Bathroom Tile Design
As with most commodities that are affected by consumer demand tiles are subject to changing fashion trends and fads.
Recent years have seen a move to larger and larger designs of tile or very small tiles almost as small as a mosaic. Medium sized tiled have dropped out of favour. There has also been a rise in demand for natural stone tiles which has seen ceramic tile manufacturers create copies of these finishes, some being very realistic. This has meant that matt tiles are a popular choice as most natural stone tend to have this finish, unless highly polished (such as some marble and limestone).
As the patterned tiles give way to more mottled or stone effect designs large expanses of wall can end up looking quite plain so very often a border is employed to break up the solid colour. These can be a contrasting colour tile or a band of highly coloured mosaic tiles that contrast directly with the large plain surround.
Dado tiles are also available but these are less popular as they usually protrude into the room and make fitting items that run vertically up the bathroom wall, like shower cubicle frames or bath shower screens, difficult to fit without cutting the tile away. The Outasight concealed shower curtain system fitted in the image above (to the left of the electric shower as we look at it) would have been tricky to fit if the design of the border tiles had been proud of the tile surface.