For many homeowners, the laundry room is not the first room they consider when discussing renovation. However, there is value in creating a space you love if you spend time in it!  One of the easiest ways to make the space special is by using the perfect tile for your laundry room!

Creating a laundry room that you genuinely love will make one of life’s more mundane tasks a bit more manageable. There are also practical reasons for making the right decor choices. The laundry room is one of the rooms in your home that experiences the most moisture and humidity, making it essential to use materials that can withstand moisture.

In this post, we will review everything you need to know about choosing laundry room tile. We will discuss the most popular choices, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and key considerations when choosing laundry room tile.

Popular Laundry Room Tile Options

When choosing flooring for any space, you must consider the functionality of the flooring as well as the style.

The three best options for laundry room flooring are luxury vinyl tile, ceramic tile, and stone tile. All three types of tile are unique and have their advantages and disadvantages.

Luxury Vinyl Tile

Luxury vinyl tile is a very popular and practical option for laundry rooms. LVT consists of multiple layers, including a top layer that features a printed design. It comes in various colors and styles to meet your desired aesthetic. It is very stain and scratch-resistant, waterproof, and able to withstand the general dampness and humidity of the laundry room.

LVT is durable and able to withstand heavy foot traffic. It is also very easy to clean. It will look new for years with regular sweeping and mopping. You can also apply an acrylic sealer occasionally to help maintain the appearance.

Pros of Luxury Vinyl Tile

• Highly durable and long-lasting
• Moisture and damp-resistant
• Comes in an almost endless number of designs
• Cost-efficient (given the lifespan)
• Low-maintenance
• Quick and easy to install

Cons of Luxury Vinyl Tile

• Easy to install but difficult to remove
• Not environmentally-friendly
• Has a higher initial cost compared with other materials

Ceramic Tile

There is a lot to love about ceramic tile. It is generally more affordable than other tile materials, and it looks great. Ceramic tile is also able to handle water extremely well, even standing water, which can happen in a laundry room.

There are also plenty of design options, allowing homeowners to customize the look of their laundry room. You can choose from colored tile, black and white tile, and even patterned tile. Once installed, ceramic tile can last up to twenty years, with only occasional maintenance. Ceramic tile is a great choice for laundry rooms.

Pros of Ceramic Tile

• Water and stain-resistant
• Wide variety of options
• Simple to install in most cases
• Easy to clean and maintain

Cons of Ceramic Tile

• Hard and can be cold
• Heavy to transport
• Difficult to install in some cases

Stone Tile

There is no question that stone tile will elevate the look of your laundry room. Stone tile is the most expensive of the options, but it is beautiful, and you can consider it an investment. Should you ever decide to sell your home, stone tile will increase the value of the home.

Although stone tile comes with a higher price tag, it will last for twenty years or longer. The more elegant look does require a little more maintenance to keep it looking its best, however. You may need to remove and replace grout a couple of times over its lifespan. You should also apply a stone sealer each year to prevent staining.

We installed honed marble tile in our laundry room, and I could not be happier with it! If you are interested in learning more about honed marble, take a peek at my post, What Is Honed Marble and Why I Love to Use It!

Pros of Stone Tile

• Highly durable, even in high-traffic areas
• Lasts for decades
• Provides natural elegance to a space
• Easy to clean
• Excellent for resale

Cons of Stone Tiles

• Expensive
• Requires yearly sealing
• Some types of stone scuff and scratch easily
• Can be hard to replace individual tiles

Important Laundry Room Tile Considerations 

The three laundry room tile materials we outlined above are by far the most popular options. Remember, however, that quality can vary significantly between products.

Before making your decision, take the time to consider what is most important to you and evaluate and compare the options. Some of the top laundry room tile considerations to keep in mind include:

Water-Resistance

It is inevitable that, at some point, your laundry room floor will come into contact with water. In most cases, it will be minimal, but there is always the potential of having a problem with your washing machine that could cause water to leak on the floor. You can ensure your floor is ready to handle that type of water by looking into its water-resistance capabilities.

Is the material naturally moisture resistant? Does it need to be treated with a product like a sealer first? How does it handle standing water?  These are all great questions to ask!

Cleanability

Laundry rooms typically require regular cleaning because of the amount of traffic and dust they see. Make sure you are looking at the cleanability of your flooring choices. Regardless of the type, tile flooring is typically very easy to clean.

Anti-Slip

Accidents can happen anywhere in your home, but it’s more common in areas with water. As we said above, the laundry room can see more than its fair share of leaked water.

To ensure the safety of you and your family, check to be sure that the material is anti-slip. An anti-slip surface will help unquestionably reduce the possibility of slips and falls.

Hygiene Friendly

The clothes that come out of the laundry room will be fresh and clean. That is not always the case for the clothes that enter the laundry room. Be sure to select a material that is resistant to bacteria and mold, as hygiene is a concern in laundry rooms.

Stain and Scratch-Resistance

Any high-traffic area will see some wear and tear over the years. That said, your flooring should be able to make it through a couple of decades without any major issues. The flooring options we mentioned above are highly durable and should be able to handle everyday life, including the moving around of a washer and dryer. In some cases, however, you may need to add products such as sealants to ensure durability.

Affordable

While there is value in making your laundry room attractive, you may not want to spend a lot of money on it. It is important to create a budget based on your style and functionality requirements. There is no question that you can create a lovely laundry room with a small budget.

Visual Appeal

Last but not least: the visual appeal of the tile! There is definitely value in making your laundry room aesthetically pleasing. You will mind doing laundry, much less if you are in a space that you find aesthetically pleasing. Selecting the right tile is the best place to start.

 

Laundry Room Tile Inspiration

There are many different ways to use tile in a laundry room. The laundry room floor tile is the most obvious use of tile, but you can also install wall tile on one or even multiple walls. You can run tile halfway up the wall, install backsplash tile, or cover the entire room in tile.

If you have not done so already, I highly recommend perusing Pinterest or Instagram for laundry room tile ideas. There are some stunning and practical laundry room designs to inspire your own laundry room tile design.

Helpful Hint: When choosing tile, remember that larger tile means there will be less grout to clean!

Summary

There are a lot of considerations when choosing tile for laundry room. You have to think about the functionality as well as the style and design. This post explains the three most popular laundry room tile options, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and the most important considerations when choosing tile. Hopefully, you now feel prepared to choose the right type of flooring for your laundry room! If you choose to go with a tile that has to be grouted, I recommend you visit my post, How to Grout Floor Tile Using Ultracolor Plus FA.