Lining your shower with mosaic tiles

It is amazing that mosaic, which originated in ancient times, has never gone out of fashion, and is now trendier than ever. In fact, mosaic tiles are constantly renewed, collection by collection, with different colours, material effects, textures and shapes.

In bathroom design, mosaic tiles can play a key role in many ways. You can choose to cover the floors and walls of your bathroom entirely with mosaic or to use it to highlight a single feature, or differentiate or create a break between surfaces. So, for example, mosaic may be used to cover just the wall behind the washbasins, the built-in bathtub, or the shower corner or alcove.

Mosaic is an excellent choice for lining the shower enclosure. An attractive, stylish choice that will outlive any passing trend: a shower enclosure lining that is never out of fashion. But it is also a practical option, because mosaics have the same characteristics as larger tiles: strength, hygiene and versatility.

We have selected different types of mosaics - from the most innovative to the most traditional - to introduce you to the wealth of solutions for tiling shower enclosures with mosaic. We will discuss them below.

3D mosaic shower tiles

Today, the surfaces of tiles and mosaics are no longer "just" glossy or satin; they can also have relief shapes. As well as with a vast assortment of forms, three-dimensional tiles and mosaics decorate walls with the interplay of light and shade. So they are lovely to touch as well as to look at.

The Mystone Basalto stone-effect porcelain stoneware collection by Marazzi, for example, features a special three-dimensional strip mosaic consisting of staggered surfaces that alternate to provide the ideal decoration for the walls of a shower that is not merely modern but decidedly contemporary. The Mystone Basalto 3D mosaic is offered in a sophisticated array of greys, from lightest to darkest: Pomice, Sabbia, Piombo and Lava.

Shower tiles with herringbone mosaic and dégradé chips

As we have already mentioned, the chip shape can change the look of a mosaic. For example, showers can be tiled with herringbone mosaics, like those offered by Alchimia, a collection of large-size slimline-thickness wall coverings.

Alchimia is inspired by very fine-grained concrete with a colour assortment suited to this material, comprising White, Grey, Greige and Fango. These shades are mixed in another type of shower tile in the same collection: the dégradé mosaic, featuring shade variation, with rectangular chips on a maxi tile of 30x120 cm.

Irregular mosaic shower tiles

Another option for giving variety to the walls of the shower, apart from 3D mosaics, is the use of mosaics with irregularly shaped chips. As in a variant on the traditional right-angled square chip mosaic, which simulates a fabric, with an interweaving warp and weft.

This is the mosaic of Crogiolo Zellige, the Marazzi ceramic collection inspired by the traditional Moroccan terracotta tiles with their very glossy glazes, after which it is named. Here, solids and gaps, irregular chips and slanted shapes are highlighted in the 2 two-tone versions with strong colour contrasts: Gesso+China and Gesso+Carbone.

For a neater irregular solution, on the other hand, Allmarble Wall offers the Barcode mosaic, in 40x40 cm size, in light shades only – Statuario, Altissimo and Golden White. The irregular chips are enhanced by titanium colour inserts and can be used either vertically or horizontally, depending on personal taste.

Regular mosaic shower tiles

As we have already seen in the previous points, mosaic is intrinsically decorative. This also applies to its most familiar version, mosaic with small square chips arranged in a grid pattern.

Amongst shower tiling ideas, the Allmarble Wall and Magnifica marble-look slimline ceramic tile collections offer two different solutions. Allmarble Wall has no fewer than 10 satiny and glossy traditional square mosaics, each in a different marble variant, in white – Statuario, Altissimo and Golden White - and lighter or darker grey - Pulpis and Imperiale.

Magnifica, on the other hand, features the Circle circular chip mosaic, available in two white variants – one colder, Statuario, and another warmer, Golden White – and ornamented with titanium colour decorated inserts. For a more contemporary look, a dark grout can be used to give the mosaic a more striking aesthetic effect.

Solid colour classic mosaic shower tiles

If you prefer solid colour to the variegated shades of marble-effect mosaic, the ideal shower tile for you may be a monochrome mosaic; simple but still with all the beauty of mosaic.

The Marazzi Colorplay collection of ceramic tiles, for example, offers you a lovely assortment of colours from which you can choose the mosaic tiles to line your shower: so your shower enclosure can be in blue, sage green, taupe, purple and pink, as well as white, cream or anthracite.