The kitchen is the kingdom of the backsplash. A kitchen backsplash is a perfect backdrop to create a high-function focal point to protect your kitchen and delight your family and friends. But the bathroom is an equally important space to safeguard and equally welcoming of great design.
Tile Shown: 3x9 in Flagstone //Design: JL Interior Design // Image: Thomas Kuoh
A bathroom backsplash ties the room together and keeps your walls protected from all the rinsing, brushing, and applying taking place at your bathroom vanity. Whether you’re redesigning your entire bathroom or looking to punch up what you’ve already got, a bathroom backsplash is an easy and cost-effective way to add detail to your bathroom.
We’re touring you through 15 great designs to get your bathroom backsplash dialed in.
Remodeling your entire bathroom? Start here with our complete guide to bathroom tile
Reasons to Install a Tile Bathroom Backsplash
Durable Protection
Bathrooms get a lot of use, and tile is perfect for wet environments prone to wear and tear. Our Ceramic, Glass, and Glazed Brick tiles are strong and water-resistant making them a great material for shield humid and high-use surfaces.
Tile Shown: 1x6 in Sand Dune and 6x12 in Adobe // Design: Anne Sage // Image: Monica Wang
Affordable Upgrade
Ambitious interior design renovations can quickly add up. A bathroom backsplash on the other hand is an easy way to add beautiful tile to your bathroom without breaking the bank. Most vanity areas can be covered with a small square footage of tile. A small project like a bathroom backsplash is a great test for your DIY skills, offering the possibility to pocket the cost of an installer.
Tile Shown: 2x6 in Hunter Green // Design + Image: Peter Saling
Design Detail
Just like in the kitchen, a bathroom backsplash isn’t just about function. The visual value of a tile backsplash is hard to overstate. Bathroom backsplashes offer potentially untapped space to wow with, whether you’re matching the rest of the bathroom or choosing a color and pattern that truly stands out.
15 Bathroom Backsplash Ideas
Straight set 2x8 ceramic tile in a glossy dark blue color plays off the tones of the stone countertop while contrasting the natural wood cabinets and honey-colored accent mirror.
Tile Shown: 2x8 in Nautical // Design: Chora Studios // Images: Beth Perry
A durable bathroom backsplash is even more important in a public space, but an office bathroom doesn’t have to be all business. This elegant office bathroom backsplash is clad in interlocking tile, inviting a moment of actual rest before exiting the restroom.
Tile: Chaine Homme in Frost // Design: Edwards + Mulhausen Interior Designer // Image: James Johnson / /Installer: American Constructors, Hellas Construction
A floor-to-ceiling backsplash can help frame a freestanding vanity like a pedestal sink or this table vanity backed by glazed black brick.
Brick: Glazed Thin Brick in Black Hills // Design: Caren Rideau // Images: Meghan Beierle
When you’re short on counter space, make your bathroom backsplash even more functional with a niche insert. Prefabricated niches are available at most supply stores like Home Depot and simplify installation.
Tile: 2x6 in French Linen // Design: Sanabria & Co, Old City Design Studio // Images: Stacy Zarin Goldbery
Paired with Ogee Drop wall tile, traditional subway tile reflects the utilitarian qualities of backsplash tile, distinguishing it from the more decorative walls and showing why subway tile continues to be the workhorse of tile design.
Tile Shown: Ogee Drop in Halite, Tusk and, White Wash // Design+Image: Sarah Lederman Interiors
A backsplash is a place to really get creative in your bathroom, using a color, shape, or pattern that you wouldn’t necessarily commit to a whole room. This bathroom draws you in with a unique pattern of Hexite tiles in heady earth tones.
Tile Shown: Hexite in Cardamom and Amalfi Coast // Design + Image: Bethany Fay Designs
Glass is another great choice for an area you’ll be cleaning a lot. And it doesn’t take much to make an eye-catching statement. A single course of vertical 3x12 Tile in pink matte glass completely changes the look of this vanity and took only about 8 square feet of tile to do it!
Tile Shown: 3x12 Glass Tile in Rosy Finch Matte // Design: Metro Design Build // Images: Jeffrey Johnson
Encased by the cabinets and bathroom wall, this sink doesn’t have a lot of room to work with. But a well-lit backsplash of rich brown Hexite tile creates an incredible tortoiseshell design above and below the bathroom mirror.
Tile Shown: Hexite in Antique // Design: Jared Zimmerman & Shannon Badiee // Images: Aerial Canvas
Complementing the colors of the wall paint and caned cabinet doors, glossy sand-colored tile with matching grout gives this bathroom a bright and warm feeling despite not having any windows.
Tile Shown: 2x6 in Sand Dune // Design + Images: Juliana DeMarici
Glass Mosaic tiles that carry through to the wainscoting of this powder room are like little pink gemstones to give this bathroom backsplash a glamorous look. While mosaic tile offers incredible design possibilities, it also requires more grout lines and in a high-use area like a bathroom backsplash, grout will need to be cleaned often. Consider how you’ll live with the look you want when choosing the right tile for your bathroom.
Tile Shown: 1x1 in Rosy Finch Gloss // Design: Ginny Macdonald, Styling by CJ Sandgren // Images: Jessica Bordner, Sara Tramp
Matching the motif of the wall and floor tile in the custom shower, this bathroom backsplash gets creative with a basketweave parquet design of 3x9 tile spread across the double vanity from the sink to ceiling.
Tile Shown: 3x9 in Rosemary // Design: Lauren Ramirez Interior Design, Nana Kim of 9 Square Studio // Images: Molly Culver Photography
Make the start of your day more fun with a design that will have you smiling even before you brush your teeth. A full wall of glossy glass tile gives this kids' bathroom an uplifting backdrop and a backsplash that can take a beating for years as the children grow.
Tile Shown: 4x12 Glass Tile in Rosy Finch Gloss // Design: Project M plus, Oh Joy // Images: Bethany Nauert
A bathroom backsplash can rhyme with other elements in your bathroom without repeating them. This bathroom features large star and cross tile in a smoky brown color on the floor paired with a backsplash of small star and cross tile in the same color for a cohesive look without overusing one shape.
Tile Shown: Star and Cross, Mini Star and Cross, 2x2 sheeted mosaic, and 3x9 in Cardamom // Design + Images: Anita Yokota
Taking advantage of the space beneath a slanted wall, custom handpainted tile gives an artistic touch to this upstairs bathroom for a backsplash that’s truly one of a kind. A bathroom backsplash is an excellent place to feature higher-priced, one-of-a-kind handpainted tile.
Tile Shown: Handpainted Kasbah Trellis in White Motif // Design: Annabode + Co // Image: Brandon Lopez
Have enough leftover tile from your floor installation? Adding a single course of tile to the top of your counter offers a functional backsplash and a perfect design hit to enhance the look of your new bathroom floors.
Tile Shown: 3x12 in Crater Lake // Design + Image: Leslie Murchie
Whether you're ready to get started on an approachable DIY project or redesigning your entire bathroom with professionals, reach out to one of our complimentary Design Assistants for help with sampling, estimating, renderings, and easy ordering to see how you can have the bathroom you're dreaming of.
