Is Colorful Grout the Next Big Trend in Tile Design?

See how grout in 7 eye-catching colors is spicing up kitchens and bathrooms abroad

Bryan Anthony May 31, 2018

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You may already know that grout comes in shades of white, gray and beige and that it can change the look of tile. For example, pairing white tiles with a similar white grout makes grout lines virtually disappear and tiles blend together. Conversely, pairing white tiles with dark gray grout reveals the shape of each tile more clearly.

You may not know that grout also comes in a variety of other hues. Colorful grout is showing up in many European and Australian kitchens and bathrooms lately, and it soon may take off in North America too. Here are seven grout colors that are attracting attention.

Space Craft Joinery

1. Pretty in pink. For this remodeled midcentury kitchen in Australia, the design team at Space Craft Joinery paired white lower cabinets with Polyrey laminate upper cabinets in a delightful blush called Rose Petal. This mix of white and pink repeats in the backsplash.

Space Craft Joinery

A close-up of the backsplash shows that the design team paired small square white tiles with pastel pink grout. The overall effect gives off a subtle pink glow that adds just enough pop without being too distracting.

Alexander Owen Architecture

This renovated London bathroom features a wall covered in oh-so-trendy hexagon tiles. Both the tiles and the grout are pale pink. The mirror reflects the pink cabinets on the opposite wall for a cohesive look.

Browse hexagon tile

CLPM Limited

2. Green with envy. Here’s another London bathroom featuring colorful grout. This time, lime green grout and classic white subway tiles cover the backsplash and the tub surround. The bright green walls help emphasize the green grout.

MRTN Architects

3. Hello, yellow. This Australian master bathroom highlights how colorful grout can help separate or unify individual tile shapes. Yellow grout makes the contrasting white subway tiles look dimensional and the matching yellow subway tiles look relatively smooth.

Oliver Burns

Mixing tile and grout in contrasting colors is also an innovative way to focus attention. This London bathroom’s vanity wall teams light blue subway tiles laid vertically with yellow grout to make a splash in the otherwise white-and-wood space.

Find light blue subway tile

Domus Nova

4. Blue beauty. The walls in this London bathroom are covered from floor to ceiling in classic white subway tiles. White grout would have made for a monotone space, and dark grout could have felt too stark. The designer’s decision to use blue grout offers a happy medium and, with the lantern-style sconces, a subtle nautical feel.

Adie Courtney Architect

5. Terrific teal. This beautiful midcentury-inspired home in Australia features lovely wood-paneled ceilings and walls, and a sleek terrazzo floor. The kitchen area includes white lower cabinets and a range wall above covered in matte black subway tiles. It’s the unexpected colorful grout, however, that really makes this kitchen stand out from the pack.

Adie Courtney Architect

A close-up of the range wall shows that the matte black subway tiles are bordered by a bold teal grout. The skylight overhead helps the grout stand out even more, and the blue ceramic accessories tie the look together.

Contemporary Bathroom Contemporary Bathroom

6. Orange crush. Warm-hued metallics like copper, brass and gold have been a popular material choice in kitchens and bathrooms for a while. Amplifying those metallics with a complementary grout can really make them shine. The orange grout in this London bathroom picks up the warm copper tones in the mirror, faucet and pendant lights.

User

7. Radiant red. The inside of a shower is another great spot for colorful grout. Rebecca Hadley, the owner of this London bathroom, couldn’t agree more. “There are so many different colored grouts to choose from, I wanted to use them all!” she says.

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