Are my bathrooms going to be very boring?

[ruralmyth]

Family bath & ensuite.
Limestone floor, plain white (300x200) tiles laid in a brick pattern with tile dado to waist height. Coloured walls & accessories.
They're quite big spaces & I'm worried it will look like an operating theatre .
I can't find any affordable tiles that I will like forever. Once we do a project we never go back so I'm looking for timeless & simple, but I might've gone too far. I've got a border in the bathroom I'm leaving but have gone off it.
My Pinterest is full of sumptuous bathrooms but most of them look like they've been put in by the Candy bothers & are far beyond my budget.

[burnishedsilver]

I did something similar with mine except I left one wall untiled and painted in each bathroom. That way I can update them easily when I change my mind. I have a different paint shade in each and it gives them a different feel.

[ruralmyth]

Thanks Burnished. DH suggested today that we don't need to tile all the way round but I was wondering if it would look odd.
I can't seem to find any photos like that to view.

[burnishedsilver]

Have you tried looking on houzz.com or houzz.com/UK? I'm not sure if you'll find many with 3 fully tiled walls and one painted but there are plenty of pictures with a mix of tile and paint.

[Clawdy]

Try putting pictures up on the untiled walls - worked well in our rather boring grey and white bathroom.

[Polonium]

I see your plain white dull bathroom and raise you a porcelain masquerading as limestone all over bathroom. There's nothing wrong with it it's pleasing but I wish I'd done it differently.

I'm rubbish at bathrooms as I'm not that fussed about them. But white tiles all over and white sanitary ware sounds a mistake.

[ruralmyth]

Actually polonium that would've been my first choice, a sort of lux hotel bathroom vibe.
The builder wants me to have travertine all over but I'm not keen on a brown bathroom.
Perhaps I should have a dark paint to reduce the mortuary look?

[Kantha]

I would avoid travertine all over. I think it will date as it's been quite the thing for the last 10 years. A friend has it in her bathroom and I find it very dark.

We have just done family and ensuite bathrooms. I found choosing tiles very tricky. Both have a contrasting paint on one wall though!

Family: large white rectangles, brick bond. Same tiles but in taupe behind the bath. Some orange glass pencil tiles as feature strips at picture rail and dado rail height. Wall painted soft orange to go with the glass tile. (Sounds a bit grim written down, but does work, honestly )

Ensuite: white rectangular large format tiles, brickbond on 3 walls. Twelve inch high iridescent mosaic border at head hight on those 3 walls. Wall painted sea green to go with the mosaics.

[ruralmyth]

Sounds really lovely. The mosaic border with sea green.. I'm off to fantasy houzz and Pinterest.

[happylittlevegemites]

Nope, I think all white is fine. It's soon going to have bathroom stuff, towels, hooks, bath mats, maybe pictures up ...

I don't personally like travertine, and gotta say I'm not a fan of feature walls, but what about mostly-white-with-a-bit-of-colour wallpaper?

We've just redone (second house) our ensuite the same as our last bathroom with pale blue wall tiles (matrix botanical from topps tiles) which sounds odd, but with everything else white I just love them on 3 walls.

[ruralmyth]

I love the glass tiles but £349m2 and the rooms average 3x4m, gulp.
Maybe I could have a few glass tiles interspersed with the plain white?
Behind the shower & above the bath?

Thanks so much for all your help, I've rather lost the plot.

[Wineandchoccy]

We have just had our bathroom done with large white tiles and a border of brushed aluminium tiles and then accessorised with plum coloured towels etc

The white tiles were from topps tiles and the border was from a local independent tile shop but topps did have something similar.

[Kantha]

The mosaics are topps tiles ones, so nothing terribly exotic:

mosaic

The online photos don't really look that much like them in real life. They are brighter/lighter and shinier.

[minkah]

Mho is... Don't tile everything in sight. It isn't wet room. It's much nicer to have some real wall, to paint nice colours over the years, to hang pictures or mirrors or clocks etc.

[RaisingSteam]

Simple bathrooms are much more timeless. you can add lots of character with colour, accessories, pictures, window treatment - all those can be updated.

[ruralmyth]

Would it be better to have tongue and groove and just tiles in the wet areas? The suites are more modern that traditional?

[minkah]

Tongue and groove in bathroom looks very good and is a great place for colour. Much more welcoming than acres of tiling.

[happylittlevegemites]

I like tongue and groove. I think it would better suit a period property. However, it mightn't last as well in a damp environment. Also, I'm not a massive fan of feature tiles/borders. However I'm aware I'm in the minority with this opinion!

[ruralmyth]

Thanks
It is a period property but I am trying to avoid an 'olde worlde' look.
Having scoured the home websites T&G doesn't need to look country cottage. I think I'm sold.
Good point about the damp, I suppose we'll have to have bathroom paint.
www.houzz.co.uk/photos/10227097/fife-steading-conversion-transitional-bathroom-other-metro
This doesn't look twee, does it?

[happylittlevegemites]

I like it, and the panelling being the same colour as the walls makes it more modern/less twee.

It was a couple of years ago, so I forget, but I think that there are versions of tongue and groove that are more appropriate for bathrooms. And you'd probably have to chuck a couple of coats of paint on the reverse, also.

These are the tiles we've used a couple of times now. www.toppstiles.co.uk/tprod41773/section-1/Matrix-Botanic-Field

[ruralmyth]

Tongue and Groove now ordered. Plain white rectangular tiles from the shower, stone up stand for the vanities with a few tiny white tiles for where needed.
The whole thing would've looked like an abattoir if I hadn't had help so thank you very much.

[Polonium]

Rural myth - sounds nice. T&G much nicer than tiles and will make the acoustics in the bathroom much much nicer.

[LondonGirl83]

Don't do all white everything. I had a large bathroom like that (2nd in the house) and we never used it as it felt so grim no matter what knick nacks we put in there.

Don't be afraid of colour. Just choose a colour that you genuinely like rather than something that's trendy and you are very unlikely to get bored of it. All white, in addition be being a bit sterile is also looking a bit dated.

Blue is always popular for bathrooms as its soothing and relaxing. I have 3 bathrooms now and eventhough all of them are mostly white, doing one unusual thing helps to make them all more interesting. Our shower room is all white (cheap tiles) but we did a strip of light blue tiles from Fired Earth that is really striking and mostly what people see. The tiles were expensive but we didn't use a lot of them so it worked. It was floor to ceiling behind the sink which is the first thing you see when you enter the room.

Good luck!

[EastLynne]

Are they real limestone or a porcelain look alike.
We ripped out limestone floor out of our bathroom and replaced with porcelain as it got very very grubby. To keep it looking pristine it needs regular treating.
It was an expensive mistake

[ruralmyth]

Don't say that East they're honed limestone and I've paid a deposit.
What if I promise to seal them every six months.

[wonkylegs]

I'm just doing 2 white bathrooms with white tiles. Both rooms are only partially tiled neither look clinical.
Shower room - travertine floor, Matt White tiles with a texture, tiled in brick bond pattern in shower and from floor to behind sink, brilliant white emulsion walls & ceiling, oak skirting, oak vanity cabinet, oak floating shelves. Feels warm.

Family bathroom - flat white gloss tiles in stack bond pattern full height in shower & behind bath (up to 1m high), white t&g panelling 1m high following on from bath round rest of room. White emulsion walls. Royal blue rubber floor, red & blue accessories. Large mirrors. Feels bright & fresh.