is such a clever little corner too that maximises space with a compact floating sink/storage unit and miniaturised mirror and wall lights.
Read more: 15 small bathroom ideas to maximise your space
A traditional terrazzo pattern is very dense, and does wonderfully in large spaces. But, if you're looking to tile a small bathroom or highlight a small feature like a walk-in shower, a larger format terrazzo will feel more expansive and let a bit more white space show through. Notably, the colours in the terrazzo are picked up in the rest of the bathroom – a lovely bit of attention to detail.
Pictured: Cosmic Ivory Porcelain Tiles at Mandarin Stone
Kit kat tiles are one of the biggest bathroom design trends this year. 'While kit kat tiles are striking, the subtle colourways that are typically available in this format allows for them to become a feature, without being overpowering,' says Grazzie Wilson, creative lead at Ca’ Pietra. 'They add depth and texture to a bathroom and they don’t compete with other patterns or prints.'
Pictured: House Beautiful Aurelia Cotton Ceramic Wall Tile at Homebase
'From marble-effect to onyx-effect, this season wonderful stone-effect patterns make their mark in the world of tiles. As stone-effect tiles typically come in materials including porcelain and ceramic, it makes them more affordable than the real deal,' says Grazzie at Ca’ Pietra.
We love the sophisticated deep blue used here to offset the monochrome tiles.
Pictured: Deluxe Panda Gloss Marble Effect Tiles at Walls and Floors
Another way to bring the outdoors in, these large wall tiles from Original Style are printed with pretty depictions of flourishing hedgerows in soft pink hues. We love the matching painted bathtub and deep green walls providing a great backdrop to let the tiles stand out.
Pictured: Living Wildflower Rose Tiles at Original Style
If you want to create a dark and sophisticated bathroom, try this unexpected pairing of rich chocolate tiles with black bathroom furniture. The high gloss glaze on the tiles makes for a nice contrast to the matt black washbowl.
Pictured: House Beautiful Aurelia Liquorice Ceramic Wall Tile, and House Beautiful Ceramic Washbowl in Matt Black, both at Homebase
This bathroom celebrates biophilic design, which is centred around the need for connection to nature. Introducing shades of green is a simple way to implement biophilic principles into your bathroom – here the green wall tiles and an expanse of green terrazzo makes this bathroom feel like a lush hideaway. Some carefully selected accessories, like the hanging plant and tree trunk stool add to the effect.
Pictured: Atro™ White Tile at Topps Tiles
These marble-effect tiles create a brilliant backdrop and zoning device for a double sink area. We love the heavy slabs of wood that sit seamlessly against them for a lovely mixed material moment.
These fabulous tiles feature a distressed damask pattern over an antiqued metallic base – an effect which is reminiscent of decadent Art Deco styles. The theme is built upon here, with smoked glass pendant lights and brushed brass.
Pictured: Damask Gold Tiles at Original Style
This tiled bathroom floor from Baked Tiles packs double the design punch – laid in a modern zigzag pattern, with an unusual and saturated colour clash. This is a real feature floor, and would do well in an otherwise pared-back bathroom.
Pictured: Marrakesh Brick Mint Gloss Tiles at Baked Tiles
Here's a masterclass in layering tiles and textures from Mandarin Stone: the glossiest bottle green kit kat tiles mix with dark marble and a light terrazzo floor – it's luxurious and decadent without frills. The bathroom is a great place to experiment with bolder design choices.
Pictured: Hoxton Bottle Green Gloss Porcelain Tiles at Mandarin Stone
One of our favourites on the list, this small bathroom corner has so many elegant design elements – the smoky rose pink walls, heavily-veined marble splashback and a great use of mirrored surfaces. The dark wood elements are a really nice touch too, reminiscent of a retro powder room.
It's not always about metro tiles. Fish-scale tiles are used to create clever lapping waves in this striking bathroom. The vibrant glazed blue colour would be doubly impactful in a small bathroom or downstairs loo where you can see its cracked and shimmering surface close up. Pictured: Drops Persian Blue Tiles at Porcelain Superstore
Little mosaic tiles like these Nantlee Valley Mosaics from Walls and Floors are the best choice if you're after a lot of texture on your bathroom walls. Each tiny tile varies in hue and surface composition to form a busy and characterful feature wall. And they're considerably easier to keep smear-free than plain tiles.
Pictured: Nantlle Valley Urban Grey Stone Effect Mosaic Tiles at Walls and Floors
A classic bathroom colour combination that will never steer you wrong. We love the modern zigzag pattern created with these Country Living Artisan wall tiles at Homebase, grounded by the subtle marble-effect floor.
Pictured: Country Living Artisan Peony Blush Ceramic Wall Tile at Homebase
There's such a clever use of tiling here, creating a backdrop for a stylish sink and to form useful shelving to display those more attractive bathroom essentials. Green evokes a natural sense of harmony and peace, especially in delicate hues like this mint green, making it perfect for a little bathroom sanctuary.
Pictured: Village Mint Wall Tiles at Tile Mountain
The liquorice allsorts of colour combinations, a dense, charcoal black does a great job of making pink tiles stand out, and we love the choice of black grouting here to multiply the effect. Keep decoration to a minimum here – this is most effective when stripped back.
Pictured: Marais Rose Tiles at Porcelain Superstore
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