Choosing tiles for your bathroom is quite a different task from choosing them for other areas of your home. The tiles are there primarily to keep water off your walls, so they need to be up to the job. You need to pick non-porous tiles that won’t absorb moisture and stain. Even the areas that aren’t in direct contact with water will be susceptible to moisture in the air and water splashes. Of course, as well as being functional, tiles can also look beautiful.
The choice of tiles in a bathroom can make a huge difference to how the room feels. White bathroom tiles will make a room feel light and airy but they may also make it feel too clinical for your liking. Stone tiles will give a cosy cave-like atmosphere, but in a small room this may feel too claustrophobic and enclosed. If you can, try and get a look at a bathroom that is a similar size to yours, which has been tiled in the style you’re keen on, so you can see what it is like in reality. If this isn’t possible then search online for photos of other people’s bathroom tiling projects.
You also need to decide how much of your bathroom you are going to tile, perhaps you will just tile around the wet areas, bath and sink. Perhaps you will tile half the wall, maybe adding a row of border tiles along the top to give the look of a dado rail, or perhaps you are creating a wet room and will tile the entire room. You may even want to tile the floor and perhaps the ceiling in the same tiles to match. Don’t forget to bear in mind though, the larger the area you tile, the more it will cost you, but if you are going to do the labour yourself, you can get some very reasonably priced tiles that look great, so if you look around a little you should be able to find a tile that suits your needs and is within your budget. Also remember, that any area you paint or wallpaper, will likely need replacing well before the tiles do, so if you’re not keen on DIY, then the more tiles you have the better!
People often add a personal touch with feature tiles in a kitchen, but this is less common in a bathroom. There’s no reason why you can’t add some personal style though, you could choose different coloured tiles for around the very top of the walls, you could add some coloured tiles into a predominantly white bathroom, or even add some mirror tiles as an interesting alternative to a wall mounted mirror.
Natural stone tiles are becoming very popular in bathrooms. They are more expensive than standard ceramic tiles, but a bathroom done in natural stone can often add more value to your home so you can think of it as an investment of sorts! Natural stone is a porous material, so you will have a bit of extra work involved with sealing them, to stop moisture getting in and staining the tiles. Once done though, you’re not likely to ever need to reseal them.
A general rule of thumb is to choose small tiles for a small bathroom and large tiles for a large bathroom. Small tiles can be easier if there isn’t a lot of space between and around the sink and toilet, as it’ll mean less cutting. However this isn’t a hard and fast rule, and I have seen some great small bathrooms done with large tiles, and also some beautiful large bathrooms tiled with miniature mosaic tiles, so if you’ve got an eye for design, don’t be scared to go against convention!
These days there are more different tile designs, colours and textures than ever. You can get some really beautiful designer tiles that will give your bathroom a designer look. Sometimes investing in more expensive tiles can make a bathroom look more luxurious and expensive, even if the suite is relatively cheap.
When you’re thinking about the tiles for your bathroom, remember to think not just about colour and size, but also about texture. There are so many great textured tiles; you can make your tiles attractive to touch as well as to look at. You should also bear this in mind if you’re planning on tiling your floor with the same tiles you’re using for the walls, as too glossy a finish could be slippery and dangerous when wet.
These days you can get tile grout in many different colours, so you can pick a contrasting colour, or one that matches closely and blends in, making the walls feel more like one continuous area than a series of starkly outlined squares.
A perfectly tiled wall with crisp clean lines is perfect in a bathroom, giving an immediate sense of cleanliness and hygiene. They’re easy to clean and don’t harbour germs, and when you’ve cleaned your bathroom and stood back to take a look, gleaming tiles really do make all the difference to the overall effect. As you will probably not be retiling for quite some time, possibly many years, it’s important not only to make the right choice of tiles, but also to make sure they are properly fitted. It is a job you can do yourself, you don’t need any special skills or a lot of expensive equipment, so if you have the time and the inclination you can do your own tiling. The most important thing is to get them aligned straight and keep the gaps even, as it’s these things that will annoy you the most if you get it wrong! You’ll find a lot of information online about how to get this right and other tiling tips, so do some research first so you know just what you’re doing. If you’re still not feeling confident about doing it yourself then call in a professional tiler for a perfect job.
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