6 Fun Ideas for a Striking Bathroom Floor

When thinking about redesigning your bathroom, what's the first thing that springs to mind? The cost? The layout? Your choice of bath? Your bathroom flooring?

OK, that last one may not be foremost in your thoughts, but It certainly pays to have some good bathroom flooring ideas sooner rather than later.

As an interior stylist, I've seen many people jump straight to the furniture and fixtures before truly considering what is one of the most powerful and fun areas to work with! If you take a little time to think carefully about your bathroom floor, you can easily create an incredibly stylish space. To help you achieve this, I'll explain a few fun and exciting ways you can do this.

1. Consider tile up-stands

If you've decided to choose tiles, your bathroom floor doesn’t have to come to a juddering stop when It reaches your walls. Instead of sticking to common wooden skirting boards why not use additional tiles as up-stands? Just make sure your tiles are suitable for both walls and floors and away you go.

2. From floors to walls, the tiles don’t have to stop

If tiled up-stands don't quite cut the mustard when it comes to your bathroom design, why not open your space up further and continue tiling up your walls?

This is a great idea, especially if you love the look of a wet room, but don't want to go the whole hog and install one. One added benefit Is that tiles are much easier to clean than other surfaces, however, if you don't want your tiles to extend all the way to the ceiling, why not tile three-quarters of the way up the wall and paint the remaining space? This will produce a narrow band of colour that neatly breaks up your wall and ceiling space.

3. Rework your grout or even add some colour

With tiled bathroom flooring, it's often the grout rather than the tiles that begin to look dated. If you don’t want to replace your whole floor, why not simply update the grout? You can choose to refresh using white or grey, or go one step further and add a colour into the mix! Introduce a dramatic accent colour or select a shade which complements your new colour scheme. Whatever you decide, this is a great way to give your bathroom a new lease of life, without having to break the bank.

4. Mix it up

One thing many of us struggle with when planning a new bathroom is choosing between 2 different styles, especially when we really like both of them! Well, the good news is, when it comes to tiling your bathroom floor, you don't have to compromise!

Mixing and matching tiles is becoming increasingly popular as it is a great way to add depth and different textures into your space. It also helps to enhance the pattern and composition of the room. Here are a few ideas on how you can “mix things up”:

Different shapes and patterns

Work with different shapes to build up your floor. Make sure they tessellate (that’s designer talk for “fitting into a mosaic pattern”) well together so you don’t have any blank patches, and if you do, maybe you can cut some smaller tiles to fit the space? Consider it a mosaic!

Merge tiles

Stone or wood? Tile or laminate? Matt or gloss? By merging your flooring into one, you can have all this and more! This can also be used to help define different “zones” within your bathroom space, like adding a base of tiles around the foot of your bath or creating a walkway into the room.

Patterns

There has been a boom in the metro tile market this year and with good reason. [Metro tiles] are incredibly versatile when it comes to personalising your space. Not only can you gradually merge in different colours, but you can also play around with different patterns.

Hexagonal tiles (pictured below) are also a great way to add a patterned look to your bathroom flooring.

Patchwork

To create a patchwork look you can either use purpose-built tiles like ours (see image below) or pick your own. Just make sure you choose the same size and thickness. If you’re really daring, why not try different shapes and make a mosaic?

5. Traditional borders

Add some tradition to your flooring with a border. Metro tiles are ideal for this purpose and come in a range of sizes to suit your space. A monochrome palette is perfect to represent a more classical style bathroom floor and you could even have a pitch black border.

A traditional floor can also be achieved with subtle period feature tiles, as featured below.

6. Small format tiles for a big look

Small format tiles aren’t just for your walls. You can make a real style statement with your bathroom flooring by using penny-sized tiles. Usually available as a sheet which can laid directly onto your floorboards or substrate, penny-sized tiles are becoming increasingly popular—bang on-trend for 2018. Some will tell you that these small format tiles should only be used sparingly on walls and as splashbacks, but I think differently! Go bold and add these tiny tiles to your floor. Why not give Hex White Mosaic tiles (see below) a go? And to push the envelope a little further, why not add a contrasting grout colour?

Add those finishing touches

With these great bathroom flooring ideas, you needn’t stop at the solid floor, why not try adding some of these items?

• Rug - for a comforting feeling underfoot
• Pouf - adds a softer finish
• Bath mat - for added style and colour
• Laundry basket - preferably bamboo for a more natural look

If you’ve been inspired by these bathroom flooring ideas, why not head over to our Tiles and Decor section, where you’ll find hundreds of fabulous flooring products at great prices.