No matter what it’s made of or what size it is, tile remains an integral part of any bathroom design. Tile helps protect your walls, floor, and shower surround from moisture, while keeping the bathroom easy to clean. Best of all, tile comes in a wide range of different styles and materials to choose from, so you can complement any design you can dream up. One of the biggest sources of confusion in a bathroom design, however, comes from the size of the tile. Trends for the last several years have been leaning toward large format tiles, but homeowners with small bathrooms are sometimes nervous about using such a large tile in a small space. These tips for choosing the right tile size for your bathroom will help you make the right decision every time.
Large Tile in Small Rooms
Believe it or not, when your bathroom is small, the best tile size you can choose is the largest that you can comfortably fit in the space, or the largest that your preferred tile comes in. Why? Because large format tiles – tiles larger than 12-inches in size – have fewer grout lines, which means that they create less of a grid effect on your floor. The reason you don’t want a grid is because a grid emphasizes the size of your floor. Instead, a larger tile creates a clean, unbroken surface on your floor, which makes it appear to be larger than it actually is.
Tiles for Shower Floors
The rule of thumb for size of tile to size of space gets completely thrown out the window when it comes to your shower floor. In this case, your floor needs to be able to slope toward your drain so that the water can run out easily. This means that the tile needs to be able to slope, too. Mosaics, or tiles that are 2-inches in size orsmaller, are more able to slope or conform to a change in the flooring without cracking than larger tiles can. Mosaics also have additional grout lines, which helps render your shower floor non-skid.
Mosaic Floors and Walls
Another exception to the rule 
of using larger tiles in smaller spaces comes with mosaics. While mosaics are much, much smaller than other tiles and therefore have more grout lines, the many grout lines often get lost in the overall pattern that the mosaics create. This pattern creates the same kind of unbroken appearance on your floor or wall that large tiles do, which can make a small space appear to be larger than it is.
Large Rooms
For larger spaces, you have more flexibility in what type of tile will work best in the space. Most rooms look great with a 12-inch floor tile, but if you’re planning a pattern of 3×6 herringbone or a 12-inch and 2-inch step, this will more than likely work out fine, too. Walls are also less affected by the size of the tile, so go with your preference here as well, no matter what the tile size.
Pay Attention to Your Tiles
In many cases the size of your tile can have a major impact on the look and feel of the rest of the room. Be sure to pay close attention to your tile sizes to ensure that your design comes out exactly as you intended. When you’re ready to begin, give Bianco Renovations a call to let us help you transform your bathroom into the one of your dreams.