It can be found in all the photos on social networks or magazines. It makes the most beautiful personality in the bathroom! Using modern materials, colors and formats, wall and floor tiles are fashionable. Appreciated for their robustness, water resistance and ease of maintenance, floor, wall or shower tiles are also appreciated for their decorative qualities. But how to choose them?
Playing with transparency
To avoid overloading the room and free up space in a small, cluttered bathroom, we try to free up available space. A recommendation? Play with transparency. For the shower or bathtub, we naturally choose frameless and transparent walls. For the tiles, we forget about the overly visible strips that would limit the space we were trying to free up. For a walk-in shower, choose large tiles or a light mosaic.
Consider design materials
Tiles come in a multitude of materials including stone (granite, slate, limestone, travertine, marble, etc.), ceramic (porcelain stoneware or stretched stoneware, terracotta, terracotta and terracotta tiles), concrete, tiles and mosaics. These materials are classified according to UPEC criteria (sensitivity to abrasion, perforation, water and chemicals) and it is recommended to cover bathroom floors with U2, P2, E3 or C1 tiles.
Choose according to the bathroom atmosphere
Unlimited use of tiles to adapt to any bathroom atmosphere! To create a stylish and original bathroom decoration, of course, you can combine different tiles by mixing them, such as:
- The shower is covered with concrete-look tiles and mosaics;
- Wood grain effect tiles similar to cement tile effect tiles;
- Replace terracotta wall tiles with porcelain stoneware floor tiles. Nothing stops you from combining tiles with styles! Each bathroom tile has its own atmosphere:
- Vintage style maiolica tiles that bring an authentic and elegant style to your bathroom.
Take into account size and color
Like any wall or floor covering in a room, the size and color of the tiles should be adapted to the surface of the bathroom. Large ones are rare, so light colors are best for small spaces, even to coordinate walls and floors. Instead, another option is to keep dark floor tiles on the walls to add height to the bathroom.
For the format, the trend towards large format is confirmed if the wall tiles and stoneware are most often in the 20X20 or 30X30 cm format. In addition to the aesthetic aspect, the 60X60cm or even 60X120cm tiles limit the increase in joints and reduce the installation time. The main advantage of correction tiles (double check during manufacturing) is their impeccable smooth appearance and their seam width (minimum 2 mm), which makes them almost invisible in the bathroom.
Take into account specific properties
The ideal tiles for bathroom floors should be resistant to acids, but also to alkalis, because the room is regularly cleaned and disinfected with chemicals or detergents. It should also be shock-resistant and easy to maintain, because makeup and perfumes can stain it. To avoid any risk of slipping, the tiles should have anti-slip properties.
