Feature Tiles

Matte tiles are trending strongly in Australian bathrooms for their contemporary look and practical ability to hide water spots and fingerprints. Gloss tiles reflect light and can make a bathroom feel brighter and larger, but show water marks and smudges more readily. For shower recesses and wet floors, matte or satin finishes with good slip resistance are generally preferred.

Measure your total wall and floor surface area in square metres, then add a 10–15% wastage allowance for cuts, breakages, and future repairs. For complex layouts with diagonal patterns or feature inserts, increase the wastage to 15–20%. Always order all tiles from the same batch (check the shade lot/batch number) as tiles from different batches can vary slightly in colour.

Floor tiles must have an adequate slip resistance rating (P3 minimum for domestic bathrooms) and be durable enough for foot traffic. Wall tiles can be glazed ceramic, porcelain, or natural stone, they don't need to carry load but should be moisture-resistant. Many Australian renovators choose matching or coordinating floor and wall tiles from the same range for a cohesive look.

For small bathrooms, tiles between 300 x 300mm and 600 x 300mm often work well on both walls and floors. Smaller mosaic or subway tiles (75 x 150mm or 100 x 200mm) are a classic choice for shower walls. While large format tiles can also work in small spaces, they require a very level substrate and expert installation. Avoid tiles that are too small on floors (like 50 x 50mm mosaics) in large quantities, as the increased grout lines can make a space feel busier.

The most effective approach is to choose one feature zone and use your feature tile there, a full-height shower wall, the bath surround wall, or the vanity splashback area. Keep the remaining surfaces in a neutral or complementary field tile. This creates impact without visual clutter. Limit your palette to two or three complementary materials for a cohesive result.

Australian Standards (AS 4586) require bathroom floor tiles to have a minimum slip resistance rating of P3 for domestic bathrooms and P4 or P5 for wet areas like shower recesses. The Blue Space recommends checking the slip resistance rating of any tile you're considering for floor use, particularly in the shower. Matte and textured porcelain tiles generally offer better slip resistance than polished or gloss finishes.

Porcelain tiles are fired at higher temperatures and are denser, less porous, and harder than ceramic tiles. This makes porcelain more water-resistant, more durable, and suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications, including high-traffic floors. Ceramic tiles are lighter and easier to cut, making them a practical choice for bathroom walls and splashbacks. For bathroom floors and wet areas, porcelain is generally the preferred option in Australia.

The most common placements are a full-height shower wall, the wall behind a freestanding bath, or a vanity splashback, areas that are easy to see from the doorway but don't require tiling the whole room. Choosing one clear feature zone and keeping the remaining walls and floor in a simpler field tile gives the strongest visual impact without competing patterns fighting for attention in a small space.

Textured and handmade-look finishes, such as zellige-style tiles, alongside bold shapes like kit kat sticks and penny rounds, are popular current choices for a single accent wall or niche. Trends shift, though, and a feature tile is a longer-term investment than paint, so picking a look you'll be comfortable with beyond the current season matters more than chasing what's popular right now.

Warmer, earthier tones and natural stone-look finishes are gaining ground alongside the cooler greys and stark whites that dominated recent years, often used as the feature element against a simpler neutral field. Rather than designing around a specific trend, it's worth choosing a feature tile you'll still like in five or ten years, since retiling a feature wall later is a bigger job than updating soft furnishings or paint.

Material matters less for a feature wall than for a floor, since a feature tile usually isn't underfoot and doesn't need the same slip resistance or wear rating. This opens up more options: handmade-look ceramic, textured porcelain, or a natural stone-look finish can all work as a feature, so the decision comes down to the look and finish you want rather than a durability constraint. If the feature tile is going somewhere it will get wet, like inside a shower, check it's still rated for a wet area regardless of the material.

There's no fixed rule, but using a premium or bold feature tile sparingly, on one wall or a niche rather than throughout the room, is both a design choice and a practical budget decision. It lets you use a more expensive or striking tile without the cost of covering an entire bathroom in it, while still getting a clear visual moment when you walk in.

They should complement rather than clash, but they don't need to match exactly, that's part of what makes them a feature. A common approach is to pick a feature tile that shares one element with the rest of the room (a similar warm or cool undertone, for example) while contrasting in pattern, texture or shape, so the accent reads as intentional rather than mismatched.