Downstairs Toilet Tile Ideas – 21 ways to style the smallest room in your house

The downstairs loo is the tiniest and often most overlooked room in the house. But just because it’s out of sight doesn’t mean it has to be boring.

Downstairs toilets are one of the best rooms to tile. Because they’re so compact, you won’t need a huge amount of tiles. You can stick to inexpensive styles, or, if your budget allows, pick a more expensive tile type, especially if you’re just tiling a splashback.

Which tiles are best for a small cloakroom?

When it comes to tiling your downstairs toilet, anything goes! You can choose lighter tiles to help the room feel bigger, or create a dramatic look with beautiful dark tiles. You can opt for bold and bright, or keep it more neutral.

Many people choose to make a statement in their cloakroom because it’s hidden from view from the rest of the house. So if you’re keen to unleash your wild inner designer, this is a great place to try it out!  You can be really creative with tiles in a small space, use them to create the illusion of more space, or just have fun with colour and pattern to create a completely unique look.

Downstairs toilet tile ideas

We’ve put together 21 different cloakroom tile ideas to show you just how many different, and equally stylish looks you can achieve with tiles:

Keep it simple with white metro tiles

Metro tiles are a firm favourite in small rooms. One of the main benefits of these tiles, besides the fact they’re budget-friendly, is the many layout options. Go for a traditional brick bond lay, like below, or stack them vertically for a more modern feel. This also helps to visually lengthen the room which can work wonders in a small space.

Image credit: @thehomeofthebbs

Recreate this look: Dorset Bevelled White with Premium White combined with Damask Decor Tiles

Glam it up with marble tiles

Possibly the most luxurious choice for a downstairs toilet, marble is elegant, striking and best of all, timeless. Favoured by the Greeks and the Romans (and who can argue with their style choices?, this incredible stone is a surefire way to make a real statement in your home.

Real marble isn’t cheap, but when looked after well, you can expect it to last a lifetime. If you want to achieve the look for less, go for marble-effect porcelain. It still looks incredible but you won’t have the maintenance issues. Just make sure that you check the tiles for repeat patterns and take care not to lay these side by side to keep the look as natural as possible.

Image credit: @thehiddenhall

Recreate this look: Elgin Matt Marble 60 x 60 with Weber Premium Charcoal 

Think pink

One of the best things about tiling a small room, whether it’s a cloakroom, utility or another bathroom in the home is that you can be as bold as you dare. It’s not a room you’ll spend much time in, so if you’ve always had a thing for pink, but weren’t sure where it would fit in, pop it in your downstairs loo!

There are so many shades to choose from and pink can be surprisingly versatile, sitting perfectly alongside other colours like black, white, blue, green, yellow, grey and beige.

Image credit: @houseonthecorner_16

Recreate this look: Rio Rosa, Weber premium charcoal grout and Damask 12

Add interest with hexagonal floor tiles

Hexagonal tiles are taking the design world by storm.  They’re a great way to add a contemporary feel to a room and work brilliantly in small spaces. You can keep it simple by choosing the same colour tiles or mix it up and use different coloured tiles to create a patchwork effect floor or wall.

Image credit: @worldofwallpaperuk

Choose dramatic black tiles

Black is always going to be a bold colour choice but it can work wonders when used in a small space, even when has no natural light.

Combine dramatic black tiles with bright, bold wallpaper for maximum effect. Wallpaper and tiles are a perfect match and unlike in a bathroom, you won’t need to worry about the room steaming up.

Image credit: @the_scruff_house

Fit a statement star tile floor

Fitting a dark floor in a small space can work surprisingly well. Add interest with a gorgeous celestial pattern to break up an all-black room. Although dark colours absorb light and can make an already small space seem smaller, don’t let it put you off decorating your cloakroom in a dark colour if that’s what you prefer. Dark colours are dramatic and can feel much cosier than bright white spaces.

Image credit: @fastflowheatingsolutions

Recommended Tile: Regal Negro

Opt for two types of wall tile

Take advantage of smaller spaces and mix up tile styles and patterns, a great idea if you can’t make up your mind about which colours or tiles to use. Combining metro and larger format tiles is a great way to style a small space.

Image credit: @robavabathrooms

Recommended Feature Tile: Rio Verde

Recommended Plain Tile: Fern White

Clad a wall with mini mosaics

Get creative in your cloakroom and add iridescent glass mosaic tiles to a wall. If your toilet is wall-hung or back to wall, you may have space to create a handy shelf too. Mosaic tiles look their magnificent best when used in small spaces and you can experiment with well-placed lighting to show them off in all their glory.

Image credit: @aquabathroomsdirectltd

Recommended Tile: Ocean Pacific Blue

Use tactile textured tiles

Textured tiles are ideal for creating areas of interest and work especially well in small spaces. There is a growing range of beautifully textured tiles to choose from, you can opt for subtle texture, like the tiles in the room below or go for more dramatic embossed designs depending on your style preference.

Image credit: @the.modern.country.cottage

Recommended Tile: Vintage White

Add style with lily pad tiles

These beautiful, iconic tiles have taken the social-media interior world by storm. Most often used in bathrooms and cloakrooms, the bold, geometric design of these tiles will instantly transform any space.

There are a few different layout options to choose from, so it’s a good idea to try them all out before settling on the final design.

Image credit: @wonderful_windermere

Recommended Range: Ava

Personalise your floor with penny tiles

If you want to create a unique floor in your downstairs toilet, using penny mosaic tiles is one of the best ways to achieve this. Penny tiles are round or hexagonal and come on sheets for ease of fitting. You can easily snip out the tiles you want to make your own patterns or words.

Image credit: @ourfairhaven

Recommended Wall Tile: Rio Verde

Recommended Floor Tile: Waxman Shapes Hexagon

Add rustic zellige style tiles

Zellige tiles originate in Morocco. The original tiles would have been handmade from clay, resulting in different colours and thicknesses. These attractive, irregular tiles are a great way to achieve a rustic look and work especially well when used in smaller spaces.

Fit a feature tile splashback

Embossed tiles are incredibly beautiful and they often come with a hefty price tag too. The beauty of tiling a tiny room is that you’ll only need a few to tile a splashback. We love the contrast between these Art-Deco-inspired pink tiles, the black panelling and the ornate wallpaper. Tiling a splashback in a bold design adds character and depth and is a fantastic way to upstyle a bathroom if you’re on a budget or don’t want to use many wall tiles.  

Image credit: @artdecojewel

Get the wow factor with a fish-scale tile panel

Modern mermaid or fish-scale mosaic tiles are inspired by traditional Moroccan fan tiles. These popular tiles are available in a range of colours and finishes and are a wonderful way to liven up a small downstairs toilet.

Fit a fish-scale splashback or create a striking feature panel and add luxurious fittings for maximum impact.

Image credit: @rowantree_home

Recommended Tile: Mermaid Mist

Go for timeless stone-effect floor tiles

Depending on the location of your toilet, you might choose to have a different tile on your floor or continue the hall tiles into your downstairs cloakroom. Large-scale floor tiles look just as good in a small space as they do in larger areas.

Stone-effect porcelain tiles are much easier to look after than natural stone and look incredible. Keep it low-maintenance with tiled upstands – you’ll never have to gloss skirting boards again!

Neutral floors will go with everything so you can add interest with a bright splashback or keep it simple, the choice is yours.

Image credit: @house_43_

Recreate this look: Waxman Rustic Heritage – Taco Black and Freya Modular on the floor

Add a contrasting splashback in a dark room

Dark walls are increasingly popular in cloakrooms. If you have black or navy blue walls, add interest with a striking contrasting splashback. Ochre, orange, yellow, pink or red will all look incredible. A small space to tile means much more choice when it comes to choosing the right tiles. Take care to plan the layout and get the pattern just right before you start.

Choose terrific terrazzo tiles

If you want to go bold in your cloakroom, consider fitting terrazzo tiles. Created by fusing porcelain, cement or resin and chips of stone, these tiles are extremely durable and incredibly beautiful.

Perfect for adding an ultra-modern look to a downstairs toilet, you can happily pair terrazzo with plain tiles, wood or natural stone.

Tile used: Monarch Terrazzo Pearl Matt

Go for gorgeous green tiles

Add a welcome pop of colour to your cloakroom with jewel green tiles.  Half-tiled walls are a popular and practical choice in downstairs toilet rooms and you can fuse them with striking wallpaper, or keep it simpler with a complementary bright wall colour.

Image credit: @woodchipandmagnolia

Blend black tiles with warm wood

Add interest to a small room by combining bold black with warm wood-effect tiles.  Laying wood-effect tiles vertically will help to elongate a room and it’s a clever way to break up a dark wall.

Image credit: @maisonsouslecendre

Recommended Tile: Naturae Forest 

Embrace bold Spanish style

Be creative with your cloakroom and give it a theme. Mediterranean style is warm, stylish and timeless. Have fun with bold Spanish tiles and sunshine-coloured walls, keep it simpler with a blue and white theme or fit colourful Morrocan-style tiles.

Image credit: @squires8418

Tile used: Provenza Deco Tile

Or keep it neutral

If you prefer a more toned-down look, grey and white is a chic choice for a cloakroom.  Grey adds a softer finish to a room than white but is less harsh than black. If you pick grey, you’ll also have a huge range of tile sizes and styles to choose from. Mid-sized, horizontally laid tiles are one of the most elegant options for a small room.

Image credit: @sophiedid_home

Downstairs toilet tile tips

• It’s worth taking the toilet and sink out if you’re installing new floor tiles, especially if you’ve chosen expensive, large-format tiles. It may sound scary but it’s a simple, quick and inexpensive job for a plumber to do, or you can do it yourself! You will be glad you did if the sink or toilet cracks and need replacing as it’s often tricky to find the same model.
• You may want to choose a theme for your bathroom and base it on a country or particular style. Pick tiles to suit, for example, zellige tiles will work wonders in a Mediterranean-themed room.
  If you’re on a budget, just changing the splashback tiles and the colour of the walls can be enough to overhaul a cloakroom.
• Be as bold as you dare, or keep it simpler, either way, we recommend ordering a few tile samples, especially if your cloakroom has little or no natural light.
• Don’t forget the finishing touches. The right tile edging can make a huge difference to a small space.

Atlas Ceramics stocks a wide range of wall and floor tiles. From intricate glass mosaics to large-format stone tiles and everything in between, browse our selection yourself or call one of our experts for advice.