How to Install Custom Bathroom Tile Flooring on a Budget

Tile can make or break a bathroom’s design—whether you’re going for a high-end, marbleized look or a natural, spa-like atmosphere. But the material can be costly, especially if you want to create a custom pattern. Luckily, the designers at Toledo Geller have a smart solution: Use premade tiles…cut into smaller sizes.

For the owner’s suite in House Beautiful’s Whole Home this year, design duo Virginia Toledo and Jessica Geller gave the en suite bathroom a custom checkerboard-like pattern. “We typically do this by cutting readily available materials that are in standard sizes into smaller sizes of those same tiles,” Geller reveals.

Generally, you can purchase a 12-inch by 12-inch tile from stores like Lowes, Home Depot, or Floor and Décor for around $10 per square foot. Toledo Geller typically has a tile installer cut the tiles down to the right size. The custom pattern they created for the owner’s suite bathroom would be upwards of $50 per square foot if it was readily made, the designers estimate.

“It’s a lot of sketching and playing with color and sizes until we get the puzzle right,” Geller says. But for a dynamic, special tile pattern—whether you’re on a tight budget or not—the extra planning is worth it. It gives you more creative control and helps you save, meaning you can put that money into other dream reno necessities like your bathroom cabinets or lighting.

Want to know absolutely everything before starting your reno project? We get it. Let’s obsess over the details together.

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