Bathroom Design Ideas

When tiling around your kitchen sink or bathroom you are inevitably going to reach a point when you will need to cut your tiles, whether this is to finish the edges, tile around taps and pipes or to butt up against mouldings.

Measuring

There are a couple of ways you can make sure your cut tile fits.  The easiest cut is a straight line; here you simply hold the tile back to front in the gap you intend to fill allowing for grouting and mark off the cut line.

Cutting Straight Lines

Using a sharp tile cutter and a straight edge, score the line in one smooth motion. Place the tile on top of a thin lathe of wood or two used matches to slightly raise it up and apply downward pressure to crack the tile.

Cutting Round Corners and Curves

Make a paper template for awkward shapes and use a lead pencil or china graph pencil to mark the cut line. You can then score a line across the curve and using pliers nibble out the excess tile to create the curve. Alternatively you can use a tile saw to manually cut around the shape or an electric saw fitted with a tile cutting blade will allowing you to follow the required shape effortlessly.

If you use a saw – either manual or especially electric – make sure the tile is properly supported as they can be easily broken by the vibrations and stresses from the saw.

A wet room is a tiled room which is completely water tight. Many wet rooms have walk-in baths, showers with seats and even access for wheelchairs. However, this is not something that is only suitable for disabled people. Wet rooms are becoming more and more fashionable and popular, and many modern houses are being built to include them.

When considering the possibility of installing a wet room there are several factors to be considered.  It is important to make sure that the floor is strong enough to hold the weight of tiles, etc. Reinforcement may be required. The drainage system must be placed away from the door so that water does not seep underneath, ventilation needs to be sufficient to clean any condensation and the floor must be made of non slip tiles.

There are various options when it comes to choosing bathroom fittings for a wet room and the room does not have to be completely open. A shower screen may be fitted to stop everything in the room getting wet when the shower is in use and the addition of a wall hung toilet will make it very easy to keep clean and hygienic.

Remodelling an old bathroom and making it into a purpose built wet room will make using the bathroom a much more enjoyable experience and the choice of tiles and fittings is huge. A properly built waterproofed wet room will stay looking good for much longer than an ordinary bathroom and if it is installed as a second bathroom, it will also add a large amount to the value of your home.

If that vinyl covering on the bathroom or kitchen floor has seen better days, give the room a boost with some gorgeous new floor tiles. Don’t panic – this isn’t major property development; it’s just good old DIY, hardly more taxing than a spot of painting and decorating. No plastering, no building and no architects will be required!

Find the mid-point of the two longest and the two shortest walls and chalk straight lines between them, ensuring that they cross at right angles (tweak the mid-point of one of the walls if they don’t).

Start by tiling loosely along the two lines to check they look OK from the doorway. Nudge the lines again if necessary to make the gaps at the edges at least half a tile width. Tiles should be symmetrically laid around features like French windows or fireplaces, so another line shift may be necessary.

Start along the longest line from the intersection, spreading a square metre of grout at a time and scraping it with the notched trowel. Check that the tiles sit squarely with the other line and gently press them into place, slipping plastic spacers into each corner. Keep going with whole tiles until you’ve almost reached the edges, working out from the centre (use a spirit level to make sure they’re sitting evenly). Leave to dry for 24 hours and cut the edge tiles to size, allowing a further 12 hours for drying. After you’ve sealed the surface (leave 2 hours to dry), grout between the tiles, cleaning the excess with a damp sponge as you go. Finito!

Most people do not realise that choosing the right bathroom tiles is not an easy process. They usually only think about the colour and texture, but then find that tiles are now available in a number of different materials and size options.

Ceramic tiles with their glazed surface are the most frequently chosen tiles for bathroom walls. These last a long time, are very easy to clean and come in a huge range of colours and designs to suit any style of bathroom. The main thing to remember with ceramic tiles is that no two lots are the same. It works a bit like batch numbers on wallpaper, you must buy the right number of boxes with the same batch number to ensure that they will match, because if you run out of tiles you may find that you cannot get a perfect match when you go to buy more.

Glazed terracotta tiles can give a bathroom a real Mediterranean look and quality terracotta will last for life. However, very high quality tiles in this material may not be easy to find and the cheapest ones do not do the job in the same way, or give the same finished look.

Granite, slate and marble tiles look wonderful but they are expensive and must be sealed to stop them from absorbing the water in the bathroom and being affected by steam. You will need specialist advice on how to do this if you intend to fit them yourself.

Glass, porcelain and even metal tiles are very effective, different and stunning to look at, but unless you are an expert these really need to be fitted by a specialist. They are far from cheap and a mistake would cost you a great deal of money.

The simple answer to why travertine is that it is a time has proved product that this is a material that has been used for centuries on buildings notably in Europe, the Colesseum in Rome and the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris are but two examples of the use of travertine throughout the world. Travertine is a natural product that has been formed through the reaction between heated water to mix with calcium carbonate particles resulting from shifts in the earth’s crust; travertine was created in large deposits and is now quarried for use in buildings in the form of blocks and tiles.

Like many natural products used in building and landscaping, travertine has to be shaped and dressed to give it a shape but at all times the natural look of travertine is not altered. The colours of travertine are completely natural too, so there is no possibility of the colourful look of the patio, wall cladding or bathroom going to fade or be washed away. In its purest form travertine is white but with contamination from other natural deposits, the colour can vary from white through yellow and brown.

Before buying travertine tiles you should seek the advice of your travertine supplier who will tell you which of the many travertine products is best for the room or area you are intending to use this in. For example, honed travertine is best for use in high traffic areas and rooms exposed to moisture such as kitchens and bathrooms. Natural travertine is best suited for living rooms as this is soft and delicate to look at and the classic aged look of travertine tumbled stone will warm your home.

Travertine is a natural stone material from the limestone family and is formed with calcium carbonate and is usually found in the form of deposits near warm or hot springs. Used as a building material in ancient times notably for the Colesseum in Rome and the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris.

There are many forms of finish to be seen in Travertine stone which is soft and delicate to look at and the classic aged look of Travertine tumbled stone will warm your home. Where you use Travertine stone will to a large extent decide on the finish and colour that you finally settle on. Travertine in its purest form is white, but impurities can cause the colour of travertine to vary and to be yellow and brown. Travertine is normally available in standard or natural and honed where the where the indentations have been filled and honed.

Given that travertine is a natural stone tile, it is essential that you pick the right type of tile for your need. Usually honed travertine tiles are best for use in high traffic areas and rooms exposed to moisture such as kitchens and bathrooms. The natural travertine is more suited to typical domestic use in living rooms and common areas. Travertine is a cheaper option that marble or granite; it’s a solid middle-market buy that combines affordability with style.

Tiles are one of the favourite means by which people renovate their bathroom floors. They are easy to clean; functional and easily adaptable to help you create your own bathroom design.

Tiles laid out in geometric patterns are extremely stylish, while laid diagonally, with a splash of contrasting colour, makes for a striking and original look to any bathroom.

Tiles are also extremely durable. However, accidents do occur from time to time and the look of smashed tiles is not something that anybody would willingly put up with for long.

The average homeowner is generally helpless when confronted by the prospect of removing bathroom tiles, yet a few easy steps should put courage into even the faintest heart.

First up is to remove the grouting that surrounds the smashed tile. For this you will need a reasonably good quality utility knife and some grout remover. Be careful, if you drop any of the remover on surrounding tiles you may well have to remove and replace them.

The next step is one that involves a quick prayer. If the tile is old and has been stuck down with glue, it will be tricky to remove. If this is the case, hammer a hole in the tile and chisel around the offending object. Do not be too concerned at causing some damage to the underlay, as this will be covered by the new tile. With any luck you will be able to simply prise away the existing fragments.

Finally, be sure to thoroughly clean any detritus off the floor before slotting the new tile into place, making sure that it lies level with those surrounding it. Leave for a day before completing with a new layer of grouting.

There are a number of options for decorating your bathroom wall. You can use wallpaper, tiles or paint or a combination of the three. Since the walls in the bathroom are exposed to more moisture than other walls around the house, tiles are usually the most favoured. Tiles will help you to achieve a neater look for your bathroom, but they can be very difficult to put up and are the most expensive option.

If you wish to use tiles, but do not have the time to put them up, then it may a good idea to decorate one part of your bathroom with tiles, and the other part with paint or wallpaper. If you decide to go with this option, then be sure to place the tiles in the areas that are the most exposed to water. It is a good idea to seek advice if you are inexperienced at tiling or to delegate the task to someone who is more experienced.

Perhaps the least ideal option for your bathroom wall is wallpaper. If you decide to choose wallpaper, then you will more than likely need to replace it regularly, as it will peel as a result of being exposed to moisture. Also, if you wish to achieve a stylish appearance, the wallpaper may not be the best option. Tiles or paint will give a more stylish look.

Paint is the quickest option for decorating the bathroom walls and can look great when combined with tiles. Try to choose paint that is most suited to the bathroom, as this type of paint will be resistant to mould and steam.

Traditionally, bathrooms have often been decorated with lots of blue, or even just touches of the colour, to reflect the bathing regime and water. Alternatively, they have been white, which resulted in a very cold and clinical feel. Now, however, contemporary bathrooms can be decorated in any hue and the range of colour schemes available is almost limitless, although black may still not be the best option.

Whichever colour you choose, try to pick something that is not too quirky or individual, since this is likely to date very quickly and can become a real problem if you ever want to sell your house. So, whilst starfish, mermaids and appliqué unicorns may look great for the first six months, they can soon take on a quite tired air that quickly dates and looks rather unfashionable. 

It is far better to stick to mainly neutral colours, creams, beiges, whites or even slightly shaded colours with hues of blue, green or just a gentle shade of pink, but nothing too strong. Vibrant colours, if you can’t live without them, can be introduced in your accessories, but should not be on the walls. If they are, then the whole room becomes dominated by the colour and you almost lose the bathroom suite. It is also far from relaxing to be lying in the bath, surrounded by bright red walls, which can be more than slightly oppressive. 

The bathroom should be a place where peace and tranquillity is afforded and gentle colours will do this very well. A colour scheme such as this will also help show off the accessories and bathroom suite to their best advantage.

Tiled walls are a very popular choice for the bathroom, since they can help repel water, are easy to clean and with a fantastic range available it is really easy to attain a very stylish look. You can have a professional do the work, but it is also possible to do it yourself.

Before you start the tiling, make sure that your walls are flat and clean and that there are no little bumps of plaster or dampness.

The main thing to bear in mind when tiling a bathroom is that you must use a tile adhesive which is waterproof, otherwise the humid and damp conditions will mean that your tiles might soon drop off. You should also be sure to use a waterproof grout between them, so that they are fully protected.

Due to the number of pipes and fittings you have to cut around, bathrooms can be fiddly to tile. The best way to do this is simply by trial and error, using a good quality tile cutter to cut your tiles so that there is a perfect fit. It is always best to allow some extra tiles in case some of them break, are damaged, or you make a wrong cut. Just be patient, hold the faith and you will find that with a little practice you will be able to cut the tiles to fit around the most awkward pipes.

When you grout, be sure to omit the gap between the bath and the tiles or the shower tray and the tiles. For this you need a special silicon sealant, which is widely available in DIY stores.