Should I get a border with my bathroom tiles?

[whatsthetimemrwolf]

We are having our bathroom fitted next week and I urgently need to make a decision on the tiles and could do with some MN help!

I have chosen some natural stone looking tiles in a cream colour which measure 600mm x 300mm. They are quite large and will be laid in a brick type effect. I can't decide whether to put a border of mosaic tiles in the same natural colours around the middle of the room. DP is concerned that the bathroom will look a bit dull without a border and I just can't decide. I'm after a contemporary look that won't date. Any suggestions greatfully received!

How tall is the room? Will you have tiles on all walls?

Could you go to a showroom and have a look?

In our loft conversion, the floor is black and white tiles, and the walls are white with a black border. At first, I thought a white area looked cleaner, but then decided that it looked rather bland and one dimensional.

no, i wouldn't. i think it'll look fine without

I think brick pattern tiling needs a border to avoid looking institutional.

I am rather proud of the bathroom I tiled (white with blue glass border) though so I may be biased.

I'm not sure that a border will work if your other tiles are in brick style pattern. It would have to be quite a wide border in order to offset the size of the other tiles.

Bit confused - are these floor or wall tiles? 600mm sounds like big floor tiles - or do you mean 60mm X 30mm?

They sound very like our bathroom tiles. We don't have a border, if that helps. I think it looks fab and people always comment on how good it looks.

No border

No. Dont put it in the middle. It is no longer fashionable. If you want such a border, put it higher up. More classy.

Even classier, is to let the border run vertically, from floor to ceiling, in matching mosaic. One narrow strip, and one wider strip on another wall. Tres chic.

oooh i like the vertical border idea.

i have just ordererd the tiles for our bathroom but i am going to see if i have enough to do that!!

This destroys the modern look they were hoping to achieve imo, because they have the brick layout and because the tiles simply don't blend well enough.

This imo does work - very little visible grouting - almost the shower room look iyswim, and the mosaic is very subtle.

As my friend learnt the hard way having mosaic-ed the whole bathroom, with the extra grouting comes extra cleaning, especially in the shower cubical.

vertical

is this what you were picturing with original idea?

Thanks guys! Rustybear - The tiles are 600mm x 300 mm. Most of the tiles we have looked at are large rectangles for the wall and smaller square for the floor.

Heated - If going for a border it would be along the lines of this picture you posted so quite subtle lookingwww.decortiles.co.uk/images/Travertineweb_000.jpg. However, I agree with you FuckOffDailyMail that they would need to be quite wide to offset the size of the tiles. I like the vertical idea though!

My bathroom fitter has just come back to me to tell me that the porcelain tiles I have chosen will cost an extra £15 plus VAT per square meter on top of his already £30 per square meter quote. Does that sound unreasonable to you? It sounds extortionate to me! The border is then another £5 per linear meter! We hoped to tile all walls but at this price may just have to do tile the obvious areas!

Brick pattern tiling definitely looks smarter with a border.

However, I think that "natural stone" type tiles of the sort you describe have had their day and are dating first and would suggest you think again!

fast not first

That sounds rather expensive for the tiling. We had our shower tiled for 50 quid (inc VAT)

i presume that;s for the tiles as well though?

No the tiles are on top of that!

So what's the total cost?

How often do people re-do their bathrooms if they keep up with teh fads of vertical in/horizontal out, colour in/natural stone out?

no really. Do people update their bathroom every couple of years because there is a new trend in vertical tile borders? Or rubber flooring?

I dont think so dogofpoints. I think people just live with out of date bathrooms

(mucj like not updating kitchens every time there is a new fashion)