9 Nautical Style Kitchen Tile Ideas 

Ahoy there! Whether you’re crazy about catamarans, cutters and sloops or prefer to admire the boats from afar, you might want to bring the nautical aesthetic into your home.

Influenced by all things sailing, the popular nautical interior style is light, bright and timeless, suiting all property types.

Keep reading to discover how to get your kitchen ship shape and Bristol fashion and discover the top tiles to help you do so.

Ship Ahoy! Bring the maritime aesthetic into your home with stunning simplistic white tiles in different shapes and sizes, combine with shades of blue to complete the look.

Image credit: @thedesignpaddock

Recommended Tile: Rio Blanco 

What is nautical style?

If you love the idea of a life on the ocean waves but are landlocked instead, bringing the look of the sea to your home is the next best thing.  

The nautical style embraces everything about life at sea. Think shipshape wooden planks, maritime-inspired blue and white decor, natural textures, classic stripes and plenty of boat and ocean accessories like oars, shells and other flotsam and jetsam.

We’ve written an article about coastal-inspired kitchen tiles, so what’s the difference between coastal and nautical decor? Coastal style favours a natural, subdued colour palette, it’s mainly light, bright and beachy. The nautical style is more varied and industrial, featuring bolder colours and patterns.

How can I get the nautical look in my kitchen?

The nautical colour palette is inspired by the sea and sailing boats, so choosing tiles in shades of blue and white is the easiest way to bring a nautical feel into your kitchen.

Wood plays a huge part in coastal and nautical interiors and you can get the look with wood-effect porcelain tile planks in various shades.  Think about texture too, tiles with a wavy surface are ideal and you can rock the boat with colourful glass mosaics, fish scale tiles and ombre effect splashbacks.

Nautical style kitchen tile ideas

If you want to create a bold statement with nautical navy blue or keep it simpler with refreshing white tiles, we’ve put all hands on deck to bring you the most inspiring nautical kitchen tile ideas:

Tile a navy blue splashback

The colour most closely linked to the nautical theme, navy blue is rich, sophisticated and calming. Navy blue tiles work perfectly in a kitchen that’s filled with light-coloured cabinets.

Navy blue is a popular shade for tiles so if you’re feeling all at sea when it comes to picking the perfect tiles for your kitchen, we recommend going for classic metro-style tiles, they’re a timeless design that can be laid in a variety of ways.

Stunning metro tiles can be laid and displayed in various ways, to create different effects. Use Navy blue to create a refined and cultured look in your kitchen.

Image credit: @houseandhomemag

Recommended Tile: Emilia Navy 

Pair white tiles with blue kitchen cabinets

Navy blue is one of the most popular colours for kitchen cabinets and if you’re creating a nautical-style kitchen, pairing blue cabinets with white tiles is a winning combination.

White tiles are crisp, timeless and, depending on which style you go for, easy on the budget too.

White tiles are light, bright and very nautical. Available for all budgets they create a clean, fresh, marine finish, available in a huge range of shapes and sizes

Image credit: @ashleymscribi

Recommended Tile: Kesha Bianco 

Add texture with splitface tiles

Creating a nautical-themed kitchen isn’t just about blue and white, adding texture to the kitchen walls and floors with cleverly picked, neutral-toned tiles can work wonders. Rough-hewn splitface tiles are an excellent option for splashbacks and perfect for giving a rustic, worn appearance to kitchen walls and island units.

Neutral-toned tiles work wonderfully in Nautical style kitchens, bring some texture using stunning splitface tiles as a splashback or feature wall to create the effect of movement.

Image credit: @agk_designstudio

Recommended Tile: Arcalis White Porcelain Split face

Create interest with patterned tiles

Nautical interior designs often feature block colours, but you can create a softer look by introducing patterned tiles in blues and whites. Whether you opt for patterned wall or floor tiles, they will make a big impact in a kitchen. 

For the best effect, keep everything else plain and simple; all-white walls and simple tiled wooden floors provide the perfect backdrop for nautical-inspired patterned tiles. 

The range of nautical-inspired patterned tiles now available in blue and white is vast. Combine with plain white cabinets and wooden floors to get the look.

Image credit: @paytemillerinteriors

Recommended Tile: Damask Series Decor 12

Fit wood effect floor planks

It would be difficult to create a nautical-style kitchen without featuring wood somewhere in the design. You can bring wooden elements into your kitchen through the worktop surface, bar stools, furniture and accessories and, our favourite, wood-effect floor tiles.

Made from porcelain, wood-effect tiles are completely waterproof, stain resistant, tough and easy to clean – scrubbing the decks has never been easier. 

Wood-effect porcelain tiles are waterproof, stain resistant and highly robust. They are also easy to clean and very authentic looking, highly desirable in a Nautical style kitchen.

Image credit: @lewisandwheldon

Recommended Tile: Woodlands Natural 

Clad a wall in blue and white tiles

If you can’t choose between white or blue wall tiles, pick both! You can create a wall of stripes or go for an on-trend, two-tone wall effect. Keep the darker colour on the bottom to help the room look bigger. The amount of space that you dedicate to each tile colour is up to you!

Blue and white are the ideal combination for creating your Nautical feel kitchen, there are so many shades, designs, sizes and styles to chose from you’re sure to find your perfect look.

Image credit: @plainenglishdesign

Recommended Tile: Dorset Smooth White 

Make waves with fish scale tiles

The ultimate ocean-inspired tile, fish scale tiles are a perfect choice for maritime kitchens. They’re a brilliant way to add personality to a kitchen and they’re extremely popular so you can choose from a wide range of colours and materials like stone, glass, metal and porcelain.

Stick to a plain colour for a subtler look or create a striking ombre effect splashback with shimmering glass tiles.

Nothing says Nautical in your kitchen like the scallop or fish tail tile, offering a beautifully unique and charming touch to any home, now available in numerous colours and effects.

Image credit: @geelonghomes

Recommended Tile: Mermaid Mist 

Add seafaring stripes

Think of nautical decor and stripes are bound to feature somewhere in the design. Take your kitchen splashback to the next level by laying jaunty blue and white striped tiles. The design can be as subtle or as bold as you like. 

We love the elegant blue border tiles that have been sandwiched between the simple white metro tiles in the below kitchen, but you can go for a bolder design by using different coloured tiles in equal sizes to create the stripes.

Whether it’s bold or subtle, stripes always give a seafaring feel in your kitchen. Metro tiles of blue and white combined or areas of stripe like splash backs or feature walls effectively create the vibe.

Image credit: @terracottadesignbuild

Recommended Tile: Dorset Bevelled Blanco

Make an impact with pebble tiles

Get on board with deliciously different, smooth pebble tiles for the ultimate nautical-themed kitchen.

These innovative tiles feature real pebbles which can be finished with a grout colour of your choice. Pebble tiles will work best on kitchen walls and they make perfect splashbacks, borders and feature areas within a wall of plainer tiles. You can also use them to create ocean-inspired works of art and combine them with smaller mosaics to make a nautical design.

Pebble tiles are ideal for kitchen walls, borders and splashbacks combined with simple tiles. You can also combine with mosaics to make a nautical design in your kitchen.

Image credit: @originalstyleuk

Top tips for getting the nautical look with tiles

Pick the right colours

Choosing colours for a nautical-themed kitchen is easy! Stick with the classic white, navy and other shades of blue and add natural neutrals with wood-effect and stone tiles.

Add texture

You can add interest to a nautical-style kitchen by using textured tiles. Use ripple textured tiles to emulate the ocean waves, have fun with pebble tiles and play around with moulded border tiles in different colours.

Keep it bright

Although nautical interiors often feature deep shades of blue, the overall feeling should be light, bright and airy. If you’re opting for navy blue tiles, stick to a smaller area like a splashback to prevent the room from feeling too dark. You can always add a border of blue tiles or combine blue and white tiles.

Atlas Ceramics has a wide range of nautical-style wall and floor tiles to help you get the look in your kitchen. Browse our selection yourself or call one of our experts for advice.