All the way up where? Show plans or a photo of the bathroom.

Do not take design advice from contractors! A few have some design talent, but the majority don't.

In my previous house I did a small powder room with a glass mosaic on all the walls, from floor to ceiling. Unusual? Not really, but it costs much more in material and labor.

All the way from floor to the ceiling. The paint is hard to maintain in pacific northwest weather and I think having tiles would help the look and mainly, keeping the walls dry and clean.

How big is your bath and what is your climate? DD moved into a house with a lot of tile in a master in the midwest. Bath is cold, HVAC said bath will never be warm with all the tile. Whenn bath gets redone at some point, there will not be tile on the wall. Floor will be heated as well.

Tiled walls in a bath remind me of a hospital orschool bath.

Tile from floor to ceiling is common in bathtub surrounds and showers. It is not common to tile the walls of the entire bathroom in homes, though it is common in commercial settings such as supermarkets and big stores.

Why is paint hard to maintain? I think a sea of tile with endless grout lines would be harder to maintain...if it's a humidity issue, dust will stick in the grout lines, much more of a PITA to clean that than a quick wipe down of a painted wall.

Does the bathroom have a vent fan? It should, and for houses with lazy people and/or teenagers, it should have a humidistat with timer ... fan turns on when it detects humidity and turns off after a set amount of time.

Use Benjamin Moore Aura Bath & Spa paint on the walls/ceiling.

100% to what chispa said. We're in the Seattle area. Painted the bathroom with Aura Bath and Spa when we moved in. Held up fantastically well for over 10 years despite not having a functioning bathroom fan (discovered during a roof redo that the fan ducting had disconnected). It's much easier to clean my painted bathroom walls than it is to clean the bathtub tile.

Tile halfway or 2/3 of the way up the walls looks nice in a bathroom. Not necessary to do it all the way to the ceiling. I've never found painted walls in a bathroom hard to clean, and even if they are, the bottom part of the wall will get more abuse than the upper part.

For me a tiled bathroom reminds of the gym bathroom at school . Really no reason unless of course you have a bunch of kids who make amess of the walls . But we need pictures and info . I lived in Vancouver 3 boys never found painted walls in the bathroom a problem so not sure what the PNW has to do with it. I for sure agree looking aftertiled walls to the ceiling will be work too

You're asking our opinion on something but posting no picture, no rendering, not even the type of tiles, or the size of the room.

How on earth can anyone give you advice?

To answer your question, "Is it unusual?"

No.

*however, it depends on the style, space, tile, usage, etc.

If you mean in the shower, it's not unusual.

If you mean tile on the walls around the vanity and toilet, also not THAT unusual.

If you mean tile every wall in the room up to the ceiling? that would depend on the look you're after.

as you can see from all of these photos, not unusual. I'd prob consider hiring a diff contractor.

Thank you for the answers everyone. I have just started planning with ideas and this was an open question to get recommendations on what is even possible. Like Beth's pictures, I have seen many around the internet and experienced them in places, but then I also hear the concerns from others.

Tile on all wall that goes floor to ceiling isn't as common as painted walls or tile on the lower wall with paint above.

Our basement bathroom was just too tiny for an adult to shower in compfortable. Walls take up space we didn't have. The solution was tiles on 3/4 of the room from floor to ceiling. Is it done yes, are they terrible to clean, no. But they are more permenant than paint or wall paper. I would not box myself in FOREVER with tile with out good reason.

The size/layout of the bathroom, where tiles will be used (entire bathroom?) and your desired effect are key factors. The cost of tiles and labour might influence your decision and if needing to adjust, consider just using behind vanity (and in shower).

If moving ahead with tiling entire bathroom/its commitment, suggest finding an inspiration bathroom that you love and suits your home.