Tile ideas from Bathroom specialists

Some ideas and tips from our Bathroom Specialists....

Keep tiles relatively small

Unless you have a really large bathroom then keep tiles to the 4x4 inch type, unless you have a very simple room that has nice clean runs of straight walls. The reason? Not a design rule but one of practicality - its very difficult to craft large tiles in to short wall runs and you run the risk of having different grout lines and alignment issues of different runs of tiles.

Avoid tiled counters

The problem is here is over time the grout will dis-colour and start to turn black from the dirt, Although this is a cheap approach compared to more expensive manmade materials like Corian and natural approaches like marble (although it does look fantastic!) if you ant the room to continue to look new and fresh over time it's best to make the extra investment now, or just have standalone suite items and add wall shelving (if the counter is just to have storage areas)

Make sure your tiles don't match the suite

Or put better, the tiles are relatively permanent so choose your tiles (and colour) first THEN you suite colour, because the suite may come and go but you'll be stuck with the same tiles, so get the tiles right first.

Tiles aren't totally waterproof

Tiles are waterprrof on the glaced surface but remember the space where the grout sits is porous, so you will need to apply a grout seaer where exposure to regular water is high, such as splash-backs and shower cubicles.

Natural stone like granite and marble is pourous in itself so here you will have to apply a sealer across the whole tiled areas.

Careful with colours

Don't complicate the room with different tile colours. There is a tendancy to get carried away with the design of tiles and there's many new designs on the market, but keep it simple.

A single colour, or two will bring forward the suite and be far more pleasing to the eye.