How to Choose Bathroom Tiles: Floors, Walls & Wet Areas

Standing in a tile showroom with a thousand glossy samples staring back at you — honestly, it's overwhelming. Here's the thing though: choosing bathroom tiles well comes down to three practical checks, not just picking whatever colour catches your eye. First, think about the room itself (its light, its size, its budget, since industry estimates put floor and wall tiles supplied and laid for a whole bathroom at $2,800–$7,500). Second, for floors, a P3 slip rating is commonly recommended, so always check the spec sheet. Third, pick the floor tile before the wall tile, because the floor has the hardest job in the whole bathroom.

A practical guide outlining five designer rules for selecting bathroom tiles, covering colour, pattern, finish and cohesion—useful context for choosing floor, wall and wet area tiles.
Video Credit: Block Renovation

Prioritise the space

Many homeowners overlook this crucial step when learning how to choose bathroom tiles: you have to consider the room itself. When browsing tile catalogues, it’s easy to focus purely on the design. You may find yourself falling in love with a luxurious high-gloss tile, but before committing, head over to the room in question. What’s the lighting like? What are you actually tiling – the vanity area or the entire shower? How much can you afford? If your bathroom doesn’t have a window, it will not reflect light in the same way as a bright north-facing bathroom. What you think will look great in the showroom will end up looking dull and grey in your bathroom at home. Always test a sample tile in the room itself, under its actual lighting, before you commit to a colour or finish.

Frameless glass shower with wet grey floor tiles and square drain

Wet Areas and Slip Resistance

Picking bathroom floor tiles? Put safety ahead of looks. A P3 slip rating is commonly recommended for bathroom floors, though it isn't a legal requirement. But do you know what this means? Ensure that you’re looking at the P rating (AS 4586:2013), not the finish. So don’t just guess at the slip rating — check the tile spec sheet before you buy. Although the National Construction Code doesn’t require any particular slip rating for residential bathroom and shower floors, the slip rating of the P rating is mandatory for stair treads, ramps, nosings and landing edges. A matt finish is not necessarily grippy and a glossy finish is not necessarily slippery.

Waterproofing is another consideration. Get this sorted before any tiles go in, and make sure it's signed off against the correct standard. To comply with either the NCC (ABCB Housing Provisions Part 10.2) (NCC 2025, ABCB Housing Provisions, Part 10.2) or AS 3740:2021 (AS 3740:2021), a qualified waterproofer applies the membrane. No matter which standard applies, let the membrane dry fully before tiling begins. Skip this step and you'll end up with a bathroom rotting from the inside out. NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia all have their own licensing rules, so check with your waterproofer whether a licence applies in your state. Because tile sits directly on top of the membrane, get a professional tiler to handle wet areas.

Large format grey floor tiles flowing through open-plan walk-in shower and vanity area

Pick the floor first, it has the hardest job

For bathroom floor tiles, select a suitable slip rating first – find the P rating on the product page – then consider colour. You may see ‘Wall & Ceiling Tile’ on the product page, but this is merely a classification. It doesn’t mean the tile can’t be used on the floor, so double-check the floor application before purchasing. Since none of our flooring — hybrid, laminate or engineered timber — suits a bathroom, check the floor application and P rating on the product page and shop our bathroom floor tiles instead.

White subway tile shower-bath with black tapware, vanity and framed mirror

Walls have more choice as nobody will be walking on them

With a small bathroom, white bathroom tiles work well as they bounce light throughout the room and allow you to refresh the room later on without completely replacing the tiles. Aim to have the tiles extend to the ceiling. Full height tiles in a small bathroom will create the illusion of greater size, whereas tiling only half the wall and having painted plasterboard on the other half will make the room appear smaller.

Blue and black mosaic tile feature wall beside shower taps and niche

Feature Tiles in Small Doses

Feature tiles add a touch of luxury to a bathroom. Limit their use to a small area, such as mosaic bathroom tiles in a niche or a horizontal band behind the vanity unit. Mosaics add visual interest and break up what would otherwise be a monotonous space. Glass mosaics offer brilliant colours and shine, while honed marble or stone-look mosaic bathroom tiles sheets give a more organic feel. Don’t overdo it, though. Installed correctly to AS 3958:2023 (AS 3958:2023), feature tiles are fixed to a lasting standard.

References

AS 4586:2013 Slip resistance classification of new pedestrian surface materials (incorporating Amendment No. 1:2017), Standards Australia

National Construction Code 2025, ABCB Housing Provisions, Part 10.2 Wet area waterproofing

AS 13006:2020 Ceramic tiles — Definitions, classification, characteristics and marking, Standards Australia

AS 3958:2023 Installation of ceramic and stone tiles (incorporating Amendment No. 1:2024), Standards Australia

FAQs

Is tiling over old bathroom tiles an option instead of ripping them out?

It depends — sound, flat, well-bonded existing tiles can work, but a tiler must still check the waterproof membrane underneath hasn't failed first. With older homes, a tiler usually wants a close look at the membrane's condition before deciding if tiling over is worth the risk.

From start to finish, how long does a typical bathroom retile take?

Scope, trade availability and inspections all affect the timeline, so once demolition starts, ask your tiler for an estimate that factors in waterproofing cure time before a single tile goes down. If you're waiting on a special-order feature or mosaic tile, check lead times with your supplier before you finalise the schedule.

Does darker grout actually reduce how slippery a bathroom floor is?

No — slip resistance comes down to the tile's P rating alone, not grout colour. People often choose darker grout since it hides mould and grime better over time, and that matters more in a wet area than most expect.