And what their choices can teach you about your next Chicagoland bathroom remodel
Herringbone is one of those patterns that people either fall in love with immediately or talk themselves out of because it sounds complicated. Is it worth the extra planning and cost? For most homeowners, the honest answer has less to do with the pattern itself and more to do with how it fits the renovation budget, the size of the room, and what’s already sitting under the existing floor.
At Century City Baths, we’ve installed herringbone in everything from compact powder rooms in Logan Square two-flats to spa-sized primary baths in Naperville new builds. The pattern works beautifully — but only when the plan around it is realistic. Below are six ways homeowners have used herringbone, along with the practical takeaways behind each approach.
1. The Small Powder Room That Went All In
A homeowner in a Chicago bungalow had a powder room that measured barely 30 square feet. Their instinct was to keep it simple and safe: a plain 12×24 tile, neutral grout, done.
Instead, they used the small footprint to their advantage. Because the square footage was so low, a premium marble-look porcelain in a herringbone layout added only a few hundred dollars to the total project — even with the extra labor and the roughly 15% overage needed for cuts.
The takeaway: Small rooms are the cheapest place to be bold. If you’ve ever wanted a dramatic floor, a powder room is the lowest-risk way to get it. The material cost is small, the labor premium is contained, and the visual payoff is disproportionate to the spend.
2. The Primary Bath That Used Herringbone as a Zone Marker
In a larger primary bathroom in Hinsdale, the homeowners didn’t want herringbone everywhere. Instead, they ran a straightforward large-format tile across the main floor and used a herringbone section inside the wet room — the area holding the shower and freestanding tub.
The pattern change quietly signals “this is a different zone,” without a step-down, a curb, or a glass wall doing all the work. It also gave them more grout lines in the wettest part of the room, which adds traction underfoot.
The takeaway: Herringbone doesn’t have to be the whole floor. Used strategically, it can define space in an open bathroom layout more gracefully than architecture can.
3. The Renovation That Chose Wood-Look Tile Over Real Wood
A couple in Evanston loved the look of herringbone hardwood but were remodeling a second-floor bathroom directly above a finished kitchen. Real wood in a full bath — with a shower, a tub, and two kids — was a risk they weren’t willing to take.
They went with a wood-look porcelain plank in a herringbone layout. From standing height, the warmth reads as oak. Up close, it’s a waterproof, dimensionally stable tile that won’t cup, gap, or swell through a Chicago winter of dry forced air followed by a humid July.
The takeaway: Herringbone is a pattern, not a material. If you want the look in a full bath, porcelain gives you the same geometry without the moisture anxiety. This is especially relevant in older Chicagoland housing stock where subfloors aren’t always perfectly level and water damage is expensive to chase.
4. The Budget Remodel That Kept the Pattern and Cut Elsewhere
One homeowner in Oak Park came in with a fixed number and a long wish list. Something had to go. Rather than dropping the herringbone floor, they kept it and adjusted in other places: a stock vanity instead of custom, a simpler plumbing fixture line, and subway tile on the shower walls instead of a second patterned surface.
The floor became the single statement in the room, and everything else stepped back to support it.
The takeaway: Pick one hero. Bathrooms get visually noisy fast, and budgets stretch further when one element carries the design. If herringbone is your priority, let it be the priority — and simplify around it.
5. The Guest Bath That Scaled the Pattern Down
A Naperville homeowner wanted herringbone in a narrow hall bath, but standard 6×24 planks made the room feel like a hallway going the wrong direction. Our installer suggested a smaller module — roughly 2×8 — laid at a 45-degree angle to the longest wall.
The smaller pieces created a tighter, more textural pattern that read as a finished surface rather than a directional arrow. The angle also visually widened the room.
The takeaway: Tile proportion matters as much as pattern. The same herringbone layout can feel elegant or overwhelming depending on plank size and orientation. This is worth mocking up on the floor before a single piece gets set — something we always do on our projects.
6. The Whole-Home Remodel That Carried the Pattern Through
Finally, one Chicagoland family renovating a full floor of their home ran herringbone hardwood through the hallway and bedrooms, then continued the same directional pattern into the bathroom using a coordinated porcelain. Different materials, same geometry, same orientation.
The result reads as continuous space, which makes the entire floor feel larger — a real advantage in older homes with chopped-up layouts.
The takeaway: If you’re remodeling more than one room, aligning the pattern direction across thresholds creates flow. It requires coordination between trades and careful layout planning, but it’s one of the most effective ways to make a modest home feel intentional and expansive.
What Herringbone Actually Costs You
Let’s be direct about the tradeoffs, because we’d rather set expectations than surprise you.
Labor. A herringbone installation typically takes longer than a straight lay — often 25% to 40% more installation time depending on the room’s shape and the number of cuts around fixtures, toilets, and vanities. That labor difference is the real cost driver, not the tile.
Waste. Plan for 15% to 20% overage instead of the usual 10%. Angled cuts generate more offcuts, and you want enough material on hand to finish without reordering from a dye lot that no longer matches.
Subfloor prep. This is the one people underestimate. Herringbone is unforgiving of an uneven substrate — every lippage issue between pieces is magnified by the pattern. In older Chicago-area homes, this often means additional leveling work before tile ever gets set. We’d rather build that into the estimate up front than discover it mid-project.
Layout time. A good herringbone starts with a centerline and a dry layout. Rushing this step is how you end up with slivers of tile in the most visible corner of the room.
Is It Right for Your Bathroom?
Herringbone tends to make sense when:
- You want visual impact in a room too small for much furniture or decor
- You’re working with a neutral palette and need texture rather than color
- You have a straightforward rectangular footprint (or you’re willing to invest in layout planning if you don’t)
- Your subfloor is sound, or you’ve budgeted to make it sound
It may not be the right call when:
- The room has multiple angled walls, alcoves, or built-ins that will fragment the pattern
- You’re planning a heavily patterned wall tile or wallpaper that will compete
- Your budget is tight enough that labor increases would force cuts to plumbing, ventilation, or waterproofing — the things you genuinely shouldn’t compromise on
That last point matters more than anything aesthetic. A beautiful floor over a poorly waterproofed shower pan is a problem waiting to happen. We’ll always steer clients toward getting the invisible work right first.
Let’s Talk About Your Space
Every one of these six approaches started the same way: a homeowner with an idea, a realistic budget, and a conversation about what was actually possible in their specific room.
If you’re considering herringbone — or you just want to know what your bathroom floor is hiding under the existing tile — we’d be glad to take a look. Century City Baths serves homeowners throughout the Chicagoland area, from city bungalows and vintage two-flats to suburban new construction, and we’ll give you a straight answer about what a pattern like this will cost and what it will take to do it right.
Reach out to schedule a consultation, and let’s figure out whether herringbone belongs in your next remodel.
