Anyone can have the typical tiled bathroom, but why not make your home truly unique. Self designed bathroom tile patterns are a decorative and cost efficient way of making your home more valuable. Designs can range from hand sketched ideas, simple patterns, or mosaic like pictures. With a bit of preparation and an adventurous home improvement attitude a beautiful new floor can easily be accomplished in a weekend.
Step 1: Select a Design
Take a few days or weeks to stew over what type of bathroom tile pattern you would like your new floor to look like. A basic black and white tiled pattern provides a classic look, whereas a photograph of a favorite piece of art or a picture of a cloudy sky will ensure a one-of-a-kind look. Take into consideration the long term repercussions of selecting a wildly unique pattern for your floor if you plan to resell your home in the near future, the next owner may not be as appreciative of something that you may adore.
Step 2: Measure and Prepare
Measure the space in your bathroom where you wish to install a new floor. Write down all of your measurements on paper, and even sketch a basic layout the room. Having these numbers on paper to reference is one of the most important steps in the process of transforming your room because it will ensure that you purchase the correct amount of materials.
Step 3: Find Your tile and Tile Spacers
Visit a local home improvement store or a tile specialty location and decide what size tiles will work for the pattern you have selected, as well as what will work for the size of your room. The more intricate the pattern, the smaller the tiles should be so that the pattern can best be seen. If you have selected a photograph which you wish to replicate then you can purchase tiles as small as one inch by one inch. Purchasing unique tiles such as those that are hand painted, imported, or tiles with an interesting finish will make all the difference in the quality outcome of this project. Select a tile spacer which will be appropriate for the size of the tile. Spacers range from 1/16th of an inch, to as much as ½ an inch in width.
Using your measurements and your sketch or photograph of your desired design, figure out how many tiles will be needed by doing the math, and even drawing lines on the photograph of how the tiles will be divided. Simple vertical and horizontal lines drawn to scale will give you an idea of how many tiles will be necessary. For example if you purchased six tiles that measured two inches across each, they would take up twelve inches of floor space, plus a quarter of an inch for each tile with the grout, so you must assume that each two inch tile takes up two and one quarter inches. Using this example six tiles would take up thirteen and a half inches total floor space with the grout, so be careful that you are including the measurements for the tile as well as the grout in your calculations.
Step 4: Purchase Supplies
To ensure that your floor comes out professional looking, be sure to purchase the necessary supplies, this includes:
Tiles
Spacers
Grout (any color you choose that will complement the tiles)
Squeegee for the grout (ask your hardware store to show you the correct one)
Floor adhesive and a trowel to spread it
A tile cutter
Measuring tape and Level
A bucket of water and a few old rags
Step 5: Tile Lay out and Application
Prior to adhering the bathroom tile pattern to the floor, it is a good idea to have a trial run with your design layout. Take the tiles and lay them on the floor as a sort of practice run with the spacers and see if this is in fact the design that you had envisioned. Start laying your tile from the very center of the room and work your way out so that your pattern will come out evenly; this way you will not be left with any awkward edges or corners. Follow the instructions on the bucket of adhesives, as well as the grout. Allow the adhesive to dry for twenty four hours or more before you begin to apply grout. If you grout your tile too quickly then the chance that the grout will crack is very likely. Try to stay off of the floor for the recommended amount of time that the grout takes to dry to ensure that your floor will remain beautiful and intact.
