How to Pick the Best Tiles for your Bathroom Reno: 7 Designer Tips

Selecting the right tiles for your bathroom can be one of the most challenging tasks when renovating your bathroom in your home, fixer-upper or rental property. Don’t get me wrong, it can be a fun thing to do but it becomes particularly challenging if your bathroom space will be shared with your partner, children or other members of the family. Everyone may want to have a say in the selection process and everyone’s taste is unique and different.

It gets even more complicated when you take a trip to the tile store, as there is usually a bunch of tiles from which to pick with endless choices of colours, patterns and designs. And, then of course, there are numerous questions flowing through your brain all at once such as:

What type of tile do I use?
Should I go with the same tile that’s in the rest of the house?
Should the wall tiles be the same as the floor ones?
Do I tile the entire walls or just certain areas of the bathroom?

So how do you pick the right tiles for your bathroom reno? Here are our 7 top designer tips for you.

1. Take a Good Look at Your Bathroom and Ask These Questions

Before you even think of choosing tiles for your bathroom, take a very good look at the space and ask yourself these 9 key questions.

Is your bathroom a small or large space?
What sort of colour tones do you like; dark or light, subtle or bold?
What type of patterns and textures do you prefer?
How do you want the space to be; light and airy with natural light flowing through?
Where exactly do you wish to tile?
Who will be using your bathroom?
Are there any areas where there is a potential slip hazard, such as showers, and if yes, do you need to get suitable non-slip tiles for these areas?
What type of style appeals to you the most, eccentric, playful, chic, traditional, modern, trendy or timeless?
What type of tiles do you like? Glossy or matt finish? Porcelain, ceramic, manmade, marble, mosaic, natural stones, vinyl etc.?

Don’t just think tile but think about all the other existing features in your bathroom or elements that you want to incorporate in your bathroom design such as the colour of your vanity, the type of lighting or faucets, the colour of the wall etc.

If applied correctly, the above questions will help you decide on the tiles that are best suited for your bathroom.

2. What’s Your Budget Looking Like?

Undeniably, budget plays a huge factor when deciding which tiles to pick for your bathroom reno. If you have the money to splurge, then by all means indulge. However, if funds are tight and you have no interest at all in breaking the bank, then you definitely want to look at the most cost-effective solutions. The best thing about a budget is that it stops you from going overboard and from reacting impulsively.

If you are upgrading your bathroom on a limited budget, then here are some pro-tips for you:

Consider using an affordable tile right throughout your bathroom for both floors and walls. This tends to give off a spa-like and clean appearance with the added benefit of being space-enhancing. You can create variation by changing the shape of the tile for example turning some diagonally while others rectangularly.
Mix and match by throwing in some accent tiles that are on the upper end of the cost scale and complement these with more affordable ones.

When doing up your budget, work in the cost of the tiles, labour, grout and thin set. Sometimes the cost of the grout can be equally as expensive as the tiles so ask the right questions before selecting your tiles and grout.

3. What’s Your “MUST HAVE” Tile?

If you are seriously thinking of renovating your bathroom, by now you would have visited a few tile stores or looked online for ideas. There are usually one or two tiles that really appeal to you and you simply can’t imagine your renovated bathroom without it. We call this your “MUST-HAVE” tile.

If you have chosen your “MUST-HAVE” tile, then let it be your guiding light and focal point. Meaning, let this be your starter tile and simply work in other tiles that will complement it well.

4. Choose a Colour Scheme and Stick to it

Selecting the right colour scheme is probably one of the most overwhelming and daunting tasks in renovating your bathroom, as there are endless possible colour combinations. The biggest recommendation we can give is for you to choose a colour scheme or palette that you are comfortable and satisfied with and once you do so, just stick with it.

The general rule of thumb is that your colour palette should be within 2-3 colours; one neutral, one rich colour and one accent. The lightest colour, typically your neutral should be used for approximately 70% of your bathroom, the second lightest for 20% and the most colourful or brightest for the remaining 10%. If you are on the conservative side, then 2 colours or even one, can also work. If you do opt for 2, consider using a 70/30 distribution of colour.

When we renovated our master bathroom, we opted for 2 colours and we were quite happy with the outcome, as not only did we create a timeless design but our tiles are easy to clean, gentle against our skin and gender-neutral (see image of our master bathroom below).

To get a feel for the colours that appeal to you the most:

Check out Google, Houzz, HGTV or Pinterest images for ideas. Create a folder on your phone for storing the colour shades that excite you the most.
Alternatively, pick up a colour chart from a paint shop and start circling the colours that you find appealing.
Mix and match tiles when you visit tile stores. Grab a mosaic tile and see how that would do against porcelain one etc.

When selecting colours, think about:

How you want to feel in the space. What sort of emotions and moods do you wish to evoke for example: energizing, uplifting, calming, relaxing etc.
The type of space you are working with. As mentioned above, light coloured tiles can be very effective in creating an airy feel if you are working with minimal space.

5. Use Different Shapes, Patterns and Textures

After you’ve chosen your colour scheme, think of how to mix and match your tiles. The same general rule of thumb applies here; i.e. choose no more than 3 different patterns, shapes or textures.

Here’s where you can become a bit adventurous by including your favourite patterns and shapes such as, mosaics, pebbles, stones or herringbones.

Aim to balance your busy patterns with more plain ones. For example, use a small statement tile such as mosaic to create a backsplash feature and then combine this with a plain or neutral tile. Using mosaic across all walls could get you in a tizzy and have your eyes spinning out of control. Alternatively, limit your patterned or textured tile to one specific area for example the floor while using plainer tiles for the walls.

Alternatively, limit your patterned or textured tile to one specific area for example the floor while using plainer tiles for the walls.

Think about how your tile will feel against your skin. For instance, when you stand to take a shower, will they be too rough against your feet. If you are thinking of a shower bench, larger pieces of tiles are more comfortable to sit on than smaller tiles.

6. Are There Any Special Needs?

If you are outfitting your bathroom for guests such as Airbnb ones, elderly loved ones or children, you will want to ensure that you use non-slippery tiles to mitigate against slip and fall incidents.

You might even want to consider using a matt finish tile on your bathroom floor instead of a gloss one to prevent slip hazards. Throwing in a hand bar is not a bad idea.

7. Maintenance & Upkeep

Think of how much time you will have available to clean your bathroom after you install your tiles. If you are busy and constantly on the go, you might want to choose a tile that’s easy to clean and a low maintenance grout on the dark side.

Porcelain and ceramic are easy to clean and care for. Natural tones and mosaics on the other hand have character but require a higher degree of care and cleaning due to their porous nature. This is why we chose a dark tile for our master bathroom floor and went light on the walls. Makes cleaning so much easier.

Let us know if you found these 7 designer tips valuable and useful by dropping us a comment below. If there are other tips that you think we can include, be sure to let us know. Don’t forget to check out a few related articles below.

Author

Monique Abbott

Hi, I ’m Monique, founder and editor-in-chief of Yes2Yolo, travel addict, lover of home makeover projects among many other passions, including creative and inspirational writing to embolden us to live our best lives. At my core, I am a creative artistic being and I believe that creativity knows no end.

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I’ve explored over 60 countries with my husband Nick. Together we’ve partnered on some truly exciting projects such as creating and running a successful Airbnb business, chairing condo boards, purchasing fixer-uppers and renovating them from scratch on our own while balancing all of this with full-time jobs and family.

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While my personal passions are travel and home décor, I am, by profession, a lawyer with over 17 years experience.