When designing your bathroom, you’ve likely picked out the paint you’ll use on the walls and the vanity that will house your essentials. But don’t sleep on deciding how to style your shower. From subdued to bold, there are shower tile ideas that fit just about any aesthetic and lend a finished look that will take your shower from afterthought to the main attraction. Here, we’ve rounded up some beautiful shower tile ideas to inspire your next bathroom design project—and we bet you’ll fall in love with more than one.
Stacked, Alligator Green
Sarah Winchester Studios
If the rest of your bathroom is fairly neutral, add a pop of color to your shower tile. Designer Nicole Hirsch, owner of Nicole Hirsch Interiors, did that here with an all-white bathroom and light oak vanity that needed a colorful splash. “Since it’s a boy’s bathroom, we wanted to infuse a bit of bold color, so we chose this vibrant alligator green tile and also painted the ceiling in the main area of the bathroom in the same color,” she says. “We stacked the tiles to keep them modern and clean and used a matching grout color to avoid contrast lines.”
Dynamic Large-Format
Floor and Decor
Large-format tile, shown here, minimizes the amount of grout lines you need to clean while also providing a uniform look. Wrap your bathroom in a tiled half wall and continue the tile into the shower for cohesion.
Bold Grout
Jungalow / Justina Blakeney
Who says grout needs to be white? Kick your shower tile up a notch and have fun with a colored grout that contrasts with your tile color. Here, gold grout pops against ocean-blue hexagonal tiles for a striking look.
Fun Hexagons
Photo by Christopher Lee, Design by Gabrielle Santiago Design
When you think of shower tiles, you probably think of standard rectangles, but bring your creativity and try a more dynamic shape instead. In this bathroom designed by Gabrielle Santiago, small hexagon-shaped tiles in a repeat pattern make for a unique shower design.
Grey With Contrasting Grout
Sarah Winchester Studios
For a modern look, go with grey tile and contrasting grout lines. “In this boy’s bathroom, we chose a modern, square tile with a contrasting grout color to create more of a bold pattern,” Hirsch says.
Pink, Hand-Painted
Sarah Winchester Studios
For a unique spin on tile, try a hand-painted option that will display some natural variation from tile to tile. “In this girls’ shared bath we found a very soft, airy hand-painted pink tile,” says Hirsch. “Because they are hand painted there is a mix of color tones from one tile to the next and the surface has a variation on texture. Gives a very artistic, sophisticated feel to the whole bathroom.”
Dolomite Marble
Kirsten Francis
The clean, white Dolomite marble tile of the shower is boldly matched with punchy, high-contrast white and black tile for the floor in this guest bathroom designed by Jodi Berger of JLA Designs. “We went with a bold, high-contrast black and white mosaic tile for the floor with brass inlays for a glamorous touch,” Berger says. “A clean Dolomite marble tile was used for the shower walls to ensure the floor would be the star.”
Interesting Texture
Sarah Winchester Studios
Don’t be fooled—what looks like hundreds of tiny tiles here is actually large-format tile designed with a grey bubble texture. “The tile is created in such a way that it looks like one continuous piece vs. squares of tile,” Hirsch says. “We wanted to create a lot of interesting texture in this shower vs. busy pattern or color.”
Calming Blue
Block Renovation
Blues and whites are a natural color scheme for bathroom design, and in this small bathroom, square blue tiles line the shower walls while neutral gray hexagonal tiles ground the shower floor. A matte black-trimmed frameless shower door creates a visual contrast.
All-White Hexagons
Kelsey Ann Rose
A smaller space might benefit from an all-white look, such as this bathroom designed by Elizabeth Vergara. Bright white shower tiles paired with a white hexagonal tiled shower floor make this bathroom feel more expansive than it really is.
Dramatic Black
Jess Isaac, The Layered House
Go for the drama with solid black tile in your shower. In this bathroom designed by The Layered House, black shower tile is paired with an intriguing black wallpaper adorned with leopards, plus a black countertop.
Lavender Subway
Christina Hussey Photograpy
Lavender shower tile is a playful addition to this bathroom designed by Ashley Lapp. A traditional subway tile shape grounds the unexpected color, and metallic gold hardware pulls the entire look together.
Emerald Green Squares
Jenifer McNeil Baker
Jewel box bathrooms are trending, but what about jewel box showers? The square, emerald-green shower tile used in this bathroom designed by Eddie Maestri, principal architect and owner of Maestri Studio, is accented with metallic gold hardware, and both contrast beautifully with the patterned tile floor that flows throughout both the bathroom and the shower.
Classic Calcutta Marble
Jess Isaac Photography
A classic marble tile works beautifully in any shower, especially when mixed with floor tiles of a different size and pattern. “For this bathroom, we chose a Calcutta marble tile that is classic and neutral but also adds interest and depth,” says Heather Lucas of Lucas Browning Design. “We contrasted this large-scale tile with a small, beehive-shaped Calcutta marble tile on the shower floor. Light-touch Calcutta slab shower benches and countertops match the tone of the tiles without fighting with their busier veining.”
Textured White
Cate Black Photography
The textured white tile used in this shower, designed by Audrey Scheck Design, lets the fun, colorful patterned shower floor really pop. Tiled insets and a tiled bench lend functionality to this small, hallway-style shower.
Neutral Mosaic
Lance Gerber
Mosaic tiles are all the rage right now, and they work well in a shower that gives them enough room to shine—like in this floor-to-ceiling mosaic-tiled shower designed by Joshua Smith, founder and principal designer of Joshua Smith Inc.
Acrylic “Tile”
Re-Bath
If you love the look of tile but don’t want the expense or hassle of installing it—or keeping the grout clean—consider an acrylic mold that gives you the look of tile. Here, a modern bathroom gets an upgrade with Re-Bath‘s Calcutta Azure Acrylic molded into a subway tile pattern.
