Bathroom Flooring Materials
One of the best bathroom remodel ideas, and one which will make a surprising amount of difference in how your bathroom looks, feels and works, is new flooring.
Choosing a new bathroom floor has two main aspects: practicality and looks.
The floor will get splashed, at least, and perhaps soaked, so it needs to be able to resist water and not get slippery when it’s wet. It needs to be easy to clean, especially if it’s to be installed in a heavily-used family bathroom. It must be able to be installed on the floor substrate that you have available – for example, a ceramic tile surface needs a substrate that does not flex, otherwise it will crack.
Bathroom flooring materials fall into two main categories: hard or resilient/soft.
Hard Bathroom Flooring Materials
These include:
- marble tiles or slabs
- stone tiles or slabs (eg limestone, slate or granite)
- terra-cotta tiles
- ceramic or porcelain tiles
- wood (solid wood or engineered)
- laminates (wood, stone or ceramic-look)
It’s very important that whatever hard material you choose has a non-slip surface, for safety in the bathroom, as well as being water-resistant.
Wood and laminate materials have to be carefully sealed and engineered in order to be water resistant, and may not be suitable for bathrooms where the floor is likely to get soaked, rather than just dripped on.
Most stones must be sealed, and re-sealed at regular intervals in order to resist water and stains.
Tiles of any kind require grouting, and grout requires sealing to prevent grout stains which are especially likely on a floor. Consider using a grout color which won’t show dirt, as well as sealing and resealing whenever necessary.
Resilient/Soft Flooring Materials
These materials are either soft, like carpet, or have a little “give” to them and can feel warmer and easier on the feet than the hard materials. Some examples are:
- rubber in sheets or tiles
- vinyl in sheets or tiles, cushioned or not
- linoleum
- cork
- carpet
Carpets in bathrooms go in and out of fashion, and are currently “out” – for good reason. A bathroom carpet will always get wet eventually, and moisture+carpet=mold. Carpet around a toilet will get nasty, sooner or later, unless the bathroom sees very little use. It’s much healthier to have a hard or resilient floor with removable rugs on top that can be easily removed, washed and dried, than to permanently install carpet.
Heated Floors
What could be better for bare feet than a warm floor in the bathroom! Floor heating systems are a great addition to your bathroom and because the space is usually fairly small, are not prohibitively expensive. Homes with hydronic (hot water) heating systems can run hot water tubes under the flooring, and others can install electric resistance heating wires. There are systems which will work with wood floors as well as hard stone or tile floors.
Small Bathrooms
Flooring choices for small bathroom designs have some unique limitations.
In a small bathroom, the floor space may not lend itself to custom borders or medallion designs, simply because you won’t see enough of the floor to make the design properly visible! On the other hand, because you don’t have to buy many square feet of the material, you may be able to splurge on something more expensive than if you had a larger area to cover.
Diagonal-set tiles make the small room look larger
To expand the floor space visually, there are some tricks you can use:
- Get as much as possible up off the floor, so as much floor can be seen as possible. That suggests a wall-hung toilet, pedestal sink, wall hung cabinets or cabinets on legs, and perhaps even a clawfoot tub.
- Make design lines extend as far as possible. In most bathrooms that would be diagonal lines, so consider planks set on the diagonal of you’re doing a wood-look floor, or diagonal tiles in a tile or tile-look floor.
Bathroom Tile Design Ideas
The bathroom and tile design go together like… hmmm…. rhubarb and custard? Maybe even better than that! Seriously though, the beauty of tile and its tough, waterproof surface make it the perfect material for bathroom walls and floors, especially in wet areas.
Functionally, there are many things to take into account. When choosing tiles, make sure the tile you pick is suitable for the area you plan to use it – waterproof enough for the bath or shower, and textured and tough enough for the floor.
Here are some pictures of tile use in bathrooms to help you come up with your own bathroom tile design ideas.
Large wall tiles broken up with narrow contrast stripes behind a white vessel sink
The large pale mottled/marbled effect tiles have a quiet, soothing effect, while the contrast stripes are made up of multiple small stone tiles in different colors, and break up the expanse to a more human scale.
Pale blue/grey/silver mosaic tiles behind a white vessel sink
The subtle damask-type pattern in these pale blue-grey tiles sweeps over all the bathroom walls. It gives the walls lots of interest while not being obtrusive, and makes a great background for the natural wood, metal and stone finishes.
Shades of black, grey, white and silver mosaic tiles
This is quite a busy mosaic tile pattern. It might make a good shower or bathtub surround for a morning-use bathroom when you want to be woken up! Alternatively, panels of this pattern surrounded by white would pop out and make a statement without being overwhelming.
Large pale diagonal tiles with narrow striped accent
These are the same pale marbled tiles in the first picture above, with the same small rectangular stone accent tiles, but here the large tiles are set on the diagonal. The swoopy towel ring makes a nice contrast with the straight lines of the tiles.
Bathroom Design: Pictures and Photos
One fun way to get more bathroom ideas for your new bathroom designs is to look at pictures of what other people have done with their bathrooms. Here are pictures of some nicely remodeled bathrooms, from the basic to the luxurious, and of several sizes.
Of course, you don’t have to copy all the ideas from one bathroom picture – you can mix and match compatible ideas to come up with your own unique bathroom decor style. The textured metal in the first picture, for example, gives a very sparkly look which could be paired with blue granite counters and deep colored walls instead of the natural wood and pale walls shown. The more of your own imagination you can include in your bathroom designs, the better!
Modern bathroom with lots of sparkly textured stainless steel and natural wood.
Antique-style natural wood vanity with white solid-surfacing top, integral sink and gold-finish faucet
Traditional-style bathroom with wallpaper, beige fixtures, bathtub in alcove, light wood double vanity.
Wall-to-wall double bathroom vanity with white vessel sinks, tiled walls and granite counter
A romantic bathroom scene with candles, roses and wine carefully placed on the rim of the set-in tub.
Updated bathroom using old and new materials: natural stone window seat, elaborate but subtly-colored tile mosaic walls, and white vessel sink.
Glass tiles with wide grout lines in many shades of blue
Old but still attractive bathroom in shades of green with white pedestal sink
Romantic-style bathroom vanity with ornate wood mirror, boudoir lamp, granite counter and waterfall faucet
Modern toilet alcove, completely tiled, with built in hand-held shower plus a telephone
Inset tub with columns, swagged curtains, candle-holders; all ready for your romantic evening
Modern toilet alcove with hidden tank, completely tiled walls and floor, stainless steel accessories
Fancy white and gold bathtub faucet, dark blue marble walls, white tub
Grey and green marble and tile, plus natural wood finishes; unusual toilet shape.
Bathroom Decor Ideas
As you head for the bathroom first thing in the morning, what meets your gaze? Something you enjoy looking at, which helps you to start the day cheerful and optimistic, or something depressing? Same at the end of the day: as you go through your before-bed routine, does your bathroom help you wind down for peaceful sleep or does it send you to bed in a bad frame of mind?
Given the basics of a bathroom which is structurally and plumbing-wise functional and safe, there are many bathroom decor ideas which can help your cheer up even a small space and improve the start and end of your day.
Bathroom decor idea - pale yellow and white
First and foremost, color makes the biggest difference. There are many books and magazines to tell you which colors give a certain mood, or are trendy this year, but the most important point is – which color or colors make YOU feel good?
I like yellow, and my newly-painted (but not quite completely remodeled) bathroom is a pale sandy yellow which feels fresh, warm and cheerful without being overpowering in the small space. Plenty of white in the form of fixtures and cabinets help make it feel more spacious and open, and colorful towels add pizazz and can change the mood instantly if I feel the desire.
Try taking your own favorite color and playing with variations of it, from dark to light, jewel to pastel, cooler or warmer hues, subdued or bright. Combine different shades of the same color in one room to give a monochromatic color scheme which can be lively, using definite contrasts, or soothing, with colors that blend together.
Style can also make a big difference in bathroom decor. While your basic fixtures and their locations stay the same, you can completely change the style using paint and accessories. The big advantage of doing this in the bathroom is that the room itself is usually fairly small and there are no or few furniture pieces to buy, so you can do it easily, quickly and inexpensively.
A few examples…
- Arts and Crafts bathroom decor idea – use period colors like greens and olives on the walls, oak and ceramic accessories, and perhaps an art nouveau style border at the ceiling. Arts and Crafts bathrooms often featured amazing tilework – colorful and extensive – so this would be a rather more expensive style to pull off if you wanted to go the whole hog.
- Country bathroom decor ideas – pastel or muted colors, jolly fabric on the window and anywhere else possible, wood or ceramic accessories, cute decorative items
- Tuscan bathroom – roughened plaster finish on the walls (go easy on this, it can be hard to clean!), natural stone surfaces, wood furnishings, wrought iron accessories. Colors include golden yellow, terrcotta, brick, ochre, and greens.
- Japanese bathroom: natural wood and stone finishes, shoji screens, plants, trickling waterfall, metal and wood accessories.
Your bathroom is an important room, even if it’s small. Suitable bathroom decor ideas can help make you feel better at the start and end of the day, and are worth looking for and applying to your bathroom.