Bathroom tile ideas and trends have really been all over the map during the last several decades—anywhere from color-coordinated to Deco-themed to over-the-top luxury. And though it’s true that even the simplest white, square tiles can look good in a bathroom, we’ve seen a lot of impressive ways designers and homeowners upgrade even the tiniest powder rooms with refreshing, exciting tile work—talk about genius bathroom tile ideas. Whether you’re looking for inspiration to design a new bathroom on a budget or planning on a major renovation, we’ve rounded up a handful of our favorite bathroom tile ideas to spark that new loo look.
From white subway tiles paired with colorful grout to patterned tiles in an unexpected configuration, there’s a moment of wow in each of these Clever bathrooms.
This Funky Pink Bathroom Is in the Unlikeliest Home
Inside this meticulously restored 19th-century terrace house in Melbourne sits this curvaceous bathroom splashed with various shades of pink. Architect Thomas Mckenzie, director of the firm Winwood Mckenzie, created many of the captivating elements with nods to the home’s history. He proves the point that a modern bathroom can 100% blend into an old home, if you get the details right.
Midcentury and Tropical Vibes Meet in This Barcelona Home
Nestled in a modernist building from 1900—typical of the architecture in Barcelona—this 818-square-foot apartment had lovely details but was in need of an update. “The initial state of the project already told us a story,” says Noé Prades, the interior designer brought on to update the space. “The light, which came in through the living room, was very poetic. We knew that we wanted to create this same feeling in the rest of the apartment, and it was our objective to combine it with colors and textures.” Visually bold, the bathrooms are filled with color—blue in one (where a wicker mirror adds texture) and pink in the primary (where Noé designed two midcentury-inspired mirrors with a wall lamp by Nuura between them to highlight their curved corners). Geometric tiles adorn the walls for a dynamic, contemporary, and surprising look.
This Parisian Apartment Gets a Major Refresh While Channeling Its 1960s Roots
Left untouched for decades, this dingy apartment was reimagined by interior designer Céline Poulfort. Located in Paris’s chic seventh arrondissement, the 60-year-old building sits amid traditional Haussmann structures, providing a more industrial flair to the neighborhood. While the main areas are awash in calming colors with hints of ’60s-era inspiration, the bathroom is another story, as it received a bold transformation via a floor-to-ceiling renovation. The white tile walls were spiced up with red grout, which gives it “a more playful and graphic character,” Céline says. The green walls also give it an edge, but if the homeowners do indeed tire of the color, it can be easily changed for something more neutral.
This Black-and-White Bathroom Makeover Has Major Parisian Vibes
For homeowners Chris Aswad and his husband, Chris Pridemore, their one-bedroom Morningside Heights apartment is their little piece of Paris. Still, it was somewhat lackluster. Enter interior designer Crystal Sinclair, who brought classic and chic elements to the renovation. The owners wanted a dark bathroom with varying tiles as well as brass accents to match the rest of the home. After they swapped the layout to conceal the toilet and added a walk-in shower in lieu of a tub, the room now feels that much larger.
This Historic Pied-a-Terre Gets a Modern Twist With Joyful Pastels
Irene Astrain, director of Astrain Studio Architects, first got involved with the renovation of a one-bedroom flat in southwest London when a friend was looking for an architect to work with his godmother, a businesswoman who comes into London for her job a few days each month. The bathroom was once at the front of the flat, meaning that the door had to be open to allow any natural light into the foyer. Irene felt that moving the bathroom in the back portion of the flat would be a better lifestyle choice and offer a preferable view for visitors. There’s also some purposeful pattern play going on with the funky green geometric tile in the bathroom, which the homeowner lovingly calls the “Irene bathroom,” as she feels she never would’ve come up with the idea on her own.
