Large Tiles in a Small Bathroom

Large porcelain tiles in a bathroom mean fewer grout lines, which gives walls and floors a calmer, more continuous look and leaves less grout to clean. That's a big part of why large tiles can make a small bathroom feel bigger and less busy.

In a small room, almost every tile is cut somewhere: around the toilet, the basin, the window, the door and the bath. With large tiles, a poor layout can leave thin slivers at walls and corners, which look awkward and are hard to fix well. The setting out is planned so cuts are balanced on both sides of the room and fall where they're least noticed.

There's no single best size. On walls, tiles that divide neatly into the wall height or line up with the bath, window or niche give a clean result. On floors, the tile size needs to work with the length and width of the room, the doorway and any fall. Sketching the layout, or laying a few tiles out dry before buying, helps you see how a size will work.

Large tiles are flat and rigid, so they can't follow a fall in more than one direction. On a shower floor with a central point drain, small tiles or mosaics are usually used; large tiles work better with a linear drain, where the floor falls one way. In a wet room, the drain is chosen with the tiles in mind.

Big tiles need flat surfaces. Small bathrooms in older homes often have walls that aren't flat or square, so walls and floors are checked and corrected first, and a tile levelling system keeps the edges flush. The tile levelling systems guide explains how they work.

Gloss tiles reflect light and can brighten a small, dark bathroom, but they show water marks and can be slippery on floors. Matt and textured tiles hide marks better and give more grip underfoot. Many bathrooms use gloss or satin tiles on the walls and matt tiles on the floor.

They need more care: flatter surfaces, full adhesive coverage, careful handling and accurate cuts around fittings. Large-format porcelain is one of the services Vanta Tiling offers, with levelling systems used for a flat finish.