Tiles can make all the difference to a bathroom. You can get some gorgeous cheap bathroom tiles these days. If you wish you could update your bathroom, but can’t afford to replace the suite, a cheap alternative could be to completely retile. Your bathroom will have a whole new look at the fraction of the cost of replacing the entire bathroom.
Tiling a bathroom can usually be done in a weekend, even if you’re not an experienced tiler, so it needn’t be a huge job. Imagine a whole new bathroom in a weekend! Remember to take in account some extra time if your room needs the previous tiles removing though, and the wall preparing ready for the new tiles.
In recent years the cost of manufacturing tiles has come down, and the quality resulting from technological improvements has increased greatly. There have also been some amazing innovations in the type of tiles you can get, the different materials, textures and effects. There’s now no reason not to get the bathroom you want with the right tiles at the right price.
Gone are the days when if you wanted cheap bathroom tiles you had to have plain white ones. You’ll now be spoilt for choice at the array of tiles you can buy quite cheaply. Even if you only consider the cheapest tiles there will still be so many to choose from you’re likely to feel overwhelmed with the choices on offer.
The best thing to do is to have an idea of what you want, but don’t be too rigid with it. For example, if you have your heart set on natural stone tiles for your bathroom walls, do consider stone effect porcelain. Many of us dismiss stone effect or other effect tiles out of hand without looking at them, we’re imagining terrible wood effect vinyl flooring or stone effect wallpaper from the 70’s, but honestly, check them out, they are so good these days that you may well not be able to tell the difference between the real stone tiles and stone effect tiles made from ceramic or porcelain. They in no way look fake or cheap. Probably the only difference you will notice will be the price!
Think about colour, in a small bathroom you’ll probably want a light colour, but don’t think that that means you have to go for white, there are so many pale shades, some beautiful light natural stone effect tiles, or perhaps you could pick white but enhance it with the addition of some coloured tiles. You can get bathroom tiles so cheaply these days that splashing out a little extra for a pack of different ones to really make your bathroom unique and personalised will still fall well within your budget.
Don’t worry that your cheap bathroom tiles will be low quality and they’ll need replacing really soon. Your bathroom tiles will be cheap not because they are made from low grade materials, they won’t be seconds, and they will have been manufactured to a high standard. They will be cheap because your retailer has worked hard to get a good deal for you, to encourage you to buy more from them and to shop with them and not go elsewhere. You can pay a small fortune for a tile with a designer name attached to it, but at the end of the day, who cares who designed your tiles if they look fabulous!
When you are choosing tiles take into account fitting them, especially if you’re going to be doing it yourself. Choosing large tiles may mean more work cutting them to fit around your bathroom suite. On the other hand, choosing smaller tiles will mean more grouting, so assess your own bathroom and weigh up looks versus any problems you may have with using a particular tile. Of course if you have your heart set on a tile that you think will be tricky to fit, you can always spend the money you’ve saved by buying your cheap bathroom tiles on a professional to get the job done perfectly for you!
Do remember to buy enough tiles, calculate how many you need and buy some extra, you may well break some while you’re fitting them or cutting them. I learnt this lesson the hard way. I miscalculated and didn’t buy enough tiles for my bathroom once. I went back to the shop to get another box but they had sold out. I had to choose something that was similar but not identical. I did the best job I could to make sure these tiles were in out of the way places but they still stood out, they were a slightly different shade of white and were slightly thicker so stood slightly proud of the others. They annoyed me so much I ended up retiling the entire bathroom just a few months later. I think in retrospect what I should have done was to buy some entirely different tiles, perhaps a bright colour or something with a print on, and make them a feature. That’s what I’d suggest to you now if you find yourself a few tiles short, but it’s definitely best to avoid this by buying plenty!
Whatever your dreams are for your ideal bathroom, it’s achievable with cheap bathroom tiles so don’t put off retiling thinking it’s going to cost you a fortune, it isn’t!
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