We were going to start out with a shower curtain so that we can avoid the squeege-ing every time we take a shower. The water is very hard where we are.

These are 12x24 tiles and not really considered large these days!

I have 12x24 tiles on the ceiling of one of my showers and my tile guy was not worried with that size at all. I have done 11 bathroom (remodels and new build) since 2010 and I have had all the shower ceilings tiled.

Why do you have the soffit?

Why is the shower head pipe so close to the ceiling? For that reason, I would definitely tile the ceiling.

Why is the soffit even there? How high is it? If it is under 8 ft , I think I would tile it. We have also done 12 x 24 on the ceiling. You could look to see if your tile has a smaller size available. Or if it is a rectified edge tile, you may be able to cut them in half so they are 12 x 12 tiles.

Has anyone tried putting a shower arm in there yet? That just looks like the pipe they use as a temp while they tile. The shower arm is angled and needs to be screwed in - I hope it is far enough away from the ceiling to do that. If not, then you are taking that soffit out. I would test it now before doing anything else.

Good luck

That sounds like an appropriate solution, although like Debbi, I wonder why the soffit is there. It's a bit late in the game to remove it, though. I would not want to tile the ceiling in a space like this because it would make it feel smaller to me, and it looks like it is already a tight space. (Is this a basement bathroom?) And yes, be sure the shower arm will clear before taking the next steps--guessing you're planning a rain shower head given the dimensions but taking another 1/2" from the ceiling may make that tricky.

@artemis78 @Debbi Washburn Thanks so much for your tips! This is in an older condo (50 yrs old), 3. floor, and the soffit is there to accommodate the plumbing from the unit up above. Yes, we're planning on putting in a rain showerhead.

I have tiled ceilings in my bathroom. The ceiling tile matches the rest of the tile, but is a smaller size than the rest of the tile. Also, it was installed on the diagonal. I now live in a house that has a shower without ceiling tile, and the ceiling is peeling in 3 places, even though we use a dehumidifier. Don't let a contractor talk you out of something you want just because they don't know how to do it, or don't like doing it.

This should not have happened because the height of the wall and the size of the tile was a given...a known factor.

I think if you tile the ceiling it should fill in the gap.