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Kim Berndtson | March 5, 2021
Tile offers a way to make a rest room hugely practical given its toughness and waterproofing capabilities, which are the two important considerations for this very applied place. Having said that, suppliers give such a extensive array of items in so lots of various product compositions, designs, dimensions, colors and designs that designers can also use it to make a statement that takes the place from standard to extraordinary.
This thirty day period, KBDN asked designers to share models that showcase how tile can elevate the rest room.

Laura Cripe obliged her clients’ request for a pink lavatory by showcasing this white cement tile with a mocha arc as a backdrop for the freestanding tub., twisting and turning it to build a distinctive structure.
Image: Tony Soluri Pictures
Purposeful sample
What began as a kitchen rework ultimately turned into an complete household renovation that involved the master toilet for this retired couple who wished a modern-day, clear room based on a foundation of neutral colours and purposeful pattern.
“They needed some thing subtle, but exciting,” stresses Heather Bernstein, owner, HKB Inside Style and design in Kentfield, CA.
Every area characteristics an intentional pattern perform and focus to detail. For the master bathroom, that is epitomized in the expansive accent wall where by Fireclay Tile picket tile is showcased in a few complementary shades, which include Calcite, Feldspar and Dolomite, every with a matte end.
“We required the tile to have an orientation and course,” she explains, “like it’s likely up…or slipping down, relying on how you glimpse at it. Both way, it feels extremely ethereal…like it’s raining tile.”
Bernstein also intended the ‘rain’ with an ombre result that transitions loosely from light to darkish, with the latter colour enjoying off the darkish freestanding tub that is accented with a pewter tub filler.
“We laid out the tile on the ground of the master bed room and performed with several patterns…for several hours, finessing the layout to get it just correct,” she says, adding that added challenges arrived into perform with the shower specialized niche. “We wanted a sample, but very little way too definite. We needed it to have some irregularities.”
When the accent wall sets the phase for the freestanding tub, the designer extended the tile into the shower, giving fascination to what could have otherwise been a alternatively plain and lackluster wall. She finished the other shower wall with water-resistant drywall.
“The wall is fairly large, so the tile aids split it up,” she says.
The designer complemented the accent tile with a reasonably subdued floor comprised of honed Aspen Silver Cream marble tile that presents a threadlike linear veining sample in complementary colors.
“We desired the ground to be a little bit quieter,” she suggests. “The full issue of the toilet is that tile wall.”
Timeless twists and turns
Besides for getting into thing to consider current shopper choice for larger structure tile and much more purely natural elements, Laura Cripe does not are inclined to comply with developments when thinking about design and style and content selection for the spaces she generates.
“It’s not a thing that will work with timeless architecture,” says the founder of moss Style and design in Chicago, IL.
So, when her consumers requested a pink lavatory for the renovation of their historic employee cottage that reimagined the property into a new mild-crammed residence, Cripe obliged with Clé tile’s Cement Arc White + Mocha, which she made use of on the ground as well as the wall behind the freestanding tub.
“The fashionable and normal aesthetic of the cement tile is a timeless tile that weathers well with time and delivers a modern-day, however rustic glimpse,” she suggests. “Also, cement tile is resilient and outlasts ceramic tiles. Toughness is critical considering the fact that our purchasers have a huge puppy and the tile demands to maintain up to pet targeted traffic. Concrete tiles are also designed with natural resources and are far more sustainable and environmentally welcoming compared to ceramic.”
Cripe regarded as the tile – which is painstakingly hand crafted so no two tiles are the same – as a way to make a bold, enjoyable assertion in the toilet. As this kind of, she performed with its arrangement to reach a special layout that showcased its daring arc in seemingly random twists and turns.
“Tile is an artwork piece, and fairly than an off-the-shelf regular tile, this Clé tile is distinctive and performs to the pleasurable sensibility of our clients,” she says.

Lori McNulty’s final decision to use this Roaring 20s-inspired tile in the learn lavatory of this new-construction townhome is a reflection of many insights. A person is linked to timing, with the dwelling remaining concluded in 2020, a century following the tile’s namesake. An historic association is boosted by the home’s site in downtown Richmond, VA, not considerably from the eclectic retail district of Carytown and the historic Byrd Theatre.
Images: Mick Anders
Historic inspiration
The final decision to use Merola Tile’s Roaring 20s-motivated Twenties Crest tile in the learn rest room of this new-development townhome is a reflection of many insights. One is associated to timing, with the home being completed in 2020, a century after the tile’s namesake. An historic affiliation is boosted by the home’s place in downtown Richmond, VA, not much from the eclectic retail district of Carytown and the historic Byrd Theatre, which considering that first opening in the 1920s, currently celebrates the art of cinema as a Virginia Historic Landmark.
“You can stand on the deck of this household and scent the popcorn,” claims Lori McNulty, design studio supervisor, Life-style Property Builders in Midlothian, VA.
The designer was also challenged by the operator of Richmond Hill Style + Construct – the homebuilder for the undertaking and with which Way of living House Builders has a partnership – to develop something daring for the spec household.
“We required to make a assertion with the toilet,” she says. “When you stroll in, the shower is right in entrance of you, so it’s the to start with factor you see. And, its affect is heightened by the reflection in the framed mirrors, so when the property owners stand at their self-importance, they can see the tile in the shower.”
Properly building with this sort of a graphic sample is accomplished, in aspect, by the use of the complete-glass shower panel, the designer notes.
“Since the glass extends from the flooring to the ceiling, you can visually see the complete sample,” she explains. “It comes to daily life and you’re ready to get it all in mainly because its movement is not interrupted. Nonetheless, if a part of the pattern is blocked, for illustration by a knee wall, a person may perhaps tire of this kind of a daring pattern due to the fact they cannot see it all.”
The tile’s boldness is additionally tempered by other anchoring aspects inside of the area, this sort of as the wealthy black double self-importance the quartz countertop with swirls of gentle white, taupe and dark grey, and the neutral grey walls. McNulty ongoing the calming colorway with American Olean’s Historic Bridge 6″x36″ wooden-glance porcelain tile for the ground.
“The floor tile is a wonderful distinction to the patterned shower tile and it flows effectively into the bedroom,” she provides.
McNulty also dependent the tile collection on components made use of in the kitchen area, setting up on its structure aspects to generate a relationship involving the two areas.
“We wished the style and design to movement from the kitchen area to the upstairs so there was some continuity, devoid of instantly repeating anything,” she concludes.

As the focal level of this Jack and Jill toilet, Dina Bandman sheathed the upper portion of its partitions with a vibrant blend of colorful mosaic jewel glass tile that makes a lively motif of colorful critters frolicking among an assortment of flowers. She complemented the whimsical pattern with a number of other forms of tile, like white subway tile that is highlighted with accents of red pencil tile.
Shots: Christopher Stark Images
Whimsical wall ‘art’
Dina Bandman anticipates increased curiosity in daring accent walls, this kind of as the 1 she developed for this Jack and Jill rest room that features New Ravenna’s Otomi mosaic tile.
“People require to be joyful suitable now,” suggests the principal, Dina Bandman Interiors, in San Francisco, CA, and president, California North ASID.
Additionally, exclusive, handmade tile these types of as this can elevate a place to make it truly feel particular, she provides.
“You’re essentially placing art in the kind of tile on the walls,” she says. “I really do not know how you can elevate a area more than when you envelop it in art.”
As the focal position of the room, the designer sheathed the higher portion of its walls with the vibrant mix of hand-nipped Complete White, Peridot, Aventurine, Lapis Lazuli, Sardonyx, Citrine and Ruby mosaic jewel glass that creates a lively motif of colorful critters, like llamas, deer, foxes and rabbits, frolicking among an assortment of flowers.
“I needed the space to be whimsical, colorful and joyful,” she remarks. “This lavatory was developed for a brother and sister to share, so the playful layout works for both of those genders.”
Additionally, the sample provides a whole lot of motion to the reasonably modest place and provides an ingredient of entertaining that can inspire kids to far more readily full possibly mundane responsibilities.
“It can from time to time be a obstacle to get youngsters to brush their enamel and hair,” she claims. “Creating a pleasurable setting like this can distract them from performing duties they might not like.”
Masking the complete room – besides the ceiling, which is painted a substantial-gloss, pastel pink – with tile also promotes a sanitary surroundings that is simple to clear. In addition to the mosaics, Bandman utilized many other tiles, including white subway that is laid in a traditional brick pattern for the base 50 % of the partitions and the shower. Accents of Scorching Purple ticking stripes from Sonoma Tilemakers provide a distinctive twist and insert curiosity to an if not plain white subject. For the flooring, the designer laid tile in a basketweave pattern, providing it a up to date search with white, rather than black, dots.
A customized purple lacquered vainness grounds the space and adds sophistication.
“I seriously feel that lavatory vanities need to look like furnishings,” she states, noting an affinity for those that search like vintage chests. “It will make the area come to feel significantly less utilitarian. In this circumstance, we provided just one that has gorgeous bamboo facts.”

As avid art collectors with an affinity for the unusual, Peggy Fuller’s
customers needed every single place in their renovated residence to have its personal exceptional character. In the learn lavatory, that translated into what the style group reverently phone calls ‘the jewelry box,’ which options an accent wall of shimmery mirrored mosaic tile.
Photographs: Daniel Angulo Photography
Mirrored mosaic ‘jewelry box’
As avid artwork collectors with an affinity for the abnormal, Peggy Fuller’s consumers desired each and every place inside of their renovated house to have its individual special character. In the grasp lavatory, that translated into what the style team reverently phone calls ‘the jewelry box.’
With an extra objective of making the rather modest place truly feel much larger, Fuller developed a spectacular accent wall of shimmery Crossville Sideview Glass mirrored mosaic tile that is essentially the to start with visible the home owners see when they enter their bathroom.
“We wanted something that was eye catching,” says Fuller, proprietor/founder/principal interior designer for By Structure Interiors in Houston, TX. “These clients are one of a kind and they like to be launched to design and style components that are outside the house the norm, or one thing they had under no circumstances assumed of ahead of. This tile definitely has the glitz and glam we were just after. It delivers an creative, sculptural edge the owners adore!”
Although the 3″x3″ tiles – in the Tungsten colorway with a polished complete – are precisely minimize and clean throughout the area, the facets/bevels beneath make depth and dimension.
“It’s a really abnormal tile,” she explains. “The bevels range for just about every tile to add far more depth and dimension. It results in a chiseled seem with refined variations, having inspiration from the art deco design, but its surface is symmetrical and properly easy so it’s straightforward to clean.”
To lengthen the reflective vibe, Fuller incorporated a mirror on the door that potential customers to the closet. In addition, a wall-duration mirror on the adjacent wall extends from the top rated of the vanity to the ceiling. Light-weight fixtures mounted as a result of the mirror doubles the lighting result.
“The mirrored tiles line up following to the vanity wall, elongating the room and producing the place seem larger sized by expanding the ‘eye’,” she suggests.
Even though the tile steals the exhibit, Fuller additional other ‘gems’ that continue interest for the wandering eye. In unique, the Illusion Blue unique granite vanity prime features a shimmery palette of metallic blues, greens and deeper tones of gray.
“It encompasses the artistic characteristics of the owners, who fell in appreciate with its several hues and specks of metallics,” she proceeds. “Full of variation and movement, there is no part of this slab that is the identical. It provides this beautiful learn bathtub even far more temperament.”
To allow for particular factors to shine, Fuller retained the shower comparatively straightforward, employing Arizona Tile’s Cebu Silver tile for the partitions and pebbled shower tile from Interceramic for the floor.
“The pebbles include a everyday component to the area to balance out the drama from the mirrored tile accent wall,” Fuller concludes. ▪
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