Designing a dream shower is about more than just choosing the right tile; it’s also about finding the best, most beautiful way to install that tile. A whole bathroom done in a single type of tile can be beautiful, sure. But the addition of even a small, simple tile border can totally alter the look. In fact, tile borders serve a lot of purposes in a luxury shower design, some functional and some aesthetic. To get you started, here are a few simple tile border ideas for your shower.
Interrupt A Single Tile
Showers that are made of all one type of tile – especially tile that extends to the rest of the room, and especially a single type of stone tile – walk a thin line between oozing classic beauty and being a little overwhelming. Unbroken travertine or marble showers have a lovely Romanesque appearance, but can feel a bit monolithic in a larger space. A simple tile border adds character to a blank stone wall, relieving the eye and enhancing the overall style. Here, a rather large border draws the tile from the shower floor throughout the bathroom. It’s a nice way to break up the larger-format marble wall and camouflage the painted wall above the toilet.
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Differentiate Between Two Types Of Tile
Similarly, you can use a simple tile border to separate two different types of tile; usually the upper and lower halves of a wall. This type of border tile need only be a single tile thick, and not even necessarily a particularly thick tile. Its purpose is simple but important: to turn an unsightly seam into an elegant transition. This can effectively separate two totally different types of tile; tiles in the same shape and size but a different orientation, or tiles in the same material but different sizes or shapes. In a white-on-white porcelain tile shower, a border can even provide a little extra texture and classic flair by mimicking crown molding.
Add Color
Mosaic tile borders are also a great way to add color to your shower. Mosaic tile sheets, which are made of several tiles arranged and affixed to an easy-to-install mesh sheet, are available in an amazing range of colors and materials. More importantly, you can easily cut them down to the desired border size. Unlike borders made out of a single type of tile, these offer a vibrant, colorful, patterned appearance that can easily be the highlight of any shower. Perfect for bringing a neutral-toned shower to life. Better still, they’re easy to install, with much less work than a traditional mosaic and almost no tile cutting needed.
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Coordinate Tile
Tile borders can also be used to help unify your bathroom decor by repeating elements used elsewhere in the room. This can be as subtle as picking up a smaller tile accent on the bathroom walls to something as bold as carrying the tile from the shower floor throughout the rest of the space. These borders can be limited to the inside of the shower or wrap around the whole bathroom. Either way, they can help give your shower or bathroom a slightly more coordinated look and feel.
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Showcase Your Hardware
Not all tile borders have to be horizontal, either. In fact, a vertical border of glass tile has a striking modern appearance. It also works quite nicely to draw attention to your shower hardware, either placed alongside it or – better yet – with the hardware installed directly into it. Which installation will work better for you depends a little on the types of tile involved. A mosaic tile sheet can be easier to cut to accommodate the hardware in the first place (depending on the sizes of your fittings), but may be a little more difficult to waterproof, which is important to prevent damage.
Attract Attention
Similarly, a tile border doesn’t have to extend along the whole length of your wall. Smaller borders are a great way to draw attention to little details, especially in a shower with neutral tile. Here, a smaller border frames the mosaic tile accents around the shower hardware and in the recessed niche shelving. This simultaneously makes the smaller features pop and contains them with a bold, dark line that separates them from the rest of the shower. You can also use a frame-type border to create an accent. Placed in the center of the main bathroom-facing shower wall and made to frame one or more different types of tile (or even just differently-oriented tile), a basic border can give your whole shower a beautiful, artistic look and feel.
Tile borders come in all shapes and sizes, and can make your next shower remodel uniquely you. So whether you want a seamless modern shower floor or a Romanesque bath, don’t forget the little details!
