9 Small Bathroom Tile Ideas To Maximize Your Space

Struggling to make the most of your small bathroom? Whether you’re looking to redo a powder room or a snug primary bath, we have some ideas for tiles in your small bathrooms that will make the most of your space. Explore our full selection of bathroom tiles to achieve any of these designs or one of your own.

1. Make a Statement Wall

When working with a small space, it can be helpful to concentrate the focus on one wall. Designer Beth Diana Smith tiled a narrow wall with the Cell Light Gold AC floor to ceiling, which helps to highlight the sink, mirror and light fixture. The use of the tile as a half wall on the rest of the room help direct the focus and the dark purple makes the walls look more expansive.

2. Create a Shower Niche

Looking for some small bathroom shower tile ideas? Here’s one–add extra shelf space to your and create a beautiful tile moment with a shower niche. Because they take up such a small amount of real estate in the bathroom, niches are a good place to try a tile that would overwhelm the rest of the room–patterned or mosaic tile works particularly well. You can also tie your niche into a backsplash or accent wall, as is shown here with the Winter Morning Athens mosaic.

3. Tile the Tub

If you’re working with limited space, you can get creative about where you place your tile. The tub apron usually goes unadorned, but tiling it will the same tile as the floor or shower will make a bulky tub fade into the background. Alisa from A Glass of Bovino tiled her tub and shower in Firenze Calacatta marble, which helps make the bathing area look like one unified space.

4. Tile the Ceiling

Another great bathroom tile idea for small showers–if you’re dealing with a low shower ceiling, consider extending the tile to cover overhead. The Splendor Blanco tile used throughout this shower designed by Coco & Jack makes the small space feel larger, and the vertical stack creates the illusion of height.

5. Use Large-Format Tile

It can be difficult to know how to tackle your small bathroom floor, but here’s tile idea that will create the illusion of space. Large-format tiles require fewer grout lines, which can make a small space feel larger. The Annie Selke Crosshatch Pewter tiles used in this bathroom, designed by Jamie and Morgan Molitor from construction2style create the illusion that this bathroom has a larger footprint.

6. Go All-Out With Marble

This guest bathroom designed by Nikki Chu proves that your space doesn’t need to be large to be luxurious. We love how she drenched this guest bath in floor-to-ceiling Ashford Carrara. The gorgeous veining in the marble gives this room a sense of depth and movement. The Ashford Carrara, like many of our marble collections, comes in a selection of tiles including trim, so that you can give your space a designed, cohesive look.

7. Use a Dark Floor Tile

You can’t get much smaller than this powder room designed by Kelly Collier-Clark at Plot Twist Design. We love the wallpaper she chose and how she extended it onto the ceiling, but the Black Marquina marble floor tile takes this bathroom to the next level. The polished tile is slightly reflective, adding extra depth and illumination to the small space.

8. Go for a Vintage Look

If your bathroom is left over from the last century, consider embracing its vintage charm. This bathroom, designed by Kim and Scott of Yellow Brick Home, maintains the classic pink sink and chrome fixtures but gives the tile a period-appropriate update with white subway tile and black pencil trim. The Hampton Niles marble mosaic floor tile has a black and white basketweave, a slightly modern twist on a classic design.

9. Embrace Color and Pattern

There’s no reason you can’t go bold in a small space. Choose a color theme and go all out, as Courtney and Aaron of Zig & Co. did for this bright and bold green and blue bathroom. The simple color scheme allows for a wealth of visual elements in this room, but the patterns work with each other rather than compete. We love how the Laura Ashley Mr. Jones Midnight floor tile complements the bold floral wallpaper.

Want even more ideas? Visit our Bathroom Tile Ideas page, explore tons of unique tile combinations in real spaces with our Tile Visualizer, or schedule a free design consultation with our tile experts to get a jumpstart on your next project. Whether you’re looking for small bathroom ideas on a budget, or you’re ready to overhaul your powder room in marble, our friendly experts will help you get the most our of your small space.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hi! I'm Eimile, Marketing copywriter. What I love about working at The Tile Shop is getting to see all the new design trends. I especially love bright, bold colors and retro designs. When I'm not writing copy, I'm usually reading a novel or taking a walk around my Minneapolis neighborhood.

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