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janjigian

Large tiles in a small bathroom?

13 years ago
I love the large (minimum grout lines) tile look in the bathrooms. My bathroom is relatively small, 6' by 10', in a beach house. I am thinking of using light tile 18x18'' or so both on the floor and wall. Is that going to look nice in a small space?

Comments (17)

  • PRO
    13 years ago
    Do you have any pictures of links of the tile you are thinking of using ?
  • 13 years ago
    http://houzz.com/ideabooks/6962505.
    Here is the link to the type of bathroom I am interested in.
  • 13 years ago
  • PRO
    13 years ago
    You can use floor tiles on the wall as long as they come with a bullnose tile to match. In the picture above I can't tell what they used to finish the unfinished edges of the tile. If it's a natural stone tile the edges can be bullnosed with a grinding wheel that fits on a wet saw.
  • PRO
    13 years ago
    We've done large format tiles in small baths. It helps if the tile is not too busy visually, though the last one was a fairly figured travertine (it still worked). Edges of natural stone can be bullnosed, as Norm says, or polished with a diamond disc on a mini-grinder...or cut at a 45 degree angle and set with a mitered return. Most large format tiles are either stone or porcelain. Unless there is a trim to set along the vertical edge of the shower tile, porcelain would need a mitered return.
  • 13 years ago
    Forgot to add that we ran a 14 inch or 16 inch wide row of glass tiles vertically right in the spot behind the fixtures.
  • 13 years ago
    I have no problem with larger tiles in a small bath. One bath I did is just 5 X 8 and we used 12X24 on the floor, shower and one accent wall inside the shower using 1X2 glass. It looks great and is easy to clean.
  • PRO
    13 years ago
    you can also use Schluter strips to finish the edges of the tiles. gives a very clean edge.
  • 13 years ago
    Thanks for he feedback it would be great to see some pics.
  • PRO
    13 years ago
    last modified: 13 years ago
    Short answer is "yes" Its going to look great. Light colored tiles vs dark color will keep the appearance of a larger bathroom. This bathroom is 10' x 5'9" with 18"x18" travertine tiles
  • PRO
    13 years ago
    Same bathroom with the same color tiles used on the shower walls. Tiles were cut in half. 9" x 18" with a 33% stagger
  • 13 years ago
    It will look awesome! I like what the contractor did above, and even if you don't want to cut the tiles, it still looks great. Gives you the illusion of a much larger space as well.
  • 13 years ago
    Agreed! Thanks for the encouragement! Any thoughts on rectangular vs square tile? I plan to use porcelain tile that has the feel of a natural stone from Lowes's or Home Depot. Visually I prefer the rectangular tiles. Do these come ready or have to be cut by the installer? Thx!!
  • PRO
    13 years ago
    Homeowners wanted the shower tiles to match the floor. Couldn't locate any large rectangular tiles in the flavor they wanted. I suggested cutting the tiles that were used on the floor. Had them cut in just a couple of hours. They loved the solution. I prefer the rectangular also. Both stagger pattern and grout inline pattern look nice. This one, the corners are " bookmatched". If you were to try and cut rectangular pieces from a large square piece of porcelain you'll find that the cut edge won't be as clean as a cut edge on a soft natural stone. This will be noticeable on a 1/16" to 1/8" grout joint when the grout is complete. 1/16" grout joint was used in this shower and 1/8" on the floor. Anyway, try to find a large rectangular porcelain tile
  • 13 years ago
    The rectangular tiles are readily available if you go to a tile store rather than lowes or Home Depot and they come in all price ranges. What state are you in?
  • 13 years ago
    I am in Long Island New York. Will check out Central Tile?