PublishedJan 9, 2025 1:45 AM EST
Full disclosure: we might pocket a few coins if you click and buy stuff on this page. We're not above a little side hustle.
Get Domino's Good Stuff in Your Inbox
By signing up, you swear you're 16+, you're cool with us sliding into your inbox with newsletters and promos, and you've made peace with our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Bail whenever you want—we won't take it personally.
When it comes to picking bathroom tile, showers usually hog all the fun. We’ve seenstripes that stretch to the ceiling,checkerboardin every shade and combo, andgroovy shapesthat make you do a double take. But 2025? This is the year the bathroom floor finally gets its moment in the spotlight.
We usually seeplaidon soft goods, liketableclothsandthrow blankets. But designers are committing to the pattern in a far more permanent way these days. Say goodbye to traditional penny tile and snoozy stone slabs: here are some of our favorite examples of plaid tiled bathroom floors that actually work.
The biggest draw of going with a plaid tiled floor? Everything else in your space—the toilet, the vanity, the shower—can be builder-grade white and your room will still pack a serious punch. Take it from this tiny kids’ bathroom designed byDesign by LaneandBass Interior Design, which combines Zia Tile’s 4×4 zellige tiles inPure White,Glazed Earth, andSkylight.
To pull off the layered look of plaid, designer Whitney Romanoff ofMeet West Studioused three custom Zia floor tiles inthis Arkansas bathroom, including burnt orange rectangles and pink squares. Because the two hues sit on the same side of the color spectrum, they create the illusion of overlapping shades, and the small squares at the meeting points give it the kind of definition you’d normally see in a Buffalo plaid.
Prospect Refuge Studiofittingly chose a gingham-inspired pattern for this Wisconsin cabin bathroom. Here, designer Victoria Sass decided to take the personality-filled custom tiles fromClay Squaredup the vanity wall, adding interest to otherwise simple wood millwork.
For their clientsFreddy ThomasandMicah Pittard,Ome Dezindesigners Jesse Rudolph and Joelle Kutner chose a scaled-down plaid usingZia Tile’s Gambit 5, a lattice design that comes in 8×8 mosaic sheets. Translation: it takes the guesswork out of assembling a complex pattern all by your lonesome.
The more colors you use on your bathroom floor, the better the odds you can pull them from a manufacturer’s scrap pile. At least, that’s what Maggie Clancy did in herSanta Ynez bathroom. While brand-new Heath tile wasn’t in the budget, discarded ones from the Northern California–based brand were. She made the pilgrimage to Heath’s “seconds room,” which is basically a shed stuffed with discounted tile (some surplus from jobs, others with slight imperfections). She spent seven hours hunting for the right number of tiles and colors to create a plaid design on her guest bathroom floor; the time and effort absolutely paid off.
Lydia Geisel has been stirring the creative pot at Domino since 2017. She writes and edits her way through home tours and design stories like it's a competitive sport. She lives in Brooklyn—because of course she does.
Curious how we keep it real? Peek behind the curtain at Domino.com Editorial Standards.
