Practical Tile Ideas for Your Shower Flooring

Image: Cosmic Black 24 x 48 & 2 x 2 Porcelain Shower Tile from Arizona Tile

When considering tile for your bathroom shower wall and floor design it’s important to focus not only on aesthetics, but also maintenance and safety, as even a small amount of water creates a slippery surface. With attention to detail and the selection of the correct tile, natural stone, porcelain or glass, we have some great ideas to inspire you as you learn aboutf the perfect shower floor tile for your space.

Styles and Materials

Be it natural stone, like marble, or manufactured tile, like porcelain, there are benefits to whichever style you prefer. While the appearance of tile can range vastly, so does its function and need for maintenance. Let’s discuss the advantages and differences of selecting porcelain or marble for your bathroom shower floor.

Porcelain

Porcelain offers versatility to match any style across nearly any room adding elegant and vibrant hues. With easy installation to benefit your labor budget, and its relative ease to clean and maintain, porcelain tile can add a striking décor throughout your bathroom.

The Tru Marmi porcelain series is designed to share characteristics with some of the most sought-after natural stones, including marble, with its soft background and dignified veining. Another series that shares this characteristic of appearing like natural stone is the Cosmic series. Offered in colors ranging from black to white, this tile can look bold or soft and will pair well with other tile designs.

In general, a major benefit to only looking like natural stone is that maintenance recommendations tend to be less; thus, making porcelain tile a stellar option. When designing a shower, attention needs to be placed on where certain tile can and cannot be used. In the Tru Marmi series, for example, any of the five colors and four sizes can be used to fashion the shower walls; however, on the shower floor, only 4-inch hex mesh and 2 x2 mosaic mesh should be installed. This recommendation is based on safety because the grout between the smaller tiles reduces the risk of slipping once the shower floor is wet.  With this variation, mix and match within the same series or branch out to another series for a more dramatic focal point.

Featured Image: Tru Marmi Extra Matte 4 Inch Porcelain Hex Shower Floor Tile & Ivory White Honed Quartz Shower Wall from Arizona Tile

Marble

Marble is another great material for shower floor tile, especially if you truly love natural stone. Marble can transform a space to be full of luxury and elegance with its timeless beauty. Created by the re-crystallization of limestone under extreme heat and pressure in the earth, every piece of marble slab and tile has its own unique veining, patterns, colors, and swirls.

In the Completa Series (CS), CS-Sky Blue is a faint blue marble with very subtle white details scattered throughout each piece which gives it a luxurious, ethereal appeal. Also, in the Completa Series, another beauty is CS-Bianco Venatino white marble with pencil-thin, grey veining and organic details and movement creating a clean, timeless, and complementary design. Both options would give you a gorgeous tile shower floor.

Image: Bianco Venatino Polished 12 x 24 Shower Wall Tile & CS-Bianco Venatino Honed Picket Mesh Marble Shower Floor Tile from Arizona Tile

Same as with porcelain products, marble will also have certain sizes that are appropriate for shower flooring and others that are not. In CS-Sky Blue and CS-Bianco Venatino, the Ellipse, Feather, Flower, Oval, Penny Round, Herringbone 1 x 4, and Hex 4-inch sizes and shapes (all available in a Honed finish) are great shower floor tile options along with Multi-Finish 2 x 2 Hex. In addition to these marble patterns, you can always customize any look further by integrating a to make a mosaic pattern on the shower floor as your focal point.

Safety

Wet surfaces certainly create a need for concern when it comes to safety. Whether it be the flooring surface itself or the precautions to keep water contained within a specific area. When designing your shower, this can be accomplished in several ways such as having a curb at the entrance to your shower or by going with a curbless option as long as the grade is appropriately sloped toward the drain. With either option, you can choose a shower floor tile that differs from your floor tile, perhaps even using another tile as an accent on the curb. Or, you can continue with the same tile from the floor into the shower, as long as your selection is recommended for shower floors. One way to create this seamless transition is by selecting a tile that is available in our R11 Anti-Slip Finish which will help reduce the risk of falls.

Anti-Slip Finish

R11 Anti-Slip Finish is a unique finish that is the result of a modification in the production process that roughens the tile surface without changing its appearance, thus making it more slip-resistant, yet still aesthetically pleasing. For a porcelain tile neutral in color and mild in variation, Pietra Italia emulates limestone and provides a safe and clean look for your bathroom shower tile floor.

Image: Pietra Italia White 24 x 48 Porcelain Tile Wall, Bench, & R11 Anti Slip Finish Shower Tile Floor & Chevron Silver Polished Mesh Shower Accent Wall & Niche from Arizona Tile

If you are looking for a simplistic, modern, neutral tile, the Reside USA series may be just what you need. It’s available in four on-trend colors and provides an industrial and commercial aesthetic but is available for residential projects as well. Also, having the R11 Anti-Slip Finish won’t deter from its clean appearance.

Creating a very different look than some other tile options, the Aequa series offers the appearance of reclaimed wood in a durable porcelain tile. Offered in five colors that display a timeworn warmth, this series would be ideal for farmhouse-style based décor.

Maintenance

Don’t overlook the all-important maintenance aspect of selecting your shower floor tile. Chances are, gathering tile ideas for the shower floor will include thoughts of maintenance and upkeep. Luckily, both marble and porcelain are practical to maintain and are durable. Porcelain, however, is the more durable option. As a manufactured product, porcelain lacks the porosity that is found in natural stone like marble. Though marble is also durable, it is a softer material than porcelain and will need to be properly sealed on a regular basis to optimize its longevity. A quality-impregnating sealer will penetrate the stone, preserving its natural beauty and will protect it from absorbing moisture, dirt, and chemicals.

While both natural stone and porcelain are relatively easy to maintain on a daily basis, neither material should be cleaned with harsh chemicals. Instead, they only need to be wiped or mopped with warm water or a pH-balanced neutral cleaner.

We Have What You Need

Check out the products discussed and our other full line of tile and stone products for bathroom shower floor tile ideas. Our inspiration corner is also an excellent resource for selecting bathroom shower floor tile. You can also stop into any Arizona Tile store to get a sense of your favorite tile in person. When you see tile, natural stone, or quartz you like, try our tile visualizer to see the material in your space. If you have any questions, send them our way!