Why Green Bathroom Tiles Changed Everything for My Dated Ensuite

When our neighbour Claire came knocking one afternoon to borrow some sugar – good old-fashioned borrowing sugar-type neighbourly stuff – I was precariously balanced on a rickety stepladder scraping grout stains off our bathroom wall, probably half demolishing the room by mistake. “Crikey, aren’t you brave starting another project?” she laughed as she politely refused our dubious sugar offering, pointing at the half-stripped wall behind me. “My cousin just got hers finished, she went for this gorgeous green tile.” She trailed off gesturing vaguely at our disgusting eighties brown tiles. “It really cheers the place up. Not like one of these avocado suites.” She giggled. I can’t lie, that word avocado haunted me for the next few weeks.

Green tile was starting to sound like a very bad idea. All I’d planned on was going safe with white subway tiles like I always had. White’s safe; white’s easy.

Nobody ever complains about white. But green?!

The thought of our bathroom leaking into avocado territory every time I glanced in the mirror terrified me.

If I’m honest, I completely overthought the entire thing. Danny probably thought I’d gone mad, scrolling through Pinterest bathroom photos every night like we were actually moving house and not just tiling one tiny room. My searches were horrendous; things like “green tiles bathroom mistake” and “does a green bathroom look tacky”.

I spent so long in Homebase staring meaninglessly at the Farrow & Ball colour cards that an employee asked if I needed help/a nurse. But what I started to realise after hours of relentless scrolling was that the bathrooms I spent ages looking at, the ones I dreamt about having overnight weren’t white walled boxes. They were full of personality; colour; life.

The ones that made me think “God, I wish I had that bathroom” were… green. Regularly popping up throughout my Instagram feed were beautiful green bathrooms, simple yet effective, calming and restful, familiar and somehow invigorating all at once. The more I looked, the more I realised that green tile wasn’t a crazy new trend.

It was timeless. Previously executed badly; avocado nightmares were giving beautifully muted shades of green a bad name. But forget avocado bathrooms.

The tiles I kept finding were subtle sage greens and muted seafoams that breathed new life into my dull, lifeless bathroom. Armed with the knowledge that I probably wouldn’t regret green tiles quite as much as I thought, I headed down to Topps Tiles and impulsively bought a single tile. To be safe – or try and avoid embarrassment – I went for the same sandstorm-coloured grey subway tile we’d been planning on getting before but in a green shade.

I blu-tacked it to the wall next to our bathroom mirror and left it there for three weeks. It was the best decision I could have made. That one lonely tile taught me all I needed to know about using green tiles.

Morning light coming in from the window when I was rushing around like a headless chicken made it look a muted shade of grey; calming, not shouty. Once steam rose from the showers and baths run at night it transformed into this gorgeous buttery shade of green; fresh and lively but not too bright. It even looked okay under the horrible ceiling light – yes we have one of those harsh builders spotlights that makes everyone look sick – it still worked.

Once I’d lived with the tile for a few weeks and been conspiring with myself about how green tile was definitely the way to go, I placed an order for enough 150x75mm subway tiles to cover both the shower area and the wall behind our basin. I ordered the same grey-green colour but from a different supplier as B&Q were selling them for £18 per square metre. Only about £4 more than their white tiles which was enough for me to take the plunge.

Installing them was easy enough, although I will say my biggest learning curve was grout colour. White was my first instinct; I’d only ever used white grout before so it made sense, right? Wrong.

My friendly local tiler Pete recommended grey grout to offset the colour of the tiles instead of matching them. “Trust me,” he said. “White grout and coloured tiles always look cheap. Like you’re trying too hard.” And oh my god was he right. Grey grout against the green tiles made them look so high-end.

Like we spent thousands on a boutique bathroom when in reality they were quite cheap tiles from B&Q. The finished result was honestly life-changing. Gone was the cold clinical vibe our bathroom had; all pale white tiles and harsh chrome that looked like it came from a budget hotel chain.

In its place was a relaxing and inviting retreat that made our bathroom feel warm and welcoming. Not completely different but better. Lifted.

Comments on our new bathroom were instantaneous. My traditionally-style-less mum said it reminded her of luxury spa’s. Danny’s sister – an actual interior designer – pinged me over a hundred photos of our bathroom within five minutes of her leaving.

Even the plumber come to fix our radiator complimented us on them because apparently his wife had been looking for some tiles similar to ours. Plus the psychological benefits are genuine. I think it’s because green is meant to be a restful colour?

Or maybe it transports us back to being outdoors? But either way, our bathroom actually feels like a nicer place to spend time now. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not hanging about in there for pleasure but my morning routine and evening unwind feels so much better.

More relaxing. Speaking of relaxing, they’ve been practical too. Water marks from hard water – we have seriously hard water here in the Midlands – don’t show up on the tiles like they used to on white.

Same for limescale and soap scum. It’s still there trust me, we clean our bathroom too, but it’s not instantly visible like before begging to be scrubbed at whenever you walk into the room. I’ve even dabbled with green tile in other rooms since our bathroom overhaul.

I tried – and loved – a darker forest green in diamond-shaped 60x60mm tiles as a feature wall in our downstairs toilet. Pairing the tiles with brass taps and a wooden vanity unit gave it a super chic boutique hotel vibe. I’ve also experimented with mint-coloured tiles – which looked great on friends’ rental bathroom but not so much in real life.

If I’m honest, the lighting was awful in that bathroom. Tons of artificial light and zero natural light which isn’t great for showcasing colourful tiles. Learning from my bathroom tile adventures; I realised greys and blues make green tiles way more versatile than if they’re leaning towards yellow or brown.

They go with basically any kind of metal finish too. We’ve got brushed brass taps and towel rails in ours which look heavenly together but would work just as well with chrome or black versions. Plus they go beautifully with natural materials and textures; wood, stone – things you sometimes struggle to pair with coloured tiles.

That said, the shade of green you choose matters more than you think. After swearing by how green tiles can work I got talking to a friend who was re-tiling their bathroom and thought I was his guru. Let me introduce you to olive green tile rage.

Yes they looked great on the website BUT when the tiles arrived they looked yellow. Our bathroom has tinted lighting fixtures which meant the tiles looked so yellow it made the room feel unwell when the light was on. We ended up returning them – taking an unwanted dump load of money off our already tight budget – and started from scratch with a blue-green tile.

If I could’ve kicked myself. Moral of the story; get tile samples people. Not the tiny offcuts they hand out in the tile store.

Actual-sized samples you can stick on your wall for a few days.

Test them when it’s steamy in your bathroom from a hot shower and when it’s completely cool. Tile shades can look completely different depending on the light.

It might cost you a few quid up front but it’s nothing compared to the stress and cost of replacing them. Speaking of things that look great with green tiles;plants. I’ve put a little snake plant on the windowsill and hung a gorgeous trailing pothos from a ceiling hook and it looks like they were handmade to go with the tiles.

It doesn’t fight with the green like other colours might. It complements it in the loveliest way, bringing the outdoors inside. Living with green bathroom tiles for almost a year now I can honestly say it was the best choice I made.

Trends will come and go but this feels timeless to me. Not try-hard trendy so it’ll look dated in a year; just happy accidents of colours that look and feel more natural; more human. I catch sight of our tile colour every morning when I’m brushing my teeth and think “Yeah we got that one right.” Don’t be afraid to deviate from white subway tiles next time.