For nearly every tile shower I create, my clients ask me to include some sort of shelves for holding all their shampoo and beauty products. The most common solution is a recessed niche, that is set back into the wall rather than some sort of surface-mounted shelves, though both are great options. However, there are lots of ways to build and tile a niche! Size & shelf capacity is always considered, as well as how it fits into the tile design. Actually, I tend to think about the tile design first and then try to fit the niche into the layout as seamlessly as possible.
Feature or Hidden
Sometimes, you really don’t have many options on where to put a niche. We avoid exterior walls and spots that are already occupied with pipes or other obstructions (like air vents that I’ve discovered more than once!) However, if you have a choice, I usually start by asking if the niche is a design feature of the shower, or would we just as soon prefer to hide it?
If it will be more of a feature, then we often use a unique tile in the niche, or frame it with trim pieces to set it off. We can make it oversized, and make sure it’s in a position where it will be seen, such as centered on the back wall.
Sometimes a niche can be hidden, which also hides all the shampoo bottles (which for some, can be quite unattractive!). This can be done by positioning it on the back of a half wall so it can’t be seen unless you are in the shower. You can also use the same wall tile throughout and basically just blend the niche into the design, making it less of a design feature.
Both solutions have their place, and is one more of the variety of decisions to discuss when coming up with a plan for your tile shower.
Bullnose Tiles or Metal Trim or ?
Another big decision, that can sometimes be confusing, is how to finish the corners. Whenever a tile’s edge is exposed, we try to cover it with a special tile that has a finished edge (called bullnose tile) or a metal trim.
Sometimes, a matching bullnose tile is not available, so that leads us to the metal edges, but most of the time the question is more of a design preference. The bullnose tiles, tend to be smaller and tend to set off or emphasize the edges, whereas the metal edging comes in eight floot lengths, and tends to be more simple or sleek and less distracting from the design, especially usefull with more modern or large format tile designs.
For stone tiles, another, albeit more expensive option, is to create your own bullnose, or miter all the corner tiles. For this niche (left) I miter cut all the edge tiles so that they would angle to a point at the corners. This is time consuming, but can be an amazing detail for a luxuious tile shower.
The best thing to do is to compare, so I always suggest that my clients look for other tile projects or designs that they like and I point them to the galleries on my website where you can select “NICHES” and see a variety of different types that I’ve installed over the years.
Practical Aspects
On a practical level, I like to suggest larger niches, if possible. Not only do these have more storage space, but they are easier to clean and frankly, easier to install too! I create a niche from scratch nearly every time because I like to make it to the size that fits with the size of tiles I’m using. Pre-formed niches can be quicker to install, but rarely fit nicely to the tile layout you are creating. When I build niches, I can generally get a very pleasant size that looks perfectly suited to the tiles and layout I’m using, at least that’s my goal!
I also like to come up with my own shelves, usually using a piece of marble or stone to create a floating shelf, or using a “sandwich” of two large tiles to make a shelf somewhere. Using larger tiles also helps to keep the niche clean since it has less grout lines for residue get caught.
If you are considering a tile shower in the Terre Haute, or Sullivan, Indiana areas, please let me know what you have in mind. I’d love to help you put together the shower of your dreams!
