If you are designing a bathroom and looking are for the right tiles to use; slate is a great material to consider. Slate is a excellent type of tile to use for the bathroom if you like the look of natural stone echoed throughout the bathroom. Slate is a natural stone that is now being widely used as tile for patios, floors, and bathrooms. It is becoming an increasingly popular material to use because it is generally a cheaper natural stone material than tiles made of marble or granite.
Like granite and marble, slate is also made in nature and therefore not all slates look the same. Slate ranges in color from almost black, to dark grey, light grey, grey purples, sienna orange, and earthier green shades of grey. Slate can also be honed or polished depending on the degree of finish that is preferred on the slate. Polished slate can be slippery on a wet bathroom floor but it is no more slippery than a marble bathroom floor. There is a such a wide variety in the colors of slate that finding the right shade for the bathroom is not limiting and can be a very fun process.
There are many different choices on how to tile the bathroom with slate depending on where you are using the slate tile in the bathroom. If the entire bathroom is being tiled in slate including the floors, walls, and shower walls than using only one color of slate may seem severe or bland. However, if you like a monochromatic scheme of one tone of slate the overall effect can be very beautiful. Slate tile is usually used for the floors and walls of the shower but there is no rule against using slate tile on a counter top.
Because of the variety of slate colors the different colored slate tiles can be patterned throughout the bathroom to create some tonal variation and visual interest by creating a pattern or using alternating slate colors that differ slightly in tone. When making a tonal pattern out of many different colored slate tiles it is often more visually appealing to use many smaller tiles. The variation of color can be increased by using more smaller tiles.
In terms of the finish of the tile, the slate tile can be honed or polished. Polished slate has a more refined texture than honed slate and can often times look like marble. Slate does have patterns moving throughout it and polishing the slate brings out that natural beauty and high shine. This type of slate tile looks absolutely beautiful in bathrooms when it is cut into bigger tiles so the full beauty of the stone can be appreciated.
