Decorating & Design
10+ Times Tile Had A Major Moment
Updated on June 3, 2025
Whether you’re tiling a large room, wrapping a small space or creating a mini tile moment, these examples show how tile treatments create a striking focal point and anchor a room. From bathrooms to pantries to kitchens, these spaces showcase colourful, imaginative tile, resulting in rooms that feel joyous and rich. Get inspired!
In this guest cabana, Canadian designer Ashley Montgomery filled the limited space with pattern and personality. “We wanted the petite guesthouse kitchen to double as a pool bar.” The pretty tile backsplash contrasts the board and batten panelling and adds a hit of subtle colour.
We’ve seen the rise in popularity of matching the tub surround to the walls and floor, which delivers a seamless carpet of colour and texture. In this Halifax condo, the effect is effervescent and feminine.
A colour-drenched pantry acts as a mini prep kitchen, with a sink, dishwasher, under-counter fridge and freezer in this Toronto home. Grey-green cabinets and a deep green tiles add an unexpected pop of colour that perk up the kitchen’s pale oak cabinets.
A stunning ombré tesserae tile treatment creates a waterfall effect in this marble bathroom. The black floor makes the tub seem to float in the space, and the glossy finish is luxe and theatric.
In this kitchen niche, a French bistro-style patterned cement tile was the jumping-off point for the saturated palette. To balance the bold choice, designer Ami McKay added in plenty of white oak millwork and simple pendants as a calm counterpoint to the look-at-me tile.
For this kids’ bathroom, the mind-bending checkerboard tile application runs from the floor, up the tub and continues on the wall, flattening out harsh angles.
An unexpected mix of FornaceBrioni glazed tiles are paired with classic beachy colours on the backsplash of this cabana kitchenette.
Designer Olivia Botrie took a playful, colour-blocked approach to designing the kids bathroom in her sister’s home. Bands of watery blue tile and white tiles create a graphic look, while a punchy shower curtain adds a pop of pattern.
The owner of this Toronto condo wanted to it to be playful and have fun — and she wasn’t afraid of colour, according to designer Jodie Rosen. A graphic tiled backsplash that stretches to the ceiling adds punch to a white kitchen, which is open to the dining area and living room.
In Sarah Richardson’s Georgian Bay cottage, she shook things up in the shower by running three different bands of lake-coloured tile vertically, instead of horizontally, to draw the eye up.
In this Bedford, Nova Scotia home, glossy glazed emerald tiles enliven the neutral custom cabinets and echo the green stems in the wallpaper.
The bathroom of this coastal home that designer Ashley Montgomery designed for her parents seems to bottle the sun. This shower is colour-drenched in zesty glazed tiles, a juicy way to start the morning.
A Delft tile backsplash gives this traditional kitchen with Plain English cabinets personality and charm.
Tiles depicting birds, palm fronds and bird of paradise plants are the star of this kitchen. Extending the backsplash all the way up to the ceiling gives it an artistic twist. The homeowner says the goal was “to have a home that had a casual, breezy, coastal vibe with some whimsical touches.”