To fully tile bathroom or not? And inset mirrors?

[WhatWouldTheDoctorDo]

Currently considering optional extras for a new build and trying to decide between half tile or full tiled? Smallish bathroom, no window and shower desperate from bath. Two doors into the bathroom so no walls without any sanitary are/shower etc.

Any thoughts? Am thinking possibly dark grey on the wall of the bath and pale grey on the other walls, fully tiled. Also have the option to fit mirror into the tiling - possibly over the bath and above the sink.

I've had a horrible bathroom for years, so looking forward to something new! I quite like a modern posh hotel room feel to a bathroom.

Opinions, suggestions and photos welcome!

I just think if you fully tile then you are stuck with it, whereas if you half tile you can mix it up with different colours.

True. I'm not so fussed about chopping and changing though. If the last 10 years is anything to go by, I'll not to that much decorating in the next 10!

I think fully tiled feels more luxe. Could you look on houzz for inspiration?

I don't like fully tiled bathrooms as they feel a bit clinical to me. Also imagine the grout scrubbing!

I like half tiled bathrooms so there are some painted walls. Also makes putting fixtures and fittings up much easier.

Although if it's a hotel feel you want, they do tend to be fully tiled. Have you any pics of the kind of thing you like? Ideal Home magazine almost always has a bathroom makeover feature or two if you're looking for inspiration.

How exciting though! Have fun choosing.

We just moved into a full tile bathroom house. I hate it, it feels like an abbotoir that someone will come and pressure hose down once I finish in there! As soon as we are financially recovered from the move those bloody tiles are coming off. Oh and they are "travertine", to add insult to injury...

I think fully tiled makes the bathroom look complete and half tiled gives of a smaller feel.

You don't have 'all that grout to scrub' in a fully tiled bathroom though as apart from around the sink and shower it doesn't get like that, unless you never ventilate or heat it.

I would not go for an inset mirror stuck to the wall though as it'll be a pig to remove or replace if it cracks or gets damaged. You can drill tiles - put sticky tape over where you need to drill and go slowly. If you can drill in the grout lines then even better.

Consider not tiling the floor in order to break things up though.

If you want the luxe look but not fully tiled, try tiling half the room and painting the walls in a toning colour ie exactly the colour of the tiles.

Thanks everyone. That's a good point on the mirrors wow fudge, thanks.

If I were you save some money and go with the standard offering from your housebuilder. Normally 3 sides of a bath and splashback. Once youve moved in get a tiling contractor in and get the rest done. You'll save small fortune. Housebuilders charge an arm and a leg for extras.

In a small bathroom id go full height around the bath and then half height on the other walls. Grey can make it feel cold but is on trend right now. Maybe look at a gloss grey something like BCT HD origin range

Thanks Cory. I have been contemplating that, but because the bathroom is so small it's not actually that much more to get it full tiled surprisingly! I know what you mean about house builder charges - the flooring is extortionate! But of course the savings of getting it done ourselves are completely outweighed by the hassle of moving into a house with no flooring on day 1. Thankfully we have a reasonable budget for extras.

There's a second bathroom that we probably will just get done once we move in, so it would be good to have the main one completely done. I'd also hate to have someone remove cistern and sink to tile behind them - that happened in our current home before we moved in and indemnified the house builder from dealing with any plumbing issues (of which there were many!)

We tiled two walls like this www.tile.co.uk/products/view/nimes-grey and painted the other walls grey but we also have a sink + cupboard unit thing with a fitted mirror on top. Really happy with it and it feels luxurious.

We did fully tiled (light grey, biggish tiles) with big insert mirror and it looks really good. Friends have commented that it was like a hotel bathroom. I do love it.

One thing to bear in mind. Fully tiled will generally take more heating than part tiled (ime) so if you go fully tiled I'd investigate under flooring heating or a more powerful / bigger radiator than you'd otherwise go for.

Good point namechanged, thanks.

Sounds lovely nightnight! Freddo, that sounds like the kind of thing I'm looking at - any chance you'd mind sharing a pic (by pm even). No worries if you 'd rather not though!

Our bathroom is fully tiled and, while it looks posh, I don't like it. It's FREEZING cold, and putting up anything like a towel rail/loo-roll holder is a real faff.

Would you want a mirror over the bath??