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From tiled feature walls to the best colour combinations

When designing a bathroom or loo, there is only so much excitement you can glean from picking your basin or shower unit. The real fun comes in selecting the colours, patterns, and design effects you can create with your bathroom tiles. And whilst a classic white tile will always be an elegant option, there is a whole world of bold and joyful bathroom tile ideas to choose from.

When selecting your bathroom tiles, it's important to balance practical considerations, like how well they will clean, or if they will stand up to natural wear and tear, with design decisions around colour, style, shape and placement. Here, we look at some clever tiling ideas, from tiled feature walls to retro colour combinations, and also consider some design tricks, like how to use bathroom tiles for colour blocking, and how to mix your patterns.

We've scoured our favourite tile retailers and brands, from Bert & May to Homebase, to find 16 of the best bathroom tile ideas to inspire a makeover...

This bathroom mixes patterns in a very country cottage manner – placing striped wallpaper together with checkered floor tiles in a contrast that feels playful and bright. Never be put off by the idea of wallpaper bubbling in a steamy bathroom – it is more resilient than you may think. Just be sure to use water-resistant materials in those areas likely to be splashed.

Pictured: Senator Bath without Feet at BC Designs

This bathroom chooses texture over colour – a reasonable design decision in a room intended for indulgence and relaxation. High-gloss fish scale wall tiles mix surprisingly well with a matte marble here, plus tiling the inside of your shower cubicle and reserving marble for the trim is a great cost-saving exercise.

Pictured: Panelling in Elgin™ No.20 at Mylands

Modern blush pink wall tiles take on a vintage feel when paired with cream wood, mismatched accessories, and sweet floral wallpaper. We will forever be fans of putting an accent chair in a bathroom to make it feel welcoming, and lived-in. Plus it doubles as a handy place to keep a towel or a book nearby whilst you enjoy a soak.

Pictured: Country Living Artisan Peony Blush Ceramic Wall Tile at Homebase

To create a serene bathroom sanctuary, neutrals alongside natural materials should be your go to. Strong contrasts in colour or pattern aren't needed to make bathroom tiles stand out – just the interesting herringbone pattern and textured surface here is plenty.

Pictured: Walls in Threadneedle™ No.262 at Mylands

This bathroom uses a few well-selected features to create a retro design scheme – the powdery pink and blue colour palette, as well as the clever black break in the tiling, the rattan mirror, and of course that fabulous sherbet pink Burlington basin helps too.

Pictured: Oska Powder Pink Matt Porcelain at Mandarin Stone

This Bolonia design from Bert & May was inspired by the intricate pattern on a reclaimed tile. When paired with the faded colour way, and the natural imperfections of a handmade piece, this splash back looks like the kind of fabulous discovery most home renovators can only dream of.

Pictured: Pink Bolonia Tile at Bert & May

A clever bathroom effect that would be so easy to replicate. We love this bold use of green and white stripe that blends seamlessly from floor to wall – a great choice for a cloakroom or small bathroom.

Pictured: Green Alalpardo Porcelain Tile at Bert & May

Standout floor tiling can add a brilliant touch of character to an otherwise plain space. The chalky, plaster effect walls make a great compliment here, so too does the choice of a dark wood sink unit – a lighter wood could look washed out next to the more saturated colours in the floor tiles.

Pictured: Basin Mixer at Drummonds

Bathrooms can on occasion look too sterile and clinical, which tends not to suit a country home. There are some useful tricks here that counter it, namely the rustic cupboard door, accents of wood, exposed bulb pendant light (although a vintage chandelier would work just as well,) and the chalky, encaustic effect on the floor tiles.

Pictured: Country Living Starry Skies Peacock Tile at Homebase

There is a natural richness to Moroccan-inspired motifs, even when used in a cooler colour palette like blue or green. These kinds of tiles invite warming woods and rattans, antiqued brass or chrome details, and work especially well in bathrooms with plenty of natural light.

Pictured: Blue Bolonia Tile at Bert & May

This fabulous bathroom embraces 70's styling head on, with a lot of red-toned wood and geometric tiles. A bathroom is a great place to decorate thematically – they are usually small spaces, and we spend less time in them than the main living areas in our home, so going big and bold on a theme is less of a risk.

Pictured: Walls in The Boltons™ No.28 at Mylands

Get creative with your bathroom tiles, and think beyond the usual two-tone. This is a clever way to introduce art into a bathroom – and totally splash-proof.

Pictured: Bath painted in Pavilion Blue No.252 at Farrow & Ball

If you are more inclined to decorate with a plain white tile, but don't want anything too stark or clinical, there are certain design features you can look out for - opt for something with rough and rounded edges, a rippled surface, or cracked glaze. Imperfections are your friend in this instance.

Pictured: Country Living Artisan Winter Sky Ceramic Wall Tile at Homebase

This clever tiling effect would be utterly effortless to recreate in your own bathroom. Mandarin Stone have used a single tile design in four pale colours to create an interesting colour block feature.

Pictured: Gelato Matt Ceramic Tiles at Mandarin Stone

This is one of our favourite bathroom tile effects on our list. Create a tiled area rug to sit neatly under a free-standing bath, or simply at the centre of your bathroom. As you can see in this bathroom, all of the pattern can be concentrated in a small area, and the rest of the space left relatively plain.

Pictured: Reclaimed Tiles collection at Berty & May

An interesting way to tackle an unused fireplace – here, it has become a small feature wall filled with classic navy kit kat tiles that frame a freestanding bathtub.

Pictured: Country Living Artisan French Navy Ceramic Wall Tile, and Starry Skies Indigo Blue Porcelain Tile, both at Homebase