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Nov 02, 2024

20 Bathroom Floor Ideas That Have Us Flushed with Envy

Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE Decor editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Look out below! Waking up on the bathroom floor doesn’t have to mean you’ve

Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE Decor editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.

Look out below!

Waking up on the bathroom floor doesn’t have to mean you’ve hit rock bottom. On the contrary: Regaining consciousness can be chic when the first thing that comes into focus is an exquisite tile. During the day when the nose needs powdering or nature calls, entering a world of color and pattern—or a serene refuge of minimalist restraint, if spa vibes are your thing—can really elevate the experience.

Choosing the right tiles and incorporating them into your bathroom is not an easy assignment, but Artistic Tile president Lauren Cherkas encourages homeowners not to hold back. “Think about how the floors take up much less square footage, compared to the walls, of the space,” she says. “It’s the perfect opportunity to select what you love.” If you’re starting out on a renovation and unsure of what to do, here are 20 of our favorite bathroom floor tile ideas for your inspo needs.

History repeating itself gets a bad rap. When it comes to selecting the perfect bathroom floor tile, it can be the best option. Case in point: In his home in Italy, designer Filippo Chia used 19th-century Riggiole tile for this gorgeous guest bathroom.

Diamonds are forever, as is the case in this blush-hued powder room, whose Italian tile floors were inspired by Phoebe Philo–era Celine boutiques.

Euclid would have referred to this tile as axiomatic fierceness. Designer Tracy Hardenburg shows her love for bold geometric patterns in this seductively math-geek-chic bathroom. The tile is a Liaison Mulholland by ELLE DECOR A-List Titan Kelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks.

No one does Moroccan-inspired pattern quite like Popham Design, and when you have a small space, using a dramatic one like this—which also gives major Art Deco—can make it feel bigger.

A single penny for your thoughts, perhaps, but the guest bathroom in Coldplay guitarist’s Manhattan pied-à-terre required hundreds. This quintessential copper penny tile designed by Tanya Smith-Shiflett with its cream border contrasts nicely with the green glazed subway tiles on the shower walls.

Whoever said too much of a good thing is bad? A palate-cleansing white ceiling and upper wall afford an all-out blue tile takeover in a California kids bathroom, by ELLE DECOR A-List designer Pamela Shamshiri. The bright azure tiles are from Heath Ceramics.

Despite what Sigmund Freud might have thought of this bathroom, sometimes letting your id direct your style choices can be a good thing. Instead of choosing a more minimal flooring option to offset the patterned vanity and walls of their Lake Forest Showhouse bathroom, Stone Textile Studio unlocked a full-throated maximalist intensity.

You can never have too much of a good thing, as designer Victoria Sass of Prospect Refuge Studio proved in this happy Wisconsin lake house. “It’s plaid city in here!” she says of the powder room. Working with a Minneapolis tile company called Clay Squared to Infinity, she created a number of custom glazes and patterns to achieve a perfectly rustic summer camp vibe.

If you can swing it budget-wise, think beyond ceramic tiles for your bathroom. In the spa-like bathroom of her Toronto home, designer Montana Labelle paved the area surrounding her Brutalist-inspired custom vanity in tiles from her own home line.

Sometimes, unexpected combinations make for the loveliest outcomes. In this whimsical project, Sydney-based design firm Arent & Pyke chose to match one of the colors in the wallpaper with a graphic patterned tile from Popham Design to give the bathroom extra punch.

Transform your space into a peaceful retreat that features spa-inspired flooring. For the guest suite bathroom of this California project, ELLE DECOR A-List designer Nicole Hollis kept it quiet by matching the floor tiles to the vein-cut travertine walls. We’re totally blissed out over here!

Maybe you don’t get selected as one of two winners for a stay at the Malibu Barbie house on Airbnb, but you can hone your own Barbie-inspired vibes in your space with a can’t-be-missed electric tile flooring. Here, designer Leah Ring went all in matching the tiled floors of this primary bathroom to the turquoise blue walls and vanity. Nobody’s falling asleep in this party of a bathroom!

You can’t go wrong incorporating varying hues of the same color for high contrast that is seamlessly complementary. In her son’s bathroom in her Greek revival house, New Orleans–based ELLE DECOR A-List designer Michelle R. Smith created a contrasting border with custom tiles by Quemere Designs that run from the floor to the ceiling—proof that having the blues isn’t always bad.

Look to your own wardrobe for bathroom flooring inspiration, as did designer Sasha Bikoff for her guest bathroom at her Hamptons home. Here, she used a tile she designed for New Ravenna inspired by bandana motifs. “The bandana is such a classic symbol and has stood the test of time that I felt it needed to be preserved in stone,” she tells ELLE DECOR.

Contrasting elements make each one sing—something ELLE DECOR A-List Spanish designer Lorenzo Castillo knows all about. In this sumptuous redo of a Paris apartment, he thought beyond ceramic tiles by paving the floor in a light-finished wood hexagon parquet to differentiate the vanity area from the marble-clad water closet and shower beyond. The result is a luxurious primary bathroom that is as glamorous as it is cozy.

We’re taking all the notes from this pretty Parisian primary bathroom, by ELLE DECOR A-List designer Jean-Louis Deniot. The custom geometric flooring contains a hint of blue that is echoed across the aqua blue walls.

Why work in just one dimension? Architect Carlos Garciavelez and interior designer David Lawrence of Carlos David opted for a three-dimensional marble pattern for the primary bathroom in their Upper West Side apartment, which is proof that when it comes to small-space flooring, more is always more.

Who says mosaics should be limited to the walls? Los Angeles–based ELLE DECOR A-List designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard gave Ellen Pompeo’s primary bathroom in California some Hollywood glamour with this beautiful chain link–themed tile flooring.

Don’t be afraid to push some boundaries on textural combinations. Just follow the lead of ELLE DECOR A-List interior designer Jessica Davis of Atelier Davis, whose Kips Bay Dallas Decorator Show House powder room is a daring combination of orange-honed marble and terra-cotta-marble mosaic tiles by Artistic Tile, tied together by a backdrop of earthy painted walls. Intended to evoke a waning sunset, this space is almost too sumptuous to spend just 15 minutes in.

Matchy-matchy isn’t always tiring. Take, for instance, this Carrara marble–tiled bathroom at the edge of the Mediterranean, designed by architect Raëd Abillama, who employed the luxury material across the vanity and the floors, giving a cohesive feel for his wife’s bathroom in their Beirut home. Who needs roses when you’ve got a marble-lined bathroom to call your own?

Charles Curkin is ELLE Decor's Articles Editor, covering everything related to luxury watches, design, and travel, and has previously written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Paris Review.

Parker Bowie Larson is the Style Director for ELLE Decor, covering everything interior design-related ranging from tabletop to furniture to kitchen and bath, and has previously worked for Architectural Digest and Cottage Living.

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