The first time I entered my friend Sarah’s powder room, I knew it was too small to comfort. But not for reasons you might think: The room wasn’t tiny; far from it. It was the tile.
Glorious oversized 12-inch-square marble tiles from floor to ceiling transformed her compact bathroom into a jewellery box that had been crushed. Pretty? Sure.
Livable? No way.
That experience started me down a rabbit hole of obsession with tile size (or scale, as designers like to call it) in small bathrooms.
I’ve tiled three bathrooms myself (small to absolutely terrifying) and offered unsolicited tiling advice to enough friends to know what works…and what hurts your eyes. If you choose the latter, well, consider yourself warned. The guest bathroom I’m renovating now is about four by six feet, give or take a Mickey Mouse carpet square.
When I first moved into this house two years ago, it had been outfitted with…ugly beige 4-inch ceramic squares. (It’s amazing what some paint and new fixtures can hide.) At first, I fantasized about tearing those suckers out and replacing them with something bold. To make a long story medium-length: I did just that. I ordered 8-inch-square handmade tiles in a warm sage colour and had them installed in the same layout as the originals.
They were beautiful going in. But after three months of living with that tile, I realised something was off. The bathroom looked swollen.
Literally. Like it was trying on clothes that were too large for it. Those oversized hexagons overwhelmed my wee floor space.
And let’s not even discuss the cost….. Guys: Smaller is not always better when it comes to choosing tile for a small bathroom. Especially on the floor.
My sage tiles stayed about six months – max – before I ripped them out in disgust. The second attempt was much more successful. I went down to 3-inch-wide subway tiles and laid them in a classic brick pattern.
The difference was night and day. Suddenly, my bathroom had rhythm, not randomness. The smaller scale worked with my limited square footage instead of shouting at it.
I love my tile now. But it took some trial (and costly error) to find the right look for such a small room. How small is small?
Well, in bathroom terms, you’ve got two categories. There are small bathrooms and then there are really small bathrooms. For those tiny-tiniest bathrooms (and by that I mean the ones that make you wonder how anyone can pee in such confined quarters), opt for tiny tiles, too.
I’m talking 2-inch-to-3-inch tiles. For starters, those little guys are called penny tiles – which is about the largest “statement” you’ll want to make in a super-small bathroom. If you Google “small bathroom ideas,” you’ll find hundreds (probably thousands) of examples of beautiful penny tile bathrooms.
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But penny tile doesn’t have to be loud to look good. I recently toured a teeny powder bath where the owner had installed white penny tile with just a smattering of grey tiles tossed in. To my eye, it looked like expensive wallpaper, but way more durable.
For slightly larger small bathrooms – I’m talking anything from 30 to 50 square feet – you have slightly more flexibility. Those beloved 3-inch subway tiles I mentioned above? They work for that scale, too.
So do 4-inch squares or small-format rectangles. You just don’t want the format to be so small that the tile looks mosaic-ey or fussy. Speaking offormat: I experimented with elongated tile in my friend Maria’s narrow bathroom and love how it opened up the space.
I used 2×8 inch plank tile and laid it horizontally to make the most of_width_. (Pro tip: avoid vertical plank tile in small bathrooms unless you’re going for ultra-modern farmhouse vibe. Trust.) Another quick note aboutpattern: Remember those outrageously ugly oversized hex tiles from my bathroom? Well, they’re heavy and bold enough to actually work in my bigger master bathroom.
But in a small space, busy patterns like that feel busy really fast. I once tiled my guest bathroom in Moroccan-inspired patterned tiles I fell in love with at the store. It was fine – for about a day.
Looking at all that pattern just seemed overwhelming when I was staring at four walls that small. Lesson learned (though I’d argue I already had plenty of square footage to play with the style in a larger bathroom). The safe small bathroom patterns are tried and true for a reason: straight lay (rows and columns), brick/ subway style, or a simple diagonal.
You can always switch up your grout colour to add visual interest without drawing attention away from the fixtures, towels, and pile of products guests are sure to leave on your sink. Lastly, let’s talk tile colour. Big, obvious pieces of porcelain don’t have to be white.
Light colours do make spaces feel bigger and brighter, but that doesn’t mean you should paint yourself into a corner. A softer, warm neutral or even a lightly-coloured tile can help a small space feel cozy, not cramped. I’m lookin’ at you, Instagram dorm bathrooms.
I’m lovingsoft white 3-inch subway tiles with a lighter grey grout right now, laid in a brick pattern. The slight variation in shade creates enough texture on the wall to keep them from looking flat without getting too crazy.
And as far as grout colour: dark grout makes even light-coloured tile feel heavy.
Bright white grout will show every dust bunny and water spot. As for the former, trust me, you do NOT want to clean that microscopically small line in a small bathroom. Yes, you will be scrubbing between those pesky tiles with an old toothbrush.
No, you will not enjoy it. One last tip: if you’re using small tiles, think about using larger-format ones on the floor. 4-inch or 6-inch tiles are large enough that they’ll be easier to clean and maintain, but small enough that they won’t overwhelm a small bathroom.
Just stay away from anything larger than 6 inches unless you’ve got a really large bath – then congratulations, your tiny tile problems aren’t your problem. Above all: use your best judgment when it comes to tile size in small spaces. Nothing looks worse than tiles that are too big (or too small) for a bathroom.
Live with your selections for a few days if you can before making major upgrades. Heck, buy large samples and tape them to your wall to live with them. See how they look in the harsh light of morning and the flattering glow of a bathroom nightlight.
You’ll thank yourself later.
