Small bathroom tile ideas

When it comes to bathroom interiors, we’ve all seen the Pinterest worthy, dream bathrooms; with the extravagant free-standing bathtubs, high ceilings and his and her sinks. But when we come back to reality, for most of us, our bathrooms can be much smaller than those we see in the movies and on inspiration pages online.

With some planning, consideration and the right choice of bathroom tiles, you can still create a grand look in your smaller bathroom. We’ve put some of our tips and small bathroom ideas below, to help you make the best us of your space.

The Minimalist Approach

Architecturally and visually, a minimalist design is hugely popular in making spaces feel open. By not crowding too many things into a small bathroom, you can really create a bigger sense of space.

Sticking to an all-white or light colour scheme, can make even the most compact of bathrooms appear bigger. Not only that, they also feel super fresh and clean too, creating a really modern and fashionable feel.

White glossy wall tiles like our Smart White collection work perfectly in achieving a minimalistic style.

Paired with fluffy towels, you can still create a soft and welcoming atmosphere, as glossy tiles can often get quite cool.

Top Tips

• Keep accessories to a minimum, hang any towels and robes on pegs or rails and keep everything simple
• Go light with grout for an extra-airy feel. There are so many colour options of our Mapei Keracolour Grout but obviously the choice is yours, so take a look at all of your options here.

Create an Illusion

You don’t need magic to create the illusion of space; you can simply trick the eye with some clever use of tiles.

The size of your bathroom and what your eye perceives as the size of your bathroom, aren’t necessarily the same thing. By using some tile tricks, you can create the illusion of a bigger bathroom.

Experiment with the boundaries within your bathroom. By using the same tiles along the side of the bath as the wall behind it, it’s harder for the eye to decipher where each begins and ends; therefore making the space feel a lot bigger.

Marble tiles are a great choice to use here, as the unique patterns add to the illusion of open space, as the distinction between individual tiles isn’t very obvious. Take a look at our luxurious Medici tiles that are suitable for use on walls and floors; with a matt or polished finish for an extra grand feel.

Top Tips

• If a big bath is on your wishlist after browsing on Pinterest for inspiration, opt for an oval shaped bathtub. This will add to the illusion of a more spacious bathroom.
• If you are tiling an entire small bathroom, opt for bigger tiles and leave bigger gaps between them for grout. This also adds to the feeling of spaciousness within the room. Be sure however, to calculate as accurately as possible how much you need of the tiles, to avoid lots of cut-off waste; you can use our tile calculators on the page of your preferred tile.

Make A Statement

If the minimalistic styles are not for you, making a statement can still look fantastic in a smaller bathroom without completely overwhelming the room.

Dare to experiment with unusual or patterned tiles, these are really popular currently to really add a touch of grandeur and create a truly unique space. They are a great way to turn a small area into something worth talking about and can easily become a favourite feature within a whole house.

Find a specific feature area to place your patterned tiles. Make a feature of your floor and match to other key areas of the room, like the sink splashback in the above image, using our gorgeous Formentera Petal Grey tiles. Smaller sized tiles look great used specifically in key areas; behind the sink or toilet, or inside the shower walls. Restricting the patterned tiles to designated areas reduces the risk of a smaller bathroom looking too ‘busy’ and overcrowded with patterns.

Alternatively, create a feature wall with one wall of block colour, pattern or using an usually shaped tile like our Picket Collection of hexagonal shaped tiles to really add some intrigue. Add some shelving or framed quotes to make a unique accent wall within the room, that shows off both your personal style and the great use of space.

Top Tips

• Combining the use of traditional and nontraditional shaped tiles; for example hexagonal and Metro tiles, look unusual and add interest to a room quite effortlessly.

Don't underestimate the power of texture

Think carefully about the type of tile finish that will lend itself to creating a grand feel within your bathroom.

Matt or gloss? Gloss tiles are super reflective, which are fantastic in smaller spaces to add depth and the feeling of airiness. The reflection of light from glossy tiles can really help to keep the feeling of spaciousness in a room if you are opting for darker colours.

On the other hand, matt tiles can also look great in small bathrooms; natural stone tiles can really add definition with the texture and marbling effects. It really depends on your personal style and preference when looking at your options, but it’s certainly worth thinking about.

Glass or mirrored effect tiles can also help to really open up a smaller sized bathroom by reflecting light around the space available and creating the impression of space.

Be clever about using glass - a walk-in shower with full glass panels looks barely there, and really helps to open up the room.

Top Tips

• Use marble and natural stone as they are naturally quite glossy; perfect for opening up smaller spaces, whilst also creating a grand and luxurious feel within a room. A really popular choice within bathrooms is Stone, as it’s great for use on both walls and floors. See our full range of natural stone and marble bathroom tiles here.
• Be clever when using glass; a shower with full glass panels hardly looks like it’s there and can really help to make a small bathroom look both luxurious and spacious.

Where to start with planning?

Making the most of a smaller bathroom can be a daunting project to start, but there's no reason why you can’t achieve a grand look or need to compromise on style. With all of the above ideas, you’ll be full of inspiration, but may be lacking a plan.

A good place to start is to think about the essentials and must-have items that are important for you to have in the room; whether that’s a bath, shower, storage or accessories.

Map out your room (preferably on a scale plan) and place those items into the plan. Make sure that there is enough space around these essential items, to allow for moving around the room. This will give you a good starting point and help to visualise the end goal of creating a grand look in a smaller sized bathroom and show you exactly what you’ll be working with.

We really hope you found our tile  small bathrooms ideas useful/ We would love to see the projects you’re currently working on or have recently completed, especially if you’ve really made the most of your small bathroom area with our tips.

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