by MV

Created on: October 26, 2008

Your choice of bathroom floor tiles will dictate to a certain extent the theme for your entire bathroom job. There are many, many choices of tiles available in hundreds of colours and sizes.Choosing just one or perhaps one or two and an accent seems like a daunting job.

Before you go shopping, measure the area to determine the square footage that you have to cover. Add approximately 10% extra for cutting and fitting around fixtures, more may be necessary if you are planning to lay the tile in a diagonal pattern.

Think of bathroom looks you have admired. Was it the floor or was it something else that drew you to that room.Sometimes the floor is complementary to the rest of the style and simply fades into the background. However, sometimes the floor can be a real showpiece and the wall tiles are very plain and utilitarian. Also, look in magazines or watch some decorating shows to get ideas. Some of the shows on HGTV are wonderful to provide ideas for colour and style and many of those shows have detailed pictures and source information on their websites which can be invaluable.

One place to start looking is your local big box store. My personal experience has been that they don't have much choice in stock but can special order items for you. If you see what you want that is great, but if you have to order in, you'll be choosing from a picture and may not have a good feel for colour and texture from that photo. My advice is go to a store that specializes in tiles and start browsing. You will be amazed at how many choices there are. Start by choosing a few that catch your eye. Keep in mind that the size on display may not be the only size available and that most tiles come in many different colours.

Ask the staff for appropriate choices for floor tiles. Some tiles are meant only to be used on walls and cannot stand up to the job of floor tiles. Some tiles may be very slippery, especially when wet, which may not make them a good choice for the area in and around your bath or shower. If you choose natural stone, it may have to be sealed. You have a choice of sealers, some which give a gloss or sheen to the stone, and others which simply offer a coating that don't change the look of the tile.

My personal choice is natural stone over ceramic or porcelain tile. Many ceramic and porcelain tiles are trying to reproduce the look of real stone so go for the real thing if you are trying to achieve that look.

If you like the look of small tiles or mosaics, don't be put off worrying

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