Oftentimes, you can't really control the size of the bathroom that you're working with. Therefore, the next best thing would be to play around with the interior design to achieve your desired results. Today we'll cover small bathroom shower tile ideas that will make your bathroom look bigger and brighter.
Some of the tips we'll cover include playing around with reflective finishes, light-colored tiles, one-tone schemes, and more. We'll also see how you can use various tile shapes, tile layouts, and tile textures to achieve your desired result.
Let's jump into the small bathroom tower tile ideas without further ado.
Best Small Bathroom Shower Tile Ideas
1. Create the Illusion of Space
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How can you do this? By using large format shower tiles, a textured look, and large mirrors. By choosing large format tiles, you'll have fewer joints between the shower tiles, making the space look bigger and more 'flowy.'
The large-format tiles also make your bathroom look cleaner. Heavily patterned tiles and smaller tiles can make your space look busy and smaller than they even are. You can play around with the color of the tiles till you get what you want.
The advantage of large mirrors is that they increase the light in your bathroom. This can either be natural light or some artificial light. Do you think this tip helped you?
2. Tile the Bathroom Floor Instead
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Who said that tiles only have to go to the wall? No one. So, instead of having feature walls, consider playing around with the bathroom floor tiles. A patterned tile on your floor can keep the focus downward instead of up.
This can make your bathroom seem bigger, especially when you have low ceilings. You can choose a floor tile that matches the rest of your decor and theme.
3. Use All-Over Color and Bold-Patterned Tiles
If you love over-the-top colors and patterns that would normally not be acceptable in other rooms of the house, here's your chance to shine. The good or great thing about bathrooms is that you can experiment with bold colors whether you have a tiny bathroom or not.
However, if you choose to go this route, you'll need to ensure that the bathroom lighting is sufficient and even layered. For example, you can combine lighting from a wall light and a ceiling spotlight.
4. Use Various Tile Shapes and Sizes
As we mentioned above, you can get away with grand decor ideas when dealing with your bathroom tiles. Using different tile shapes will allow you to experiment as much as you like. For example, you can use larger tiles on the shower wall and smaller tiles on the other surfaces.
This will give your shower and bathroom a textured look. You can also use lots of white tiles to make your shower space feel airy.
5. Put Modern-Shaped Tiles on Shower Walls
If you're going for a bold look that will catch people's eye, consider going for a tile shape that has both horizontal and verticle lines. These lines can help make your bathroom look taller and wider simultaneously.
6. Add Some Shimmer and Shine with Mosaics
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Who doesn't love a bit of mosaic in their decor? If this is your cup of tea, consider using this cost-effective design in your small bathroom. The good thing about mosaics is that they are waterproof.
Therefore, you don't have to worry so much about maintenance or using special treatments to preserve your tiles.
7. Use Marble to Reflect Light
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You don't expensive items to create a luxurious look and feel in your bathroom. Whether you choose to go with marble hexagonal tiles or just regular marble tiles, you'll feel luxurious.
Consider using the same tiles on the walls and floors for a continuous look. Pale-colored tiles in your small bathroom will make your space look bigger thanks to their light-reflecting nature. You can also use large format porcelain tiles if you prefer.
8. Apply All-Encompassing Wall Tiles for Narrow Bathrooms
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Here's another trick for a luxurious look. If you have a narrow bathroom. Completely tile the walls with tiles that will allow light to bounce off them. You can also choose pale-colored tiles for the floor and ceiling to create contrast.
Choosing modern and sleek fixtures and fittings will help enhance this look to the max.
9. Use Subway Tiles for A Clean Feel
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Using a white subway tile for your bathroom may seem outdated, but it is actually a timeless design. You can choose to match your shower walls with the rest of the bathroom if you want to.
10. Consider Vertical Rectangular Tiles
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You can use rectangular tiles to correct any shortcomings in your space. For example, if you have a narrow bathroom, use long, wide rectangular tiles fixed horizontally. This will make your bathroom seem wider.
If the ceiling is too long, consider using rectangular tiles laid vertically.
11. Incorporate Jet Black Tiles
If you want to be a bit dramatic, consider using jet black tiles in your tile design. You can also choose to get really light and bright tiles in contrast.
This choice of bold colors will make your shower look more dramatic instead of small and boring.
12. Play Around with Inky Blue Tiles
Inky blue tiles can also be as dramatic as black tiles. In fact, you can also choose to have these inky blue tiles only within the shower walls. The rest of the bathroom walls can have a different kind of tile.
This will highlight your shower and make the design even more dramatic.
13. Consider A Herringbone layout
Just like the inky blue tiles and jet black tiles, having a different and unique tile-laying technique will make things more interesting. This is because this design draws the eye in and makes you forget that you're in a small bathroom.
If you can get tiles with a shimmering finish, the better. This is because they will help bounce and reflect light. You can then decide to have a marble floor for some contrast.
14. Use Eye-Catching Stripes
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This is another eye-catching design that will make your bathroom look bigger. This design will also add some personality to your design and make the bathroom more fun and appealing to be in.
This design is simple and budget-friendly. You can also play around with the colors depending on the rest of the decor or the users of the bathroom.
15. Go with Black and White
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When in doubt, you can go with black and white. The best thing about black and white tiles is that you can go as creative as you want. You don't have to go as fancy as the image above but you can play around with various ideas.
How Can You Make Your Small Bathroom Look Bigger?
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We've looked at some amazing small bathroom shower tile ideas that will get your bathroom popping. Now, let's look at some neat tricks to use to make your entire bathroom appear bigger.
The feel of a bigger bathroom can make the entire experience different.
Let's dive in.
1. Incorporate Lots of Natural Light
You can hardly go wrong with natural light. In fact, when dealing with a small bathroom, natural light can come in very handy in making your space look bigger and airier.
If you can include a skylight in your design, the better. A translucent window shade will allow the light in while still protecting your privacy.
2. Use Open Shelves Instead
Open shelving will create depth and make your bathroom walls look like they are further back than they actually are. Therefore, you can replace your existing shelving unit with some beautiful open shelves during your next bathroom makeover.
3. Get Rid of Clutter
Although this is not a typical interior design tip, it can make a huge difference. So, what do we mean by clutter? We're talking about all those products that you have on display but don't use often.
For example, extra deep conditioners, body washes, and so on. You can place these somewhere else and only leave the essential things on the counters and shelves. This will make the space look neater, bigger, and make it more functional.
4. Choose Big Mirrors
Mirrors and more light go hand in hand. Having huge mirrors hanging from your bathroom walls can make the space look bigger. This is because they can act as a kind of source of light. The mirrors will also make your bathroom look less compact.
Therefore, although you may have your main mirror above your sink, consider getting another one or other ones to hang ot get fixed on your walls.
5. Strategically Place Your Mirrors
Getting the mirrors is one thing. Ensuring that they get placed in a good place is another. Of course, the best thing is to have your mirrors reflect a light source. This can be natural light from a window or a lamp.
If you can't reflect a light source, consider reflecting something nice like a beautiful ornament hanging on the wall or a vase filled with beautifully enchanting flowers.
6. Build Shelves into Walls
If you can do this, you have the luxury of extra space and a unique design. Building shelves into walls is also practical. You won't have anything protruding from the walls as well as having a larger bathroom.
7. Create Lines to Draw the Eye
If you have a clear wall that doesn't have a window, you can create a horizontal line using a shelf. This will create the amazing illusion of extra space and make your bathroom look bigger.
This is because you'll be drawing the viewer's eye to the widest point in the bathroom.
8. Use Horizontal Floor Tiles
If you're working with a narrow bathroom and want to visually widen it, use horizontal floor tiles to push the walls aside.
This can make the place seem like it has more width than it actually has.
9. Keep A Unified Look
This means painting your ceiling the same color as your walls. This can give the impression of a continuous look and maintain a seamless appearance.
If you don't like this idea, you can decide to use a lighter color for the ceiling. This is because ceilings typically tend to look darker than the walls because the light is sometimes not reflected there.
Therefore, choosing a lighter shade will help combat that and make your space seem bigger.
10. Use A Pedestal Basin
In addition to adding a modern feel to your bathroom, a pedestal basic will create more floor space. This is because it has a narrow size and is perfect for a small bathroom.
Ensure that you talk to your plumber about what you need to change to make this happen.
11. Combine Bath and Shower
Do you want to save space? Combining your shower and bath can be of great help. If you currently have a separate shower cubicle and it feels like it's occupying a lot of space, consider combining the shower with the bath.
You'll still have your bath and shower, except that they'll be in one place.
12. Use Suspended Fixtures
Hanging things from your bathroom walls instead of connecting them to your floor can save on space. Some of these fixtures include cabinets and bathroom vanities.
You can even choose to attach the toilet to create an unbroken line of flooring. This type of design can even make it easier to navigate your bathroom.
Now that we've looked at some amazing tile options and how to enlarge your small bathroom, let's look at how you can maintain your tiles.
How Can You Maintain Small Bathroom Shower Tiles?
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Here are some great tips when cleaning your shower tiles to ensure that they last longer.
Let's get started.
1. Clean A Little Everyday
The thought of deep cleaning your small bathroom every other day can seem daunting and cause you to not clean at all. Therefore, doing some daily small cleaning tasks can help keep your bathroom in tip-top shape.
For example, you could wipe your counter one day and clean the floor tiles the next. Therefore, when it comes to the day that you're doing some deep cleaning, you won't be overwhelmed. Instead, you could focus on one wall today and the other the next.
AS with everything else in life, the beginning can be hard. But, you just have to push through it, and you'll notice that things are much simpler after two weeks or so.
2. Vacuum the Tiles
Whether you're dealing with wall tiles or floor tiles, you can't always get all the dirt and debris out using a mop or towel. Therefore, using your vacuum cleaner every once in a while to collect the hidden debris can be a good thing.
3. Preheat the Tiles
If your tiles are prone to getting stubborn stains, preheating them before you clean them can make a difference. You can pour some hot water on them or fill your bathtub or sink with hot water so that they can heat up the surrounding areas.
This method can also make it easier to work with alkaline cleaners.
4. Work from the Top Down
Start working from the top once you've sprayed your antibacterial all over the wall tiles. This will increase your efficiency and prevent you from having to reclean some areas.
Ensure that you're spreading the cleaner evenly to avoid some parts being cleaner than others. Then, use a clean sponge or cloth to take care of the tiles.
5. Take Your Time
This means that you should spray your cleaner and start cleaning immediately. Then, let it sit for some time to allow it to do its work.
About 5 minutes should be enough to activate the cleaners. Therefore, resist the urge to clean your bathroom shower tiles when you are in a rush.
6. Use the Right Equipment
You don't want to damage your tiles. Therefore, use a soft scrub brush or a no-scratch pad to scrub the dirt away. You should also read the information on the cleaners as well to ensure that they won't harm your tiles.
Once you're done cleaning, carefully rinse the surfaces to remove all the cleaning agents.
7. Dry Completely
This especially applies to floor tiles as someone can slip and fall if water remains. You can use rags to dry the tiles once you're done.
For example, you can get red rags for the walls, blue ones for the floor, yellow ones for the sink, and green ones for the bathroom toilet. Keeping things organized can allow you to work faster.
Frequently Asked Questions About Small Bathroom Tile Ideas
1. What’s the best color for a small bathroom’s tiles?
Any color is suitable. However, light-colored tiles are better at making your small bathroom look larger and lighter. You can use dark-colored tiles if the natural lighting in your bathroom is good.
Avoid tiles with busy patterns, as they can make your small bathroom feel even smaller.
2. What size tile is best for your small shower?
Rectangular tiles measuring 4x16, 3x12, or 2x8 are generally suitable for making your small bathroom feel wider or more elongated.
If you have a narrow bathroom, consider getting rectangular tiles that are laid horizontally. Of course, the opposite will be true if you have a low ceiling.
