Light Tile Bathroom Ideas to Brighten Your Space
20 Light Tile Bathroom Ideas to Brighten Your Space
If you want to refresh and revitalise your bathroom, choosing light-coloured tiles is one of the best ways to do so. Light tiles will make even the most bijou bathrooms appear bigger and the best thing about them? They suit every style and every home.
Light-coloured tiles are linked to luxury and peacefulness. They’re one of the most practical options for a bathroom and they create the perfect blank canvas which you can paint with splashes of colour in the form of plants, towels and other accessories.
If your bathroom is bathed in natural light, light tiles will amplify the brightness, if it has little to no natural light, pale-coloured tiles with a gloss or satin finish will effectively bounce what available light there is around.
Recreate This Look: Amelia White
Are light tiles good for a bathroom?
Light-coloured tiles, particularly white and beige, are the most popular choices for bathrooms. They’re the best option for opening up a space and even if your bathroom is fitted into a cupboard, opting for light, bright tiles will stop it from feeling too cramped.
Light tiles are a timeless choice and perfect if you’re planning to sell your home in the future or just want tiles that you won’t tire of.
If you want to add light and life to your bathroom walls and floors, keep reading to discover the very best tiles for the job.
Light tile bathroom ideas
Whether you want to future-proof your bathroom or create a bright and refreshing sanctuary, light tiles will help you to do so.
Light tiles might be at the top of everyone’s bathroom decor list but they don’t have to be clinical and boring, we’ve brought you some of the most beautifully simple but seriously stylish light bathroom tile solutions:
Matchstick tiles
These beautifully simple mosaic tiles are inspired by Japanese design. Matchstick, also known as kit kat tiles, are long, thin tiles that come on strips for easier fitting, like classic square mosaic tiles. They’re perfect for all styles of home and add a simple, contemporary finish.
Matchstick tiles can be laid vertically or horizontally, helping to elongate or widen the space, and they’re ideal for tiling unconventionally shaped rooms and curved surfaces.
Beige tiles
If you’ve got your heart set on light bathroom tiles but want to steer away from white, warm neutrals are an excellent choice. Light enough to keep the bathroom feeling spacious and open and warmer than white, beige tiles are a classy alternative
Beige has made a firm comeback in the design world, making a refreshing change from white and grey. Warm neutrals are the go-to for many interior designers as they’re stylish, versatile and perfect for creating a chic, spa-like feel.
Recreate This Look: San Vincenzo Beige
Penny tiles
A style classic, penny tiles have been gracing the walls and floors of our bathrooms since the early 1900s. Perfect for bathrooms, particularly floors due to their large grout-to-tile ratio, these tiles have gone from strength to strength and they’re available in a vast range of colours and finishes.
From pale pastel porcelain glazes to light natural stone and shimmering mother of pearl, there’s a penny tile for every bathroom style.
Patterned tiles
Subtly patterned tiles are perfect for adding interest to bathrooms and for breaking up large areas of solid colour. It can be easy for an all-white bathroom to look clinical, so playing around with different patterns and textures is an excellent way to add character, without taking away from the overall light, bright finish.
Glossy tiles
One of the best ways to open up a bathroom is to fit large, glossy, light-coloured tiles. Whether you add them to the floors, walls or both, they’ll bounce light around even the smallest bathroom, helping to flood it with light.
If you want to brighten a bathroom, high-gloss light-coloured tiles are the best option. Even if you have no natural light in your bathroom, glossy tiles will help to brighten the space considerably. Don’t let the fact that they’re glossy put you off installing these showstopping tiles, they’re easy to clean and you can get non-slip gloss floor tiles if slipping is a concern.
Recreate This Look: Super White Porcelain
Textured tiles
There’s no denying that white tiles are simple and timeless, but they aren’t always the most exciting option for a bathroom. If you’re sold on white but want to spice it up a little, consider fitting textured tiles.
From the subtle surface imperfections of zellige style tiles to beach-inspired wave textures and miniature mosaics, you can create subtle interest with clever use of texture.
Recreate This Look: Rio Blanco
Patchwork tiles
Light-coloured bathroom tiles are the most popular so it’s no surprise that the range of styles, shapes and sizes of pale-hued tiles is vast. Layering various colours and textures of light-coloured tiles will add a different dimension to your bathroom without compromising on the feeling of enhanced space and brightness.
Stone tiles
Natural stone tiles are often pale in colour, giving you an impressively large choice when it comes to picking the perfect tiles for your bathroom.
Limestone, marble and travertine are all beautiful choices which will help you to achieve the most luxurious-looking bathroom. Stone tiles might not be the first choice if you’re on a tight budget, but you don’t need to clad the whole bathroom in stone. Adding a marble splashback or a stone floor can be enough to completely elevate your bathroom.
Recreate This Look: Cosmic Aqua Polished Porcelain Tile & Artemis White
Fabulous floral tiles
Get creative with your bathroom décor and add a wall of delicately patterned floral tiles. Patterned tiles are a great way to add personality to a room and are perfect for pepping up shower areas, splashbacks and small bathrooms.
Recreate This Look: Canyon Porcelain – (Nature & Autumn) – Plain & Decor
Marble tiles
The epitome of luxury, marble tiles are elegant, timeless and perfectly suited to traditional and modern bathrooms.
Marble and the best quality marble-effect porcelain tiles aren’t the cheapest tiling option, but they are guaranteed to bring hotel-style glamour to your bathroom. Real marble tiles will need to be periodically sealed to keep them watertight and resistant to stains. You can choose from light-reflective polished marble or more rustic, but no less beautiful, tumbled marble tiles to enhance your space.
Recreate This Look: Elgin Matt White Marble
Mix and match tiles
If you prefer to stick to plain colours, you can still create a breathtakingly beautiful bathroom by choosing different shaped, sized or textured tiles for the floors and walls and being creative with the tiling layout.
Rectangular, metro tiles will give you the most options when it comes to layouts and you can choose classic designs like the herringbone pattern or keep it contemporary with horizontal or vertical stacked designs.
Recreate This Look: Dorset Smooth white & Waxman Shapes Octagon White & Black
Metro tiles
One of the most popular tile styles due to their versatility, metro tiles are everywhere. Introduced by the Victorians, metro tiles are stylish, practical and look spectacular in any type of home. You can vary the look of metro tiles by choosing one of the many layouts and varying the grout colour.
Recreate this look: Dorset Bevelled White
Pink tiles
Light tiles don’t have to be white or beige, pink tiles are an excellent option and they’re surprisingly versatile.
Stick to subtler, dusky shades for a more neutral feel, you can mix pink tiles with marble or white, grey or cream tiles too.
Recreate This Look: Rio Rosa
Delicate designs
With the growing trend for warm neutrals comes an increased demand for different tile styles. Tile designers have never been so busy and the range of beautifully patterned tiles in neutral tones is impressive.
Use patterned tiles to add interest to areas of your bathroom. They’re perfect for breaking up areas of block colour and delineating different zones in a large bathroom. In smaller bathrooms use patterned tiles for splashbacks, feature walls and shower areas.
Creatively laid tiles
Playing around with different shapes, sizes and colours of tiles can have a huge effect on a bathroom and it’s a great tactic if you’re sticking to a pale colour palette.
Border tiles don’t have to be used exclusively for borders, you can have fun creating different designs and use them to add interest to a wall of otherwise plain tiles.
Grey tiles
Grey may not be the must-have interior colour that it was, but it’s still one of the leading colours for homeowners and it makes an attractive alternative to white and beige.
Stick to lighter shades of grey for a small bathroom. You can introduce grey through the veins of marble tiles or natural stone, or stick to glossy porcelain tiles for a modern-looking finish.
Pastel shades
Soft pastel shades are a perfect choice for bathrooms. They’re subtle enough to keep bathrooms feeling spacious and colourful enough to make a big impact.
Choose from patterned tiles in pretty designs to glossy metro tiles in ice-cream shades. Pastel tiles work brilliantly when different shades are mixed together and you can create some sweet-shop-inspired designs to make your bathroom smile.
Feature floor tiles
Add interest to a neutrally coloured bathroom with eye-catching feature floor tiles. When done right, it won’t impact the light-reflective qualities of the bright wall tiles and it will create an impressive focal point. Keep light-coloured tiles in the floor design for the best effect.
Recreate This Look: Damask white Damask Black
Colour pop tiles
Sometimes, the bathroom you have will limit your choice of tile colours. Small, light-poor bathrooms work best with light, bright wall tiles, but that doesn’t mean you need to drain the room of colour entirely.
Use colour to your advantage and pick out an area like a splashback above a sink or create a brightly coloured panel, border or wall indent with the brightest coloured tiles you can find. Brightly coloured tiles are excellent for reflecting light and bringing joy to a bathroom.
Recreate This Look: Rio Blanco
Mirror tiles
What better way to reflect light around a bathroom than by using reflective glass mirror tiles? Cleverly placed mirrors can work wonders in increasing the feel of the size of a room and mirror tiles are no different.
Shimmering mirror tiles may require a little more maintenance than regular tiles but the impact they’ll have on a bathroom makes them well worth it.
Light bathroom tile tips
Mix up the tile size – If you’re sticking to the same coloured tiles throughout your bathroom, you can add interest by varying the tile sizes. Large format floor tiles and smaller wall tiles always work well, you can also mix it up with penny floor tiles and metro wall tiles for a quirkier look.
Choose different textures – Textured tiles are perfect for adding depth and interest to a bathroom and are a great alternative to dark or boldly patterned tiles. There’s a wide choice too. From the textures of natural stone and splitface tiles to modern relief designs and traditional zellige-style designs, there’s a textured tile for every taste.
Get creative – Light-coloured bathrooms can be seen as clinical but they really don’t have to be. Have fun with tiles in different shapes; hexagonal, penny and mosaic tiles can have a huge impact. Go for different tile textures, experiment with different tile layouts and inject bright pops of colour through well-chosen accessories and plants.
Add colour It’s easy to underestimate the impact that light colours can have on a bathroom. White and beige are the most popular choices for light bathroom tiles but you can create a bright, spacious effect with pale shades of pink, blue, yellow and green. If you’re unsure, you can always grab some samples to see how they’ll look in situ. Adding borders of colour is another effective way to introduce colour to a light bathroom scheme.
Atlas Ceramics has an extensive range of light-coloured bathroom and cloakroom tiles to help you achieve a similar look in your home. Browse our selection yourself or call one of our experts for advice.