Small bathroom flooring can be tricky to get right. Play it safe with bright white colours, and you can be left with a room that feels sterile and lacking personality, but some bolder patterns or darker colours can take your room from cosy to claustrophobic.
Balancing space and design doesn’t have to be a headache, though, and we’ve collated 9 small bathroom flooring ideas to help you get started creating a bathroom that you’ll love. As you consider what option might be best for your home, make sure you factor in these three key things to steer you in the right direction:
- Budget: some flooring options are stunning but a little more expensive. However, one benefit of a smaller room is you might have more budget to play with as your money doesn’t have to go as far.
- Style – what style suits your property? While a mosaic-patterned floor might be beautiful to look at, if the rest of your home is minimalist or refined, the resulting look could be a little jarring.
- Features – consider what features your bathroom needs, like a mobility-style bath, and what flooring would be most appropriate. Smooth tiles can be slippy underfoot whereas some vinyl floors offer a slip-resistant layer, making them a great addition to a mobility-friendly bathroom.
Let’s have a look at some creative small bathroom flooring ideas to get you inspired:
1. Keep things plain and simple
Opt for single-colour flooring using vinyl or tiles and let your floor act as a blank canvas, allowing the rest of your room to shine. This is perfect for minimalist-style bathrooms, allowing your fixtures and features to take centre stage.
2. Embrace elegance with engineered hardwood flooring
If you’re hunting for small bathroom flooring ideas that are sure to create a beautiful finish, engineered hardwood flooring might be the choice for you. Despite its stunning overall look, hardwood flooring can be harder to maintain than other options like vinyl, meaning in larger rooms, the upkeep might be off-putting. A benefit of a smaller bathroom is there’s less surface area to keep clean, so you can take a chance on a more demanding material.
Go for a darker stained hardwood and cream walls to create a country-style bathroom or open the space with white hardwood and contrasting navy features.
3. Use diagonal lines to manipulate the space
Certain patterns can help to open up your bathroom, while others can have the opposite effect. Use diagonal lines to create the feeling of space and play around with different colour tiles to create a mesmerising effect. This flooring idea complements most bathroom types but would look particularly stunning in contemporary or traditional bathrooms.
4. Go bold with a darker floor
When used correctly, darker colours can actually make a room feel bigger. Use slate flooring to turn your bathroom into the epitome of elegance and pair it with light, warm walls. If your small bathroom doesn’t get a lot of natural light, this might not be the best choice for you. But if you’re lucky enough to get oodles of light throughout the day, darker floors can be a beautiful addition to your small space.
5. Create a sanctuary with ceramic tile
Ceramic tiles have long been a popular choice for small bathroom flooring ideas. Coming in an array of earthy tones, they are perfect for rooms that need a little bit of brightening. It’s important to note that they’re slightly less water resistant than some other materials, like porcelain, so consider the bathroom usage carefully. For child-friendly bathrooms that deal with a lot of splashes, a more durable material might be a better option.
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6. Impress your guests with mosaic
Small doesn’t have to mean boring. If you’re a lover of all things fun, mosaic flooring can be a great option for small bathroom flooring ideas. A patterned floor allows you to add some flair to your room without overpowering it. Pair with a plain, but warm, wall colour, and let your floor act as your bathroom’s focal point.
7. Seamlessly blend your walls and your floor
Tile your bathroom floor and walls in one style of tile, creating a seamless flow between them. While this idea could be overwhelming in a larger bathroom, smaller rooms are the perfect space to try out something more daring and fun, without it becoming too much. This particular style suits wet rooms or spaces with a walk-in shower.
8. Use vinyl for a budget-friendly option
Vinyl is a great contender for the most affordable and versatile of all the small bathroom flooring ideas. A solid choice for smaller spaces where investing in tiles or hardwood might not be viable, vinyl comes in an array of colours and designs that can help refresh your smaller bathroom. As well as being kind to your wallet, vinyl is water-resistant and slip-resistant, making it suitable for both young and older users.
9. Opt for bigger tiles
You would be forgiven for thinking the smaller the room the smaller the tiles you should use but it’s widely accepted that larger tiles can help to create a sense of space. Thanks to fewer grout lines, bigger tiles give the illusion of a more spacious bathroom.
What type of flooring is best for a small bathroom?
While we’re firm believers in curating a room designed on what you love, we know it’s important to balance personal preference and practicality. If you’re looking to update your bathroom and you’re wondering what is the best flooring for a small bathroom, you’re not alone. There’s no tried-and-tested, foolproof answer for what flooring is best for a small bathroom, but there are some recurring factors to think about:
- Colours that work with natural light: a smaller space with more natural light means you can afford to play around with colours a little bit more. For rooms that don’t have good lighting, or are without a window, sticking to lighter and brighter colours for your flooring might work best to help your space shine.
- Flooring that works with your existing colour scheme: if you’re not doing a full redesign of your bathroom, your floor needs to complement your walls. While slate tiles might be a beautiful idea, if your walls are already a darker shade, adding in another dark element could make your room feel cramped
- Durable material suitable for your requirements: a family-friendly, high-traffic bathroom vs. a specially designed disability bathroom might require different flooring. For smaller family-friendly spaces, picking a more durable floor might be a sensible financial decision in the long run.
What colour floor makes small bathrooms look bigger?
Typically, lighter colours are suggested to help make a small room look larger. Pastel shades, warm whites and pale greys have long been stated as the best colour choices for small spaces.
If you want to go against the grain and add darker or bolder colours, you can still do so in a smaller bathroom without creating a dingy environment. Offset darker or more vivid flooring with lighting, accessories and brighter bathroom fixtures, leaving you with a more balanced finish.
Our 9 small bathroom flooring ideas have been carefully curated to help show you the multitude of options available to make the most of your space.