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Tile Decorating Hacks for a Tiny Home

Pardon the oxymoron, but the movement to “live small” is getting “big”!  There’s a growing trend of people opting to live in tiny houses—and we mean tiny!  The typical footage of a tiny house is between 100 and 400 square feet. That's smaller than Kim Kardashian's shoe closet! Devotees of this movement swear by tiny homes' ability to simplify their lives, tighten their budget, and live more spaciously. 

Tile Design Hacks for a Tiny House Kitchen Include Storage Ideas and Dynamic Wall Decor

You can do a lot with a little space as long as you make the most of your room! Even a cozy kitchen is beautifully styled with these floating wood shelves and Wooden Beige 4X12 Honed Marble Tile backsplash!

That’s where decorating hacks for tiny homes can help.  Any small space can be made to feel bigger with the right choice of color, texture, and shape of the materials used on the structural surfaces that define a space—mainly, the walls and the floors. 

Few decorating tools are more suited to this decorating mission than tiles.  Luckily there are options galore:  from light-reflecting ceramic, glass, porcelain and Mother of Pearl and the budget-friendly-easy-to-install peel and stick choice. We’re sharing some of the best ways to use tiles to define your space and make the most of your room in a tiny house!

Rules for Choosing Tiles For A Tiny House

Keep it light and bright with these Recycled Glass 2" Hexagon Tiles in Calacatta Gold Color!

Keep it light and bright with these Recycled Glass 2" Hexagon Tiles in Calacatta Gold Color!

  • Lighter shades of tiles reflect light which can open up space to create the illusion of more room. Glazed and glossy tiles are a great way to bounce light around your room, so paler shades of tiles are the way to go.  Darker tones or matte tiles tend to do the opposite, so when it comes to building materials for a tiny house, they’re best used sparingly or as an accent design.

  • This may sound counterintuitive, but large tiles give a small room a bigger feel.  The bigger the tile, the fewer grout lines there are. This means the floor or wall looks less busy, and that makes the space feel larger. Read more about our guide to using large-format tiles here!

  • Patterned tiles add interest and texture, but if you're going trying to increase the breathing space in a tiny house, plain tiles trump patterned ones most of the time. 

  • While “matchy-matchy” is no longer in vogue, when it comes to a small space, using the same or similar tone and shape of tiles will make it feel larger. It decreases the separation between rooms or walls and floors, and can create the illusion of a bigger space.

Tile Decorating Hacks For Small Spaces in Tiny Homes

The Kitchen

The Walls and the Backsplash
The subway tile is currently au courant for any kitchen's walls or backsplash, and is especially well-suited to a tiny home's kitchen, with simple, linear shapes—like Chateau Blue Ceramic Tile.  This soft blue ceramic tile is crackled to give the wall/backsplash some texture and detail without making a small space feel cluttered.

Chateau Blue Ceramic Tile for an Airy Kitchen Wall

For a similar look at a lower price point, and less installation hassle, a peel and stick tile option like Silver Grey Picket will fit the bill.  This tile has a mixed metal finish in grey and brushed nickel that will give the kitchen an edgy vibe. (And, yes, peel-and-stick tiles can be used in the kitchen—just not applied near open flames, with at least 2 inches of space between the tiles and any cooking appliances.)

Silver Grey Picket Peel and Stick DIY Tile Backsplash

 

The Floors
White and grey are the colors of choice these days.  Want a little texture in your floor tiles?  Try the Dover Almond porcelain tile. This floor tile is not only à la mode in terms of a warm tone, but its size is spot-on for a tiny kitchen in a tiny house—namely, it's big.  Installed in a horizontal grid layout, it will make the floor feel more expansive thanks to fewer grout lines. The porcelain tile is finished to mimic natural stone, making it a beautiful building material for homes of any size.

Dover Almond warm neutral porcelain floor tile

For a tile with the same effect, but a more sophisticated look, a classic like Desert Sand 12x24” Honed Marble Tile is a fitting choice.  

For those with a tiny budget for a tiny kitchen in a tiny home, think peel and stick tiles. Peel and stick tiles can be used for floors—especially in small spaces with low to medium traffic.  The Carrara Marble Hexagon Peel and Stick tile can be applied to the existing floor by almost anyone, no matter how DIY-challenged, adding real honed marble hexagons with a lightweight and easy to install tile!

Carrara Marble Hexagon Peel and Stick tile

 

The Bathroom

You know how design rules are made to (sometimes) be broken?  Here's an example. It’s ok to keep your bathroom feeling close and cozy, so this space is where you can inject some fun with your tiles.  

The Walls  

This Textured Crema Marfil Chevron Marble Mosaic tile spices up the color palette in any interior, while the stripes in an inverted V-shape keep the eye engaged to help you start and end your day on the right note! 

Marble Chevron Bathroom Wall Tile

 

The Floors

Want something in the latest style for your bathroom floor?  If you watch home decorating shows, you might have noticed the enthusiastic use of tiles in a flower or hexagon format—like this Carrara & Oriental White Bouquette Marble Mosaic Tile.  Versions of this tile have made countless appearances on HGTV! The floor is a great place to play with patterns in a tiny home, adding a horizontal detail that can expand the feeling of a space without making it feel cluttered or closed in.

Floral Tile in Marble for Floors or Showers

 

The Shower Stall

The shower stall in a tiny house is about as tiny as it gets, so a plain, pale tile on the walls might be the best way to go to avoid it feeling even more close and narrow.  That being said, you can have some fun with the floor, and use a tile with a fun chip effect!

You could also use the Blue Drops tile on one wall of the shower stall or try Diamond Aqua Glass Pebble Mosaic Tile.  This tile inserts a pop of color with a gem-like look to energize your early mornings with a little dazzle!.  

Reflect Light with Diamond Aqua Glass Pebble Mosaic Tile

Peel and stick tiles can withstand humidity 48 hours after installation, so this option is also possible for the bathroom’s walls or floor.  The dynamic hexagon pattern of the Gold and Beige Hexagon Peel and Stick tile will give the shower stall a modern vibe and charge you up every time you step into it!

Gold and Beige Hexagon Peel and Stick Tile

 

Using Tiles To Define Areas In A Tiny House

Multi-functional is the name of the game when it comes to designing a tiny house. The ground floor space of a tiny house often serves as a living room/dining room/office/playroom/bedroom -with so many rooms combined into one, it can feel like there is a lack of flow inside.  Tiles can be used to define a dedicated small space within a small space. 

Hallways

For instance, a hallway is improbable, not to mention impractical in a tiny home. You can still give a tiny home the sense of a hallway by tiling a section of the room by the front door.

Depending on the color of the walls and floors of the room (hopefully any pale tone), go the opposite with the choice of the tile for the hall section.  Choose durable material for your entryway's tile flooring—ceramic, porcelain, marble and peel-and-stick are all good choices, preferably in a large-size format.   

Wood Look Porcelain Tile Plank Floors with Gems Bianco

And for a more “separated” look, use the same tile — like the cozy wood look Gems Blanco on both the walls and the floors of the “hall” section.

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Workspace

This decorating trick can be applied to any section in a tiny home that you want to designate for a particular function.  

Designate a Workspace in a Tiny House

Want to define a workspace?  Try this studious Fabric Gris in a corner of the main space to designate an office area and enhance your workspace with a desk against the wall to maximize space!

 

Dining Area

A formal dining room is usually the first space to go when downsizing or working with tiny house square footage - but that doesn’t mean you can’t create a cozy breakfast nook or dining area in even the smallest home! This graphic geometric tile wall design with our Melange Blue tiles combines a stunning decor detail with wall art to add creative flair to your home without taking up space!

Design Hacks for a Tiny Home with Creative Wall Tile Art

We could go on listing all the tiny home’s decorating possibilities with tiles, but you get the gist, right?  The right choice of tiles can give a tiny home a sense of space and openness, define areas, and do away with the only complaint owners of a tiny home seem to have:  feeling cramped.

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