blue marble bathroom — *Alabastri Blue porcelain stoneware tiles by Casalgrande Padana.*

This post has been kindly sponsored by Casalgrande Padana. All words, thoughts and opinions are by Melanie Lissack.

Embarking on a bathroom renovation can be overwhelming. As a hard-working area of the home, it needs to be practical, modern, and efficient, all while remaining timeless in style. While the walls in a living space or a bedroom can be repainted if you don’t like the colour (or fancy a new look), a bathroom has to be carefully considered, as it contains multiple elements that cannot be changed so easily.

When designing a bathroom, choosing the right wall and floor tiles is as important as selecting the right layout, alongside other fixtures and fittings. While hard-wearing porcelain stoneware tiles provide a durable wall and floor covering for practicality, in terms of aesthetics, the colouring, size, effect and finish of your tiles will determine the ambience, style, and overall look of your final bathroom space.

To make choosing the right tiles for your bathroom a little easier, here are six modern bathroom ideas featuring wall and floor tiles that are currently trending within interior design. All of these tiles are contemporary and stylish, yet are also enduring and timeless, meaning they won’t date in a few years.

dark marble bathroom — *Aquatio bathroom furniture and accessories from Casalgrande Padana.*

Large Scale Tiles

The use of large-format tiles within bathroom design has vastly increased in popularity. Previously, it tended to be the tile size of choice for wet rooms, but the high-end appeal of a sleek, seamless surface area with minimal grout lines is now often preferred over the busy look attained by groupings of smaller tiles.

With a vast surface, large-scale tiles can elongate a room, providing an unbroken, sweeping view of visual continuity that makes smaller spaces feel bigger. They are also easier to clean and maintain, making them the perfect choice for those with a busy or hectic lifestyle.

beige large tiles bathroom — *Terrae Bianco is used here on the floor and on the adjacent side to a busier feature wall for visual balance.*

Luxury Italian tile manufacturers Casalgrande Padana offer a wide range of large-format tiles, available in multiple finishes, textures and colours. Size options include 20x120 cm, up to 160x320 cm, with a thickness of 6 mm or 12 mm (the 12mm thickness was designed to create bathroom tops).

Why not use the same large-scale tiles on the wall and floor (such as Lithos Beige) for a soft and muted backdrop for vibrant fixtures, bathroom accessories, or to not distract from a window view. You could also combine lighter, earthy-toned large-scale tiles (such as Terrae Bianco) with a busier pattern for visual balance.

modern bathroom design idea — *Lithos Beige on the floor and most of the wall surface is the perfect muted backdrop for a striking piece of bathroom furniture that doesn't distract from the window view.*

Zen Spa

Pinterest states that it has seen a large increase in the search term ‘home spa bathroom’, as homeowners attempt to recreate the experience of a luxury spa at home.

The key to recreating the look of a Zen spa is to use calming tones and textures found in nature. A high-end spa will be free from overstimulating sensory experiences, enabling relaxation through restorative, serene spaces containing diffused lighting and a muted colour palette.

modern bathroom for men — *Metropolis Sand wall and floor tiles from Casalgrande Padana.*

The soothing honey-tones and grains found in wood and the luxury look of marble are two materials that can be used to recreate the look of a high-end spa, but both of these materials in their natural form are not suited to a hard-working bathroom space. Real wood will rot and warp when consistently exposed to water and high humidity, while authentic marble is extremely porous, prone to staining and requires a high level of upkeep (such as regular sealing) to keep it looking immaculate.

In order to achieve this luxe look, choose high-quality porcelain stoneware tiles that offer a durable alternative to real wood and marble by replicating the genuine look and feel of these stylish natural materials. Casalgrande Padana’s Project Wood or English Wood collection of wall and floor tiles have the look and feel of a genuine wood plank in regards to colour, knotting and veining. Yet, unlike real wood, these porcelain stoneware wood-effect collections are fire-resistant, hard-wearing, non-absorbent and efficient in conducting underfloor heating.

For marble-effect tiles that replicate all the classic features of this wonderful natural stone, try Casalgrande Padana’s Alabastri, Marmoker, Onici or Marmora collections that embody the realistic veining, elegant sheen, and the multitude of colour effects of real marble. However, unlike authentic stone, these porcelain stoneware tiles are anti-fade, anti-stain, won’t scratch easily, and are easy to clean using abrasive cleaning products. Constructed from raw materials free of plastic, silicones and other toxic substances, Casalagrande Padana’s marble-look tiles are fully recyclable and fire-resistant.

Colour Drench

If neutral colour palettes aren’t your thing and you’d prefer to add colour to your bathroom, colour-drenching with tiles is one of the biggest new bathroom trends for 2025. We’ve seen colour drenching - where one colour is used on every surface of the room - become a staple in decorating. Moving forward, colour-drenching with tiles is a natural progression of this interior design style.

The trick to keep colour drenching with tiles visually interesting is to use one tile colour in a collection, but mix up the size, finish and surface pattern of the tiles to zone areas such as the shower, the floor, or a splashback.

blue tiles bathroom — *The Atelier collection of colourful large-scale tiles from Casalgrande Padana.*

Casalgrande Padana’s new Concept Green collection (a porcelain stoneware tile range in a beautiful sage hue) is available in a variety of sizes, as well as the option for raised detailing, so that you can create a sophisticated and bespoke colour-drenched bathroom space at home.

sage green bathroom design — *Concept Green: a concrete-effect sage green tile collection from Casalgrande Padana.*

Reeded Tiles

Another popular interior design look that’s progressed from initially being a trend to being considered a look that’s stylish and timeless is ribbed, reeded or fluted surface detailing. Frequently used on walls or furniture via 3D panelling within interior schemes, one of Casalgrande Padana’s latest textured tile collections - Canneté - allows for the popular effect of ribbed detailing to now be applied in hard-working bathrooms. These porcelain stoneware tiles are durable, scratch-proof, fire-resistant and antibacterial.

Available in a variety of colours, surface patterns and size options, the Cannete collection works best when applied to a specific focal area within a bathroom. Use them to define a splashback, create a visually appealing bath panel, or within recessed alcoves or shelving areas. The raised curved design can be applied horizontally or vertically and works well when combined with contrasting flat surfaces.

Colour Blocking

Applying coloured tiles to zone certain areas of a bathroom within a wider neutral scheme is a great way to create a bespoke design that’s the perfect balance of a calming palette, while still allowing for visual interest. If you want to stick to the muted tones of natural stone, but don’t want to completely play it safe, combine sandy surface finishes with coloured tiles in tones of soft blue, forest greens, or earthy terracotta either on one wall, or as a splashback or a single panel that will draw the eye to add a layer of warmth to the space.

In a bathroom with a low ceiling, a thin block of colour will elongate the wall to make it appear taller. When used alongside cooler tiles in shades of grey, white or sand, throwing a strip of colour into the mix will elevate the room so that it doesn’t feel too clinical or cold.

blue beige bathroom inspiration — *Brickworks collection of metro tiles from Casalgrande Padana.*

Casalgrande Padana’s Brickworks Nuances collection of metro tiles offers eight modern colours (available in a matt satin or a glossy shine) that allow for a multitude of laying patterns. These include (but not limited to) vertical stacked, horizontal stacked and herringbone tile layout options. Alternatively, the Atelier collection of colourful, large-format porcelain stoneware tiles can be used to create a colourful and modern floor design.

freestanding bath modern design — *This striking blue panel behind the bath, created using Casalagrande Padana’s Atelier collection, draws the eye upwards and elongates the space.*

Mixing Natural Effects

Don't be afraid to mix and match tile colours and effects. Pairing wood-effect tiles with marble-effect tiles can zone separate areas of the bathroom (for example, dividing the shower space from the bath). As both of these effects replicate materials found in the natural world, they complement each other more than you may initially think.

luxury bathroom design — *Casalgrande Padana’s Epping English Wood and Supreme Sand porcelain stoneware tiles.*

If you are nervous about merging two completely separate material effects, try to keep the shades similar. Try pairing a warmer-toned wood-effect tile on the floor and combine it with a honey-toned marble-effect tile on the walls for a cohesive, but unexpected, bathroom design. Casalgrande Padana’s ‘Epping’ tile from their English Wood collection, paired with Supreme Sand (which emulates for the colours and effects found in rock crystal) work well together, as does ‘Highland’ from the English Wood range alongside ‘Onice Arancio’ (which replicates the sandy tones found within some Onyx stone).