Penny tile or small hex tile for shower niche and laundry backsplash

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Would love your input. We're about a week from starting to remodel our ensuite bathroom and laundry room. In the bathroom, I'm going with white subway tile, matte black fixtures, wood vanity and wood-look tile floor - for the niche I'm leaning towards a white penny tile accent with the same light grey grout as the white subway tile. I'd also like to use the same tile as the backsplash in our laundry room, which will have white cabinets, charcoal slate floor tile and matte black hardware.

Question: Would it make more sense to go with a small hexagon tile or is penny tile fine? Ideally, I'd like to use the same tile for both, and can't decide on which tile to go with. I've read other posts, and it seems of many designers lean more towards hex tile over penny tile. Why is that?

Uploading a couple of inspiration photos.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Featured Answer

Beth H. :

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

it's just a matter of choice. pennies need a skilled installer to avoid in 'grid-patterns'. normallly if they offset each sheet it blurs the lines.

hex mosaics are similar, a bit more forgiving.

I hope you're going w/a larger subway tile rather than a 3x6. (less grout)

I did white subway tile and black w/mine, but used a marble mosaic. (the grout is Mapei Warm Gray) tiles are 4x12

YOu can buy nice looking containers to display in the niche.

always use a solid piece of material for the bottom shelf in the niche. grout is not waterproof.

placing the niche is just as important. do the math. layout your tiles and figure out where they will go on the wall. cut your niche so that it falls between full tiles. (see all of these examples)

the last thing you want are sliver cut tiles around your niche.

this is perfectly placed and perfectly done. You need an expert tile setter to get this degree of work.

compare those beautifully done niches to a few that are poorly done, and you'll see what I mean

this one above is just bad all around. see the sliver cut tiles on the side? the lack of symmetry? the niche itself is horrible. the cut tiles are just wrong, and they didn't use bullnose tiles for the outside edges.

this one, while nicely executed, was laid out poorly. see the cut tiles above and below?

The tiles on the sides are not symmetrical. if they would have made the niche a tad wider and taller (or shorter) they would have had full tiles.

don't expect all tile people to know how to do this. unless you're paying really good money and the guy is a well known expert, you won't get this.

Always do a dry layout w/your tile.

Always know how to start the pattern so you get symmetry on all sides and corners.

always avoid 1-2" sliver cuts anywhere in your design.

it took us hours to configure a layout (because I wanted a center herringbone) that would give us a perfect layout. almost. that one lower right corner was impossible to remedey because the pattern was an odd number and the tiles are even!

everything else came out perfectly cut.

Here's a stacked layout w/2x8 tiles? they mirrored the pattern in side the niche, so that if you 'unfolded' it and made it one dimension, all the lines would line up perfectly.

not the best looking tile, but the niche was done to a tee! perfectly lined up and symmetrical tiles. I don't believe this had been grouted when the pic was taken

anyway, I kind of went off on a tangent there.

pick the tile you like. or use the penny in one and the hex in the other. there is no rule that says you can't use both.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

PRO
HALLETT & Co.
4 years ago
Niches are a great accent area in photos- in real life the tile doesn’t matter because all you focus on is the plastic bottles of product. I would skip the accent and use subway… regardless choose for the laundry where you will actually see it. Both are tricky to install well (so many botched installs on here…) with hex maybe being slightly easier?
Janis Nixon-Phillips thanked HALLETT & Co.
Related Professionals
Plymouth Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Wilmington Bathroom Remodelers · Abilene Bathroom Remodelers · Hattiesburg Cabinets & Cabinetry · Palm Desert Cabinets & Cabinetry · Middlesboro Interior Designers & Decorators · Taunton Interior Designers & Decorators · Chico Interior Designers & Decorators · Saint Joseph Architects & Building Designers · Monroe Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Parkersburg Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Little Rock Bathroom Remodelers · Odessa Bathroom Remodelers · Pittsburgh Tile and Stone Contractors · Salinas Tile and Stone Contractors
Mrs Pete
4 years ago
I love both penny round and hex tile -- no preference between the two, BUT penny tile is hard to lay correctly -- if done poorly, it shows "lines". If you go with penny tile, make sure your installer has experience with this complicated product.

I personally don't like the subway tile flowing into the niche. No reason why it's bad -- just not to my taste.
Janis Nixon-Phillips thanked Mrs Pete
Janis Nixon-Phillips
Original Author
4 years ago
I sincerely appreciate the feedback and advice! @Beth H. : Thanks for including the photos to help demonstrate how a bit of extra planning can make a world of difference!!! I will definitely work with my contractor to try and line up the tiles around the niche!! Great advice!
Melissa R
4 years ago
I'd run away from the penny tile. Houzz is filled with tons of awful penny tile installations. It seems very few "professional" installers know how to install it correctly.
M Riz
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Just so you know, there was something posted yesterday about niches and there was some good information posted, see if you can find it and read through it. Also the bottom of the niche, where everything sits, should be one solid piece, meaning no grout. I had tiles cut to fit, many people use solid surface.
Cavimum
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
While niches are visually interesting, we opted out when we built our new master shower stall because that is one more surface to squeegee and opportunity for grout to discolor and grow mold ... on the base shelf and under bottles. Instead, we had the proper blocking done and installed a

Kohler Choreograph Shower Grab Barre for safety concerns as well as a place to put bottles.

It's just something to think about...
Jolene Kroeger
4 years ago
This is noteworthy information! Thanks @Beth H. : Is that image of the bathroom with the black vanity your bathroom? We are doing a black vanity as well and it's been so frustrating for me trying to find images as everything I was finding were white oak type vanities. Where is the marble mosaic? Is that what you used in the bottom of the niche? I knew I wanted subway tile in the shower but love the idea of doing 4x12 for fewer grout lines!
Beth H. :
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Jolene, yes it's mine. If you click on my name, go to the post "master redo" you'll see all the pictures. (you can click on the dots and "Hide Tags". they're annoying!

I used marble in the shower and on the floor (most of it I ordered straight from China and had it shipped to the port. I save quite a bit doing it that way, since I had quite a bit of tile)