Tile and Grout Color Pairings

Grout covers a small part of a tiled wall but changes how the whole wall looks. The same white subway tile with white grout reads as a soft, plain surface; with charcoal grout it becomes a graphic grid. In a bathroom, grout color also decides how quickly the floor looks dirty and how much scrubbing the shower needs. This page is about choosing the color. The types of grout, joint widths and sealing are on grout for bathrooms.

Matching, blending or contrasting

Grout on floors and walls

Bathroom floors

Floor grout sits below the tile surface, collects whatever is tracked in and gets wet at every shower exit. Bright white floor grout looks crisp at the final walkthrough and rarely stays that way. A mid-tone grout, or one a shade darker than the tile, ages more gracefully. If the floor tile itself is light, a warm light gray or a soft beige grout keeps the light look without showing every footprint.

Shower walls

Walls get splashes but no foot traffic, so light grout stays cleaner. The risk on shower walls is soap film and mildew in the joints near the floor and at inside corners, where water lingers. Good ventilation does more for that than grout color; the EPA's first point on mold is that the key to mold control is moisture control.

Shower floors

Small mosaics are common on shower floors and have far more grout per square foot than wall tile. The grout color essentially becomes the floor color. A slightly darker grout than on the walls is a common, practical choice.

Grout with colored tile

• Green, blue and other colored tile. White grout outlines each tile and makes the color feel lighter and more graphic. A grout matched to the tile lets the color read as one rich surface. A neutral gray in between sits well with most mid-tone colors.
• Dark and black tile. White grout gives a strong grid. Charcoal or black grout makes a calm, solid dark wall, though it shows the white mineral marks and soap film that dry on dark surfaces.
• Patterned and encaustic-look tile. Match the grout to the background color of the pattern so the pattern stays the focus.
• Two tiles meeting. Where a field tile meets an accent band or a different floor tile, choose one grout color that works with both, or change the grout exactly at the tile change, never mid-row.

Handmade, zellige and textured tile

Handmade tile has uneven edges and varied glaze, and the grout fills irregular gaps between pieces. A grout that matches the lightest tone in the tile lets the variation show and softens the edges. A contrasting grout makes the irregular edges very obvious, which some people want and others find untidy. Textured tile also holds grout haze in its surface, so ask the installer to test on a spare piece first. More on these tiles is on zellige and handmade tile, and you can see handmade tile in a finished room in our arched zellige wet room and designer powder bath.

Grout with natural stone

Marble, travertine and limestone are porous, and the pigment in a dark grout can bleed into the edges of a light stone. Stone is generally sealed before grouting for this reason, and the Natural Stone Institute recommends a sealer that resists both water-based and oil-based stains. Marble and travertine also etch on contact with acids, so grout cleaners and haze removers have to be safe for stone. A grout matched to the stone's background color is the lowest-risk choice. More on stone in bathrooms is on marble, travertine and natural stone.

Keeping light grout clean

• Choose the grout type with color in mind. Cement grouts are covered by ANSI A118.6 (standard) and A118.7 (high performance); epoxy grout by ANSI A118.3; pre-mixed grouts by ANSI A118.19. Epoxy and many pre-mixed grouts resist staining better than plain cement grout, which helps light colors stay light. Ask what the grout maker says about sealing.
• Seal cement grout if the maker recommends it, and keep up with the schedule they give.
• Squeegee and ventilate. Wiping the walls after a shower and running the fan removes the moisture that lets mildew grow in the joints.
• Use mild cleaners. Harsh acids can etch cement grout and damage stone. Check what the grout and tile makers recommend.

How to decide

1. Get the actual tile, not a photo, and the grout maker's color samples (cured samples, not the printed card).
2. Ask for a small sample board with two or three grout colors on the real tile.
3. Look at the board on the floor and upright on the wall, in your bathroom's light.
4. Decide floor and wall grout together, and confirm the color in writing before grouting starts.

For how grout fits into the bathroom's wider palette, see bathroom color schemes. JDI confirms tile, grout and layout with you during design, before tile is ordered; our Vancouver bathroom remodeling page explains how a project starts.