CONTACT US
NATALIA AVALOS INTERIORS
Blog, Kids Bathroom Remodeling, all about tiles, Process
TILES - FLOOR PROCESS
If you’re in the middle of a bathroom remodel—or even just considering one—you’ve probably felt the frustration of finding the perfect tile, only to discover it’s sourced from somewhere like Australia (especially if you’re in the U.S.), or worse, that anything like it is impossible to track down. I mention Australia because I seem to fall in love with every tile, stone, and mood board I come across online from there. I’m drawn to a serene, muted aesthetic with lots of texture, and I was determined to bring that vision to life.
As I gathered inspiration, it quickly became clear that natural stone was the answer for the floors. I was immediately drawn to limestone, marble, travertine, and other similar stones. They all have one thing in common: they’re considered light stones, which means they can stain. Determined to find a feasible option, I ordered a variety of limestone samples in different shades, textures, and formats. I even found a favorite! I was almost certain this would be “the one” until two roadblocks got in my way: concerns about long lead times and staining. Let’s tackle the first issue.
Initially, we didn’t plan to fully renovate the bathroom—we were going to use the miracle method to refinish the blue tub, replace the toilet, and make a few cosmetic changes. However, we quickly realized we wanted a bathroom the entire family could love and share, so we decided to gut the whole thing! Now, decisions were needed due to lead time: I could have waited eight weeks for my dream tile, or I could find a replacement and move in sooner. Open to exploring new options, I came across other limestones I liked, but none felt quite right. Living with boys and a dog, I worried about staining and etching on the delicate stone. That’s when I started exploring porcelain tiles.
I found the perfect option on Pinterest, and it felt like the right fit. I immediately called my local tile shop and had them order some samples. Pro tip: When you work with a local tile shop, they can often get you samples for free, saving you on shipping costs while supporting local businesses—something I’m passionate about. When the samples arrived, I knew I’d found the right tile. The tone variation, texture, format, and tumbled edges were perfect. It’s worth noting, though, that the surface isn’t soft—it has a slightly gritty, sandy feel, which works for us but might not be for everyone.
With the flooring chosen, I moved on to finding the perfect complementary tile for the shower. My vision? An off-white tile, around 2.5 x 9 inches, with slight texture and color variation. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it took quite a bit of searching before I landed on the perfect one. Let me walk you through how I made that decision...
ZELLIGE OR NOT ZELLIGE In the world of Moroccan hand-made tiles, it seemed like the obvious choice would be Zellige. While I LOVE Zellige tiles and plan to use them elsewhere in the house, I wanted a more kid friendly option for this bathroom. Don't get me wrong, my kids don't destroy things but Zellige tiles are generally more fragile. I love the rustic, imperfect charm these tiles bring, so it wasn’t a lack of love for them—I just opted for a worry-free alternative. Did I just make that up?
HEATED FLOORS
SHOULD WE SPLURGE ON HEATED FLOORS?
I casually tossed the idea out there—you know how it goes when your partner is the saver in the relationship. I'm the spender, so I have to pick the right moment to bring these things up. As expected, my husband asked, “Do we really need it?” My reply, “Well, we didn’t need to remodel the bathroom in the first place—it was functional. But we did it because we wanted to have that one remodeled bathroom the whole family could enjoy. So no, we don’t need heated floors. Would it be nice? Absolutely!” After a big sigh, he said, “Okay, sure, let’s just do it.” WIN!
But here’s the thing—I might’ve thought I won, but he’s been the real winner all along. He uses the bathroom every day now because he loves having warm feet. If you ask me, yes, I’d recommend heated floors for every bathroom, and I’m pretty sure my husband would agree with that!
TILE LAYOUT
At one point, I considered using square tiles for the shower walls, but the more I thought about it, I realized that with the height of the shiplap, a vertical stacked pattern would work best to elongate the room. The bathroom has 8-foot ceilings, so anything that makes the room feel taller is a win for me. For the floors, I went with a herringbone pattern, as I love the timeless look, and with all the color variation in the tiles I thought it would look even more beautiful.
I also wanted to create a border transition and tried placing it in a few different spots—all around, next to the tub, on the left—but everything I tried seemed to make the room feel smaller, except when I placed it at the entry. There, it gave the room just enough of a border and added depth to the right side of the vanity, as you can clearly see the tile running all the way to the back. I cut the tiles by nearly 2 inches to accommodate the exact spacing between the vanity and the wall. The result? The vanity looks intentionally spaced from the wall, with enough 'breathing room' to showcase the border tile.
LET'S MOVE ON TO THE SHOWER AREA
I mentioned earlier that I opted for ceramic tiles instead of Zellige, and let me tell you—it wasn’t an easy choice! Many manufacturers offer "Zellige-inspired" tiles, but the variations between them can be significant, even when they’re designed to look similar. For the shower walls, I was after a tile that was off-white and warm—not gray, not stark white, not too perfect, not too plain, and not overly rustic. I also had a specific size in mind, around 2.5" x 8", but most of the options were either 2x6 or 3x12. One was too small, the other too large for my taste. As you can tell, I might have been putting a bit too much pressure on finding the perfect shower tile!
I brought a few samples home, and none of them were exactly right. Each had at least one element I wasn’t thrilled about. When I finally found a tile I loved, I thought it was perfect—except for one small issue (and there’s always a "but," isn’t there?). It was a little warmer than I wanted, with more color variation than I expected. By "variation," I mean some of the tiles were a bit too brown for my liking. After going back and forth for a while, I ended up choosing this tile anyway because it checked 9 out of 10 boxes.
My solution? Hand-picking the tiles I didn’t want to use and placing them on the inner wall of the niches, where they wouldn’t be visible. In fact, the niche on the left is so tucked away that no one, not even me, can see it while showering! Trust me, I’ve tried. It took several rounds of carefully selecting each tile to create my own pattern, but the end result was exactly what I envisioned. Whether you’re a designer or not, sometimes you have to get creative to find the perfect solution!
Hand picking the tiles
You'll notice the red X's in the photos above, that was me-trying to hand-pick the tiles I didn’t want to use. One thing I discovered during this process was that taking a picture of the space made it easier to spot the darker tiles. While they were installing the tile, they had the bright, super-white (5,000 Kelvin) lights on, which made it hard for me to see the details clearly. When they turned the lights off, I didn’t always catch everything at first glance, which is why you see that red hole showing. I ended up asking them to remove two tiles after they had already been installed.
This process might sound a bit overkill and complicated, but as a designer, sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to bring your vision to life. Every single step along the way felt necessary for me to truly appreciate the tile I envisioned—'warm white with color variation and texture.'
The idea behind the shelves
To share a little bit about my family, I have two kids under 5 years old. Both LOVE taking baths and playing in the water. In my former house, I had a small basket for toys but that basket kept overflowing. I wanted to have room for everything I need. Essentially, I gave one shelf to each of us, and well, my husband and I ended up sharing because I had to reserve one for decor-it's absolutely a must! The shelves are 1 1/2" and honestly I can say it's one of my favorite features in the bathroom!
The preview before the final pics are taken
The bathroom has been fully complete for a while now, and we absolutely LOVE it! Our entire family enjoys it, whether we’re bathing the kids or using it ourselves. Stay tuned to see the after photos and how I was able to utilize every single corner of this space!
I am aiming for Spring 2025 to take the photos and I will have other projects to shoot then. Come back soon!
ROOM SOURCES:
Walls tiles: Wayfair
Floors tiles: Wayfair
Grout: Home Depot
Walls Paint color: Benjamin Moore
Shiplap Paint color:
1-Handle Wall Mount Tub & Shower Trim Kit: Home Depot
Hand Shower: Amazon
Vanity Faucet: Home Depot
Shiplap wood:
Wall paper: Decorators Best
Niches shelves:
Mirror: Mcgee & Co.
Hooks: Amazon
Toilet paper case: Rejuvenation
Vanity: Etsy
Art:
Recessed lights: Home Depot
Switches/outlets:
Let us know your comments!