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Tile partial or all the bathroom walls?

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I am planning on renovating my narrow 4'10" X 10' bathroom . I will tile the bathroom floor and shower walls, and use a shower pan. Would it be unusual to tile just the vanity/toilet wall and not the others? The 4'10"wall consists of only the door and the return end of the vanity, so that leaves just one long wall left untiled. The reasoning about only tiling the vanity/toilet wall is that I am planning on using a travertine look porcelain tile for the floor and shower, and I'm concerned about it looking too closed in if I tiled all the walls in this narrow room. Whether I tile all walls or just the vanity/toilet wall, I would tile it to chair rail height, and paint the remaining walls. What makes this confusing is the 10" wide bump out area to the right of the shower outlined in red on the plan.

If it is OK to tile ONLY the vanity wall half way up :

#1 . Would I tile the bump out area with a full tile wall like the shower wall it is next to or a half wall like the vanity/toilet wall it adjoins?

#2. Should I tile the return wall at the end of the vanity?

My other options are:

#3 Tile ALL the walls half way up?

#4 Tile the floor and shower only and just have a vanity backsplash, using either tile or the countertop material, behind and to the left of the vanity?

The difference in the plan photo is that the plumbing is actually in the bumped out red area and I will be enlarging the shower from a 32" depth to a 36" depth which leaves about 3" to the edge of the bump out for bullnose. I am also doing away with the recessed makeup area and using a full 48" floating vanity instead. Your thoughts please.

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Comments (2)

PRO
Creative Ceramic & Marble/ Bill Vincent
5 years ago
I know I'm going to be a big help, but ANY of those options are not only acceptable but attractive. I've done bathrooms in each of those ways, and they've all looked nice. This is one of those things that it depends on what YOU like.
pattyl11 thanked Creative Ceramic & Marble/ Bill Vincent
chispa
5 years ago
Do what you like. I always put tile on the shower ceilings, which not many people do. For me, it completes the shower "room" and prevents some of the issues you can see on painted shower ceilings.

Do what you feel will look right to you and provide any wall protection that your family might need.

I just remodeled my son's bathroom and did not tile behind the toilet. He is now in college so the bathroom won't get as much use. Had I done this bathroom 10 years ago, I probably would have tiled behind the toilet to protect the walls from teen boys!
pattyl11 thanked chispa
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