A Complete Guide to Corner Tile

Does your tile project have a niche? A window that needs trimming? A pony wall or shower bench? Then you'll likely need a trim piece for finishing the corners. Turning a corner can seem like a challenge, but not to worry, we'll walk you through the options you have. Here's what to reach for when your tile takes a turn.

Glazed Edge

A glazed edge is the simplest way to turn a corner. This is where you simply glaze the short edges of your tile or brick and have them form the corner with a regular piece of tile. Like their trim counterparts, glazed edges are also priced by the linear foot.

Justina Blakeney's bathroom utilizes a lot of glazed edge pieces to both turn a corner on walls, along with the trim along her arched shower niches.

Glazed edge trim isn't just for Ceramic Tile—we can glaze the edges of our bestselling Glazed Thin Brick too.

And guess what? We also make Corner pieces for our Brick to ensure a seamless wraparound look! See all of our Brick Trim options here.

Unglazed Edge

Some may actually love the look of unfinished edges and featuring them in a design is an interesting way of accentuating the one-of-a-kind look of handmade tile. This shower niche celebrates the imperfections of unfinished edges.

If you do choose this style, you or your installer must take extra care to ensure the tile is sealed properly. Also, note that grout can stain the unglazed portions of the tile.

Mitering

You can choose to miter the edges of your tile too. Mitering is where a joint is created by two pieces of tile at a 90° angle to create a corner.

This brick-clad fireplace features super crisp outside corners thanks to well-executed miter joints.

You may also want to use miter joints on inside corners as well.

Quarter Round

Quarter Rounds are a clean, finished way of going around a corner. This method is seen often in kitchens, showers, and shower niches as well. We price these 6" pieces by linear foot, so you can determine how much you need by measuring the length or height of the area you need them for.

You can see Quarter Rounds in action here courtesy of the gorgeous custom mauve tile, cut to perfectly frame this decorative arch (the white trim on the outside of the Quarter Round is our more pronounced Round Liner).

Quarter rounds can be especially useful for installations that use specialty shapes as they frame nicely while also closing off any cut edges—like the bench and pony wall in this ADA-compliant shower filled with our specialty shape Ogee Drop Tile.

Quarter Rounds can also come in handy if you need to trim out a window where a corner is involved.

Flat Liner

Like the Quarter Round, a Flat Liner is a glazed ceramic piece of trim. But as the name suggests, instead of being rounded, it is flat and squared on all sides. These trim pieces work similarly to a glazed edge tile to turn a corner with glaze on all exposed sides.

You'll see how Flat Liner forms the 90-degree edge of this shower bench, blending well with the tile on the horizontal and vertical planes.

Another example of flat liner's cleaning up corner transitions, this kitchen backsplash features a tiled window casing for an interesting design detail.

Bullnose

Since Bullnose Edge Trim is when a piece of field tile is rounded and glazed on its edge, using this piece is a simple way to go around a corner. This is where a bullnose tile meets with a regular tile to form a corner, as demonstrated below.

Double Radius Bullnose

Double Radius Bullnose is where we bullnose both sides of the tile. You will see this often in a bathroom application, on narrow walls, pony walls, or along the shower curb.

Schluter Trim

An easy and affordable way to finish a corner is by using Schluter profiles. These profiles are strips of metal or PVC trim. The profiles provide a clean appearance by covering unglazed or unfinished tile edges, like corners!

This shower features brass Schluter trim on the corners of both the shower niche and the shower curb.