Master/Family Bathroom Tile Ideas – 18 Ways to Transform a shared space

Whatever the size of your home, it will include a master or shared family bathroom.  A space for bathing babies and children and relaxing and unwinding for the bigger kids and grown-ups, family bathrooms are busy rooms.

Constantly getting splashed and soaked, family bathrooms need to be tough. Tiling the walls and floors is the best way to ensure that the room is easy to clean, looks great and is always ready for action.

Shared living spaces need to be functional and, although you don’t spend too much time in a bathroom, you’ll want it to be an inviting and attractive area of your home.  Whether your family bathroom is reserved for the kids or a space the whole family uses, keep reading to discover 18 fabulous family bathroom ideas.

Create a stunning family / shared bathroom space using beautiful tiles of your choice, which are very easy to maintain and keep clean. Many tiles are available in anti-slip, ideal for the bathroom.

Image credit: @wardbespokedevelopments

Recommended Tile: Damask Series Decor 1

What is the best tile for a family bathroom?

Family bathrooms need to be practical, but they can also be fun, traditional, playful, sophisticated, colourful or neutral, whatever suits your style and your family best.

Master bathrooms can be great spaces to have fun with, but you can also stick to classic tile styles that will stand the test of time.

Porcelain tiles are one of the best options for a family bathroom, tough and durable, they come in the widest range of finishes, sizes and colours.

You can also opt for beautiful real stone tiles for a luxurious look or more unusual glass tiles.

Family Bathroom Tile Ideas

Whether your bathroom is large or small, and you prefer colourful or neutral tile styles, we’ve rounded up the best family bathroom tile ideas to get you started:

Penny tiles

Choosing tiles in neutral shades can be a smart move when decorating a busy family bathroom. Penny tiles are an excellent choice for bathroom floor tiles. Because there’s a large grout-to-tile ratio, the extra grout provides an excellent non-slip surface when the tiles are wet.

Penny tiles are ideal for bathrooms as they use a large amount of grout which offers an excellent non-slip surface if your floor tiles get splashed.

Image credit: @debeauvoirhome

Fun flooring

The family bathroom can be a great place to experiment with patterns and colours you might not use in other parts of the house. We love this zig-zag tile design and it’s a clever solution if you want to make a smaller space look bigger. All you need to create this pattern are rectangular tiles in the colours of your choice.

If your bathroom is a smaller space, a zig-zag tile design can make it look much larger. All you need to create this pattern are rectangular tiles available in many colours, the choice is yours.

Image credit: @fionadukeinteriors

Recommended Tile: Diagonal Blue 

Stripy walls

Add interest to the shower enclosure or bathroom walls in a shared space by choosing different coloured tiles and laying them in stripes. It’s a great way to add personality and interest to a room and you can keep the colours subtle or make them as bold as you dare.

Experiment with colours and designs that you may not use in larger spaces, from bold and bright colours to interesting patterns and designs, the tile options are endless.

Image credit: @commonroom.co

Recommended Tile: Emilia Papaya

Terrazzo tiles

Terrazzo tiles are perfect for adding a fun feel to a room. They’re also bang on trend and will add a contemporary look to a bathroom. Most terrazzo tiles will be made from porcelain making them super-durable and a practical option for bathroom floors and walls. The coloured chips run throughout the tile so you don’t even need to edge them. What’s not to love?

Terrazzo tiles are unique yet fashionable and add a touch of colour and delight to your family bathroom. They can also be easily matched with numerous colour options.

Image credit: @makingspacesnet

Recommended Tile: Monarch Terrazzo Pearl Matt

Versatile green

One of the most calming colours, green is a great choice for a busy family bathroom.  Playful and sophisticated, there’s a huge range of shades to choose from, allowing you to create a calming sanctuary, a fresh retreat or a vibrant bathroom oasis.

Green is a very tranquil and therefore popular choice for a master or family bathroom, there are now so many shades and designs to chose from, ranging from calming to vibrant and fresh to fun!

Image credit: @day_true

Recommended Tile: Rio Verde

Light and bright

Keeping a family bathroom light, bright and spacious looking is a great idea. Instagram-style bathrooms are a brilliant source of ideas and inspiration but we all know that real-life bathrooms aren’t immaculate all the time. Keeping the walls and floors light in colour can help a space filled with bath toys, towels, loo rolls and bottles feel calmer and less cluttered.

Keeping the family bathroom walls and floors light in colour can help a space filled with family favourites like toys, towels and accessories, feel more restful and less busy.

Image credit: @lostandfoundinteriors

Recommended Tile: Ava Gris Decor 

Marvellous marble

Marble is as practical and durable as it is elegant and beautiful, making it a perfect choice for a sophisticated family bathroom space.

Marble tiles will suit all styles of home and you can choose from a range of tiles from contemporary large-format to period-style bevelled metro tiles and gorgeous mosaics.

Although marble is suitable for bathrooms when sealed, you might want to opt for easier-to-maintain marble-effect porcelain tiles.

Magnificent marble is delightful in any bathroom, made to last and stunning in style. For easy maintenance chose marble- effect porcelain tiles.

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Recommended Tile: Elgin Matt White Marble 

Bold black and white

It’s hard to go wrong with the iconic combination of black and white and if you’re looking for timeless tiles, it’s a savvy choice. Black and white tiles are suited to all spaces and you’ll have an enormous choice of tiles to pick from in this colour way.

Keep it simple with metro tiles, fit a classic chequerboard floor or opt for bolder black and white patterned tiles.

Black and white is the quintessential choice for any bathroom, enduring and sophisticated there is vast array of tiles to chose from and ways to lay them.

Image credit: @that_berry_house

Recommended Tile: Dorset Smooth white 

Strong colour

Neutrally coloured tiles are a wonderful choice in a family bathroom but it’s also a great place to experiment with more vibrant colours.  Opt for your favourite family colours to add character and brighten up a master bathroom.

If you’re drawn to the idea of bold brights but are worried that it might be overpowering, you can stick to one wall of colour, use brights for a splashback or in a shower, or go for a half wall of colour, using white or neutrally coloured tiles for the rest of the space.

Use energetic colours to brighten your family or master bedroom and inject a bit of sunshine into your home. If colour makes you nervous, chose a singular feature wall for your joyful creation.

Image credit: @homewithhelenandco

Recommended Tile: Emilia Cherry 

Patterned floor

Using patterned tiles on the floor is an effective way to add a creative stamp to a bathroom and they can completely transform the look and feel of the space.

If you’re on a budget, just replacing the floor tiles will make a huge difference to your bathroom. There are many different patterns to choose from; Moroccan-inspired prints, vintage-style stars, contemporary lily pad tiles and bold, geometric designs are all excellent choices.

Pattered tiles add interest to your bathroom walls and floors. the choices are huge including, Moroccan-inspired prints, vintage-style stars, contemporary lily pad tiles and bold, geometric designs to the more subtle and enchanting designs.

Image credit: @home_at_no14

Recommended Tile: Ventoux White Tile 

Warm and rustic

Add a touch of the Mediterranean to your bathroom with rustic terracotta floor tiles.  The high iron content in the clay gives terracotta tiles their characteristic, rich colour and they are perfect for creating a warm feel in a bathroom.

Terracotta is porous so choose glazed tiles or make sure they are sealed well before they come into contact with water.

If you want to create a cosy feel in your family bathroom, Terracotta is an ideal choice, it’s colour is always warming but be sure it is sealed or glazed before laying this beautiful tile, as it is naturally porous.

Image credit: @kbbmahgazine

Recommended Tile: Handmade Terracotta 

Fish scale tiles

Scallop shape tiles are the perfect blend of playful and stylish and they’re a popular choice in family bathrooms.

Whether you choose to give a mermaid-inspired look to the wall behind the bath, spruce up a splashback or go all out and deck the bathroom in fun, fishy tiles, it’s sure to impress the whole family.

Mermaid or scallop tiles are a fun and pleasing addition to any family bathroom, sure to delight all with their interesting shape and colours. Create a feature wall, splash back or fill your bathroom walls with them!

Image credit: @vado_uk

Recommended Tile: Mermaid Olive 

Mosaic detail

Mosaic tiles are amongst the most beautiful tiles you can choose for your bathroom. They’re often made from porcelain but can be found in stone, glass, metal and shell too. Mosaic tiles aren’t just square, you can choose from round, hexagonal, rectangular, scallop and diamond designs.

Mosaics are one of the best ways to add detail and glamour to a bathroom.  Try using them to clad a bath panel, create a striking border, place them on a feature wall or in a shower area, or create an eye-catching wall panel within a plain wall.

add a touch of je ne sais quoi to your master or family bathroom with the myriad choice of mosaics available to suit every taste.

Image credit: @scandiandme

Recommended Tile: Starbust Metal Brown 

Feature floor tiles

Create a focal point in your bathroom with a super-bold floor design. We love the combination of black and white triangular tiles, but you can create an equally striking look with rectangular or square tiles and have fun with different tile layouts and colours.

The great thing about tiles is that you can easily order samples and dry-lay them to find the pattern you like best.

Black and white is timeless and graceful, bold and beautiful and can be used to create feature floors of many designs!

Image credit: @kbbmagazine

Recommended Tile: Cambridge 

Colour pop

There’s a lot to be said for sleek, neutral-coloured bathrooms, but bathrooms with splashes of bright colour can be just as stunning.

When using colour, you can go loud and proud or keep things a little simpler, however you decide to introduce colour to your family bathroom, we’re sure you won’t regret it.

If you’re a fan of rainbow colours, be it brights or more subtle shades, you can replicate the coloured stripes from the shower/bath walls below. It’s a clever way to introduce colour without it dominating the room and is absolutely ideal for a cheery family bathroom.

Vivid enticing colours can be a stunning addition to your master or family bathroom adding exuberance and fun! Stripes are a subtle way to add a bright pop of colour with fantastic results

Image credit: @daeplanner

Recommended Tile: Kesha Acqua Blue

Industrial style

Industrial-style interiors are big business and it’s a perfect theme for a cool family bathroom.

Metro tiles, star-patterned tiles and natural materials are all key to nailing the industrial look. Make the most of exposed features like brick walls, wooden beams and pipework (opting for an industrial look can be an excellent workaround to boxing in pipes). It’s a timeless look that will look great for years to come and, as the colours are neutral, you’ll be unlikely to go off it.

Create your stylish family bathroom with industrial inspired interiors, if you have exposed brick walls, wooden beams or pipework, capitalize on this to get the look and combine with rustic neutral patterns and colours.

Image credit: @hardcastletowers

Recommended Tile: Regal Verde 

Wood-look floor tiles

Wood is one of the most timeless and rustic materials and it looks incredible on bathroom floors. Of course, real wood isn’t super practical in a wet room, but wood-effect porcelain tiles provide the perfect solution.

The realistic wood grain images and grainy textures of porcelain tiles allow you to bring the beauty of wood into your family bathroom without the maintenance.  Versatile, wood-look tiles look the part in traditional and modern bathrooms and they add a wonderful, warm aesthetic which balances out the starkness of white sanitaryware.

Wooden effect porcelain floor tiles are classic and enduring in your bathroom. Much easier to maintain then real wood, warm and appealing they complement neutral and as well as bold colours.

Image credit: @thetapenddesign

Recommended Tile: Naturae Wood Effect Snow

Large format tiles

If you want to create a chic, hotel-style family bathroom, large-format tiles are an excellent choice. Both porcelain and natural stone tiles are available in supersized versions, allowing you to create a sweeping, modern look in your bathroom, whatever its size.

Because large-format tiles have fewer grout lines than smaller tiles, they create a sleeker, cleaner look. You can continue large format tiles onto the walls, or mix them with smaller tiles if you prefer.

Large format tiles are now the order of the day and look very impressive in any bathroom, creating a feeling of extra space and a sleeker finish due to less grout lines. They are suitable for both floors and wall.s

Image credit: @watersbaths

Recommended Tile: Canyon Porcelain 

Master bathroom tile tips

When planning your family bathroom tiles, think about the following:

Colour

Family bathrooms are one of the most fun spaces to decorate in your home. Unlike main living areas, you can have fun with bold, bright colours and even bring all the family’s favourite colours together.

Theme

You might want to create your family bathroom around a certain theme or country; consider giving your bathroom a glamorous art deco look, go wild with a safari-themed bathroom, get cosy with a traditional, cottage-style bathroom or get your bathroom shipshape with a nautical theme. You could also create a Zen-like, Japanese-style bathroom or a vibrant Spanish-themed bathroom.

Tile size

The size of the tiles that you choose can make a big difference to the appearance of your bathroom. If you’re after an airy, seamless-looking bathroom, large-format tiles are key.

Miniature mosaics are perfect for highlighting certain areas and small, rectangular metro tiles will look good in all shapes and sizes of bathrooms.

Atlas Ceramics has a wide range of natural stone and porcelain wall and floor tiles to help you get the right look in your family bathroom. Browse our selection yourself or call one of our experts for advice.