Bathroom Tile Ideas: Floors, Walls, Showers and Accent Walls

The short answer: good bathroom tile ideas match each tile to its surface, a floor tile listed for floors, a wall tile for walls and a shower tile listed for showers, then tie the room together with one material, color or shape. A floor, a wall, a shower and a powder room accent wall each ask something different of a tile: a floor is walked on, a shower wall stays wet, an accent wall is mostly looked at. This guide goes surface by surface first, then by material, size, color and pattern, with ten tiles and one complete limestone plan.

Everything below comes from our bathroom tiles collection. If you already know the material you want, the shortcuts are porcelain bathroom tile, marble bathroom tiles and ceramic tiles for bathrooms.

Bathroom tile ideas at a glance

Surface	Tile in this guide	Finish	Listed for
Main floor	Paris limestone 24x24	Honed	Floors, walls, shower walls
Main floor	Calacatta T hexagon	Honed	Floors, walls, shower floors and walls
Main floor	Soft Matte terrazzo 8x8	Matte	Floors, walls, shower walls
Walls	Blanc subway 4x12	Glossy	Walls, shower walls, backsplash
Walls	Fusion Grigio 2 1/2x10	Polished	Floors, walls, shower walls
Walls	Milano Ribbo fluted 12x24	Honed	Walls, backsplash
Shower walls	Carrara Blanco porcelain 12x24	Natural (matte)	Floors, walls, shower walls
Shower floor	Chiaro travertine 2x2	Tumbled	Floors, walls, shower floors and walls
Accent wall	Delicate Beige basketweave	Polished	Floors, walls, shower floors and walls
Accent wall	Belgium Blue limestone 8x16	Brushed, chiseled edge	Floors, walls, shower walls

Bathroom floor tile ideas

The floor is the largest single surface in a bathroom, and its tile sets the base color for the room. A large tile gives a floor with few lines between tiles; a small mosaic gives a floor covered in pattern. Our full guide to bathroom floor tile ideas goes through more formats, from planks to patterned porcelain.

1. A large limestone floor

Paris limestone is a pale cream stone with very little movement, and the honed face is matte. At 24 by 24 inches, a small bathroom floor needs only a handful of tiles, so the floor has only a few lines between tiles. The same stone comes in a 3x12 subway, a 12x24 and a 2x2 mosaic, which is how the plan at the end of this guide uses it on every surface. More pale stone floors are in our limestone bathroom tiles.

2. A marble hexagon floor

Calacatta T is a bright white marble with faint gray clouding, cut into 2 inch hexagons on a 10 3/8 by 12 inch sheet and honed to a matte face. On a floor, the small hexagons give the room pattern while the white stone keeps it light. The photo shows it on a wall; it is listed for floors and shower floors too. The shape has its own collection, hexagon bathroom tiles, in white, gray, black and color.

3. Terrazzo

Terrazzo is made of stone chips set in a binder and ground flat. Soft Matte has a pale pink ground with fine gray and white chips and a matte face, in an 8 inch square. The chips show as texture from a distance and as detail up close, and the soft color keeps a small room light. The photo shows it on bathroom walls, and it is listed for floors and shower walls as well. Gray and white versions are in terrazzo bathroom tiles.

Bathroom wall tile ideas

Wall tile is seen at eye level, so the shape of each piece and the way light hits the glaze show more on a wall than on a floor. Walls also allow tiles that are not listed for floors, which widens the choice. The full range, including half-tiled and full-height walls, is in our guide to bathroom wall tile ideas.

4. Glossy white subway

A 4 by 12 inch white ceramic subway is the plainest wall in this guide. The glossy glaze reflects light around a small room, and the long shape can run in a brick pattern, stacked, vertically or in a herringbone. It is listed for walls, shower walls and backsplashes. White field tiles in every material are in white bathroom tiles.

5. Zellige-look porcelain

Zellige is handmade Moroccan clay tile with an uneven, glassy surface. Fusion Grigio is porcelain made to look like it: a 2 1/2 by 10 inch gray piece with shifting tone and a polished face. The variation from piece to piece gives the wall a handmade look, and the porcelain body is listed for floors and shower walls as well. Glazed handmade tiles and their porcelain lookalikes are in zellige bathroom tiles.

6. Fluted marble

Fluted tile has rounded ribs running down its face. Milano Ribbo is Carrara marble, white with soft gray veins, cut into ribs on a 12 by 24 inch piece with a honed finish. The ribs catch light from the side and add depth to a vanity wall without a second color. The maker lists it for interior walls and backsplashes. More ribbed and fluted tiles are in our fluted tile collection.

Shower tile ideas

A shower has two surfaces with different listings: shower walls and shower floors. Not every bathroom tile is listed for showers, so the product page is the place to confirm it. Our shower tiles collection holds tiles listed for that use, and the shower wall tile ideas and shower floor tile ideas guides go further.

7. Marble-look porcelain on the shower walls

Carrara Blanco is porcelain printed with the white ground and gray veining of Carrara marble, in a 12 by 24 inch format with a natural matte face. It is listed for floors, walls and shower walls, so the marble look can cover the shower and the floor in one tile. More options are in our guide to porcelain bathroom tile.

8. A travertine mosaic shower floor

Chiaro is a light beige travertine, tumbled so the edges are rounded and the face is matte. The 2 by 2 inch squares come on a 12 by 12 inch sheet, and the stone is listed for shower floors and walls. More are in our shower floor tiles. For marble in the shower, our marble shower ideas show slab walls, mosaic floors and niche accents, and the marble tile shower collection holds marble listed for showers.

Accent walls and powder rooms

A powder room has no shower and little splash, so a tile listed for walls alone can cover it. An accent wall in a full bathroom works the same way: one wall, behind the vanity or the tub, in a tile that would be too strong on every surface. Our powder room tile collection gathers patterned mosaics and dark stone for that one wall.

9. A patterned mosaic

Delicate Beige is a polished marble basketweave on a 12 by 12 inch sheet: pale beige rectangles woven around small darker squares. Behind a vanity or a mirror, it covers one wall in pattern and keeps the room in soft, warm neutrals. For other patterns, our mosaic bathroom tiles run from white marble basketweave to colored glass, and the mosaic bathroom tile guide sorts them by pattern.

10. A dark stone wall

Belgium Blue is a near-black limestone with a brushed face and chiseled edges, so each 8 by 16 inch tile has a rough outline and a soft sheen. On one wall it gives a powder room depth, and against white fixtures the contrast is strong. Dark tiles in other materials are in our black bathroom tiles.

Bathroom tile by material

Each material brings a different surface and a different range of looks. The table compares them by the finishes of the tiles in this guide and links each collection.

Material	What it is	Finishes in this guide	Collection
Porcelain	Dense fired clay with water absorption of 0.5% or less, printed in marble, stone, wood and concrete looks	Natural, polished	Porcelain
Ceramic	Clay body under a glaze, in subway, picket, hexagon and square shapes	Glossy	Ceramic
Marble	Natural stone with veining, as field tile, mosaic and slab	Polished, honed	Marble
Limestone	Natural stone in cream, gray and near-black, with little veining	Honed, brushed, textured	Limestone
Travertine	Natural stone in ivory to walnut, with banding and small natural pores	Tumbled	Travertine
Terrazzo	Stone chips in a binder, ground flat	Polished	Terrazzo
Slate	Natural stone with a split, layered face in dark grays, greens and rust	Gauged, honed	Slate
Terracotta	Fired clay in reds and browns, handmade or pressed	Matte, satin, glossy	Terracotta

Bathroom tile sizes

Tile size changes how many lines cross a surface. The sizes in this guide run from small mosaic pieces to 24 inch squares:

Size	Example	Look on a surface
2x2 mosaic on a 12x12 sheet	Chiaro travertine, Paris limestone	A fine grid of small squares
3x12 and 4x12 subway	Paris limestone, Blanc ceramic	Long horizontal or vertical lines
8x16 and 16x24	Belgium Blue, Magny Louvre	Stone blocks
12x24	Carrara Blanco porcelain	Few lines, wide surfaces
24x24 and 23 5/8 in	Paris limestone	The fewest lines between tiles

Bathroom tile colors

White and gray give a neutral base for fixtures, wood and metal finishes; in this guide, Blanc subway and Paris limestone are the white options and Carrara Blanco the gray-veined one. A pattern or a dark tone on one surface works when the rest of the room stays plain: Delicate Beige basketweave patterns a powder room wall in soft beige, and Belgium Blue brings near-black. Our color collections are white, gray, black, blue, green and yellow bathroom tiles. Green has its own guide, green bathroom tile ideas, from sage ceramic to green marble. For a two-color room, see black and white tile ideas.

Bathroom tile patterns and shapes

The same tile looks different in different patterns. A subway such as Blanc can run in a brick offset, a straight stack, vertically or in a herringbone. A hexagon such as Calacatta T forms a honeycomb, a penny round forms rows of dots, and a basketweave such as Delicate Beige forms a woven grid. Shape adds interest with one color: an all-white bathroom with a white hexagon floor and white subway walls has pattern on both surfaces. Mosaics, which come with the pattern set on the sheet, are sorted in mosaic bathroom tiles, and hexagons in hexagon bathroom tiles.

One stone on every surface: a limestone plan

The plan below uses one material in four formats, in colors that stay within cream and pale gray.

Lookbook

Pale limestone bathroom

Floor

Walls

Shower walls

Accent wall

Magny Louvre on the floor, a brushed beige limestone with soft linear veins in 16 by 24 inch tiles. Paris limestone on the walls as a 3 by 12 inch subway, and the same Paris stone as a 2 by 2 inch mosaic on the shower walls. The accent wall behind the vanity is Thala, a textured 3D hexagon mosaic that adds relief without adding a color. All four are listed for floors, walls and shower walls.

For full room plans that pair tile with a vanity, sink and fixtures, see modern bathroom ideas and Japandi bathroom ideas. For walk-in showers, our walk-in shower tile ideas collect more looks.

Bathroom Tile FAQ

What finishes do bathroom tiles come in?

The tiles in this guide show the main ones. Polished stone, such as Delicate Beige, reflects light. Honed stone, such as Paris limestone, Calacatta T and Milano Ribbo, is smooth and matte. Tumbled stone, such as Chiaro travertine, has soft edges and a worn face. Brushed and chiseled limestone, such as Belgium Blue, has a textured face and rough edges. Glazed ceramic comes glossy or matte.

What is the difference between honed and polished tile?

Both are ground smooth. Polished stone is ground further until the face reflects light, which deepens the color and shows the veining clearly. Honed stone stops earlier and stays matte, so the color looks softer and the surface shows less reflection. Some stones in our collections come in both, such as the Carrara T basketweave and the Bianco Dolomiti herringbone, so the choice is about the look you want on each surface.

Which tiles in this guide are listed for shower floors?

Three of the ten cards are: Calacatta T honed marble hexagon, Delicate Beige polished marble basketweave and Chiaro tumbled travertine 2x2. The Paris limestone 2x2 mosaic in the limestone plan is listed for floors and shower walls. For more options, our shower floor tiles collection gathers tiles listed for that use, and the shower floor tile ideas guide compares them.

What is a 3D or textured tile?

A 3D tile has a face that is not flat. Thala, in the limestone plan, sets hexagons with textured and smooth faces so the wall has relief in one color. Fluted tile, such as Milano Ribbo, has rounded ribs. Brushed and chiseled finishes, such as Belgium Blue, give a flat tile a rough surface and edge. Each adds texture without a second color.

Is limestone the same as travertine?

Both are natural stones formed from calcium carbonate, but they look different. Limestone, such as Paris and Magny Louvre, has a fine, even texture with little veining. Travertine, such as Chiaro, shows banding and small natural pores, which are filled or left open depending on the finish. Both come in cream to gray tones in our collections.