Cleaning bathroom tile grout was driving me crazy. No, that’s not quite right. Actually cleaning the grout wasn’t the problem — staying on top of it had been easy since I discovered that miracle mould spray I bought three months ago.
It was the height of the tiles that was irritating me. When I first moved into my flat, I thought little of how high the tiles went. Until I woke up two years later and realised I spent thirty minutes staring at them every.single.morning.
Condensation formed at the exact point where the white tiles met the pastel-blue paint on the wall. The paint was supposed to be “bathroom-specific,” but after two years it had started to bubble and chip at the edges.
Instead of greeting me cheerfully each morning, my bathroom routine had become a daily examination of all the ways it let me down.
Why did the tiles stop at shoulder height? Did the person who tiled it run out halfway and give up? Why didn’t they continue all the way to the ceiling?
It got to the point where I couldn’t even step into the shower without noticing how unfinished it looked. Stubborn details like these niggle at you until you can’t take it anymore. Until you Google stuff for hours and try to justify spending way more money than you want to on home improvements.
Fun fact: after Googling things for hours you can also justify almost any decision to spending way more money than you want to on home improvements. In my case, I researched stopping tiles at shoulder height vs going wall-to-wall vs better paint options for three weeks. Before the research even started, I’d decided I was doing wall-to-wall tiles.
There’s no right answer for every bathroom, but if you find yourself leaning towards wall-to-wall like I did, here are some pros and cons that didn’t occur to me until it was too late: Doing full tile ended up costing me about £400 more than my half-and-half shower would have. It wasn’t cheap, but it also wasn’t the end of my world. What I didn’t expect was how the decision would impact the day-to-day use of my shower.
I’ve gone nearly a year without cleaning those walls with anything other than water. I used to repaint and scrub the paint every six months. Stains would randomly appear, and I wouldn’t know why.
Turns out when you stop tiles halfway up a wall and paint the rest, moisture travels. “Trust me,” said every contractor I spoke to. “Don’t tile that high and think you won’t have to service the paint.” Even if you use high-quality paint designed specifically for bathrooms. Even if you spend extra on paint with mold inhibitors and other fancy additives. My contractor, Dave (hi, Dave, if you’re reading this), explained to me that water doesn’t just sit at shower level like we want it to.
It travels up your walls and pools into every little paint-crack. Over time. I had a shower tile shade chosen before talking to Dave, but his explanation of how paint never ages gracefully in a shower persuaded me to stick with pure white. “When you put tiles this high,” he said while we were installing them, “the last thing you want is for your grout lines to draw attention to themselves.” Chose something that matches seamlessly or, like me, be prepared to colour in your grout with a paint pen every few months.
The full height tiles took an extra couple of days to install. Two days where I had to use the downstairs toilet and felt gross because there’s no substitute for a shower. But watching those tiles go up gave me a weird sense of satisfaction.
Like a puzzle I didn’t realise was missing pieces until they were filled in. Once they were up, it really did change the look of the whole shower. It went from cramped and cheap to stylish and streamlined… mostly because there weren’t any weird transitions or cutoff points to catch your eye.
Even cleaning the full tile walls feels like a joke. Mist the walls with some shower spray. If I’m feeling fancy, I’ll follow up with a wipe down.
That pale blue paint? I had to scrub it with elbow grease and special mould-resistant soap. Plus, I was constantly worried about mould or water marks.
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To keep my tiled walls looking new, I gave them a good seal when I installed them (fun fact: I didn’t seal these tiles properly in our bathroom downstairs. The grout has turned black.) and make sure they stay dry after showers. Other than that, they pretty much wipe clean by themselves.
The fan does the rest. Now when I clean them, there’s no scrubbing or chemicals required. Compared to painted walls, maintenance is a breeze.
Hearing how it would affect cleaning made me forget about how much sound tiles reflect compared to paint. It’s not like walking into an empty shower cubicle, but my morning aria is slightly more reverberated. Which is fine!
Most days I don’t mind. Other days I kinda do. Let’s be honest: grout doesn’t love you back.
You have to maintain it. I religiously run my finger along the grout lines every few months and if they’re starting to look less than crisp, I’ll grab a grout pen and spend twenty minutes colouring them in. Not tough, mind.
But painted walls don’t make you do this. If I were doing this on a budget, or renovating a rental bathroom that I knew we’d eventually move out of, I would have painted the walls. Paint is easy to change when you tire of it.
Tiles are more of a long-term commitment. But this is my forever bathroom. So for me, tile-wall winner was totally worth the extra cash.
What surprised me more was how much it made the whole shower feel like a luxury vs the cheap plain jane it started as. My boring white bath suite suddenly looked high-end hotel quality. I think the uninterrupted surfaces of tile vs paint made all the difference.
Every time someone comes over to the flat they comment on how “finished” my bathroom looks. Would I recommend doing full tiles instead of stopping at shoulder height? Yes.
But I also recommend taking stock of how you use your bathroom before renovating. Little kids who like to splash? Full tile.
Super steamy showers that might mildew? Full tile.
Hate cleaning?
Full tile! On the other hand: don’t hate your walls and want to refresh them every few years? Go paint.
Working within a budget? Paint your way to heaven. Good at keeping your bathroom well ventilated?
Paint. I went full tile because I wanted my shower to stop at shining-white perfection when I walked into the bathroom each morning. Once I decided that was important to me, everything else pointed me in that direction.
The great thing about designing your life is that you get to make the call. What will it be for you?
