Choosing Bathroom Tile Colours That Last

Colour is the decision people agonise over and the one most likely to be regretted, because tiles are the hardest thing in a bathroom to change. Retiling a wet wall means removing the waterproofing with it.

What holds up

Neutrals. That is the honest answer.

Whites, off-whites, warm and cool greys, and soft stone tones still look right in bathrooms built decades ago. They are unexciting to choose and easy to live with, and they do not fix the room to a particular year.

This is not an argument for a bland bathroom. It is an argument for putting the neutral on the permanent surfaces and the personality on the things you can change.

What dates fastest

Strong feature colours across a whole wall or room. Whatever the current colour is, it will read as "the year that was popular" within a decade.

Very fashionable tile shapes used everywhere. A shape that is currently everywhere will be a timestamp. As a small feature it is charming.

Heavily patterned floors. Excellent in photographs, busy in a real bathroom with a bathmat and a bin in it.

The cost of getting this wrong is disproportionate. Repainting a wall is an afternoon. Retiling a shower wall means stripping tiles, membrane and sheeting, and rebuilding the wet area.

Where to put personality instead

All of these change in an afternoon, years later, without touching a membrane:

• Tapware finish
• Mirror
• Towels and accessories
• Paint above the tile line
• A stool, a plant, artwork
• The vanity, with more effort

Put the character there and let the tiles be quiet.

If you do want a bold tile, use it in one contained area, ideally the shower back wall. It is visible, it adds real character, and if you tire of it you are stripping one wall rather than the room.

Grout colour changes everything

Grout is only about 5 percent of the surface and it drives a surprising amount of how the finished room reads.

Matching grout makes a tiled surface read as a single plane. This is what you want with large format tiles, and in a small bathroom where visual interruptions cost you.

Contrasting grout emphasises the grid. It suits subway tile, where the pattern is the point. It works far less well on a floor, where it emphasises every mark.

On floors, avoid brilliant white. It will not stay brilliant white. Floors take traffic, dirt and everything that drops. A mid tone looks clean far longer and hides the normal life of a bathroom. Sealing helps too.

On walls, lighter grout is more viable because walls stay cleaner.

Light matters more than the swatch

Sydney bathrooms vary enormously in light. A north-facing room with a window and an internal apartment bathroom with a single downlight are completely different environments, and the same tile looks like a different product in each.

Showroom lighting is designed to flatter tiles. It is nothing like either of those rooms.

Get samples home. Put them in the actual bathroom. Look at them in the morning, in the evening, and with the light on. It is the single most useful thing you can do before committing.

Floor and wall together

Related tones between floor and wall make a room read as one volume. Strong contrast draws a horizontal line at floor level that boxes a small room in.

This matters more than the specific colour. A consistent mid-tone bathroom will feel larger and calmer than a white one chopped into contrasting bands.

The practical summary

Neutral on the permanent surfaces. Grout matched to tile unless you specifically want the grid. Mid-tone grout on floors. One feature area if you want character. Personality in the things that swap out.

Our full guide to choosing tiles covers materials and formats, and tile ideas worth copying covers layout.