1. What are subway/brick tiles?
Subway tiles (also known as brick / metro tiles) originally refer to “fragments”. They are a type of rectangular artificial wall covering material made from clay or shale, which is then fired in a kiln to increase hardness, heat resistance, and provide good waterproofing capabilities.
Moodboard of subway tile colors
Nowadays, subway wall tile models often feature eye-catching colors, glossy or matte surfaces with different effects, and diverse shapes and colors, making them suitable for many interior design styles from classic to modern.
Decorative subway wall tile pattern – Ripple Subway 68×280
See more ways to decorate bathrooms with subway tiles to get a comprehensive overview of this product line, helping you easily choose the tiling layout and tile patterns that suit your preferences and space.
Join Khatra to explore the latest 2025 in-stock and made-to-order subway wall tile models with a full range of sizes, surfaces, and texture maps. Free samples for projects, investors, and design firms at competitive prices.
2. Classification of subway tiles
Subway wall tiles are classified into various types based on material, size, and surface finish. There are 3 main types of subway wall tiles: Ceramic, Porcelain, and Handmade. All 3 types can be used for both interior and exterior areas, depending on your aesthetic needs to choose the appropriate model.
Mid-Century design style tile collection
In addition to available subway tile formats, Khatra also accepts custom tile production upon request with an MOQ of just 200 m2, allowing customers to unleash their creativity and express individuality in their space.
Customized ceramic subway tiles for the White Palace project
Solid feather tile color palette 90300
Additionally, there is a specialized line of Porcelain subway tiles for flooring.
Antique-look ceramic subway tiles 75×300
Square subway tile pattern 125×125
2.1. Decorative subway tiles
As a highly popular line of decorative wall tiles recently, subway tiles offer rich dimensions, diverse finishes (including 10 surface types), and countless colors designed with various shades, allowing you to select the perfect match for your design style.
Overview of subway wall tile surface finishes
This is also the tiling product line with the richest designs today, featuring versatile sizes and shapes with both basic surface finishes: matte and glossy.
Currently available ceramic subway tile patterns
Mint green 75×300 matte finish subway tiles for bathroom walls paired with matching color grout create a seamless look.
Mint Green subway wall tile WM73L93
White square subway tiles paired with orange-red grout tone-sur-tone with the accompanying Terrazzo section bring novelty to the space. A classic combination that creates an exciting, fresh aesthetic with just a subtle change.
White square subway tiles for bathroom wall
Subway wall tiles and Terrazzo floor tiles are the most popular tile pairing combo today. You can spot them in every project from residential homes to stores, cafes, and shopping malls…
Subway tile H45753 combined with Terrazzo K8755
Subway tile BT4 combined with Terrazzo KHA-126052
Terrazzo D6604 tile and brown subway tile TA0312M combo completing a bathroom
Popular subway wall tile surface finishes on the market
Surfaces of subway tile types
Flat Surface: Flat-edge surface with 2 popular finish types: Matt and Polished, diverse sizes, available from 75×150, 50×200, 100×100 to 75×300.
New 75×300 subway tile color palette
Bevel Surface: Glossy surface, sizes 75×150, 75×300 with 4-side beveled edges, creating a modern effect for bar counter feature walls.
Beveled colored subway tiles
Ripple Subway: Wavy subway tile design, glossy surface in sizes 100×100, 68×280, and 75x300mm, increasingly popular for bathroom and kitchen walls.
75×300 C Collection ripple surface
Ripple subway tiles 100×100
Green square subway tile 100×100 kitchen backsplash
2.2. Crackle glaze subway tiles
This is currently the most luxurious and beautiful decorative subway wall tile line. Featuring a sturdy Porcelain body and a 100% handcrafted crackle glaze surface with high randomness, popular in various light-catching colors like Gold, Hunter Green, Sky Blue, Grey… providing an exceptionally elegant feel to the space.
Khatra crackle glaze subway tile 60×200
Due to the exquisite handcrafted design and superior quality, the price of crackle glaze tiles is usually much higher than ordinary subway wall tiles. However, this is a subway wall tile line confident in satisfying every customer, including the most demanding homeowners.
Crackle glaze wall tile models
Below is a Gold decorative crackle glaze subway tile, size 60×200 used for Homestay bathroom walls
Gold crackle glaze tile KHA-62003
Actual image of a coffee shop using Hunter Green subway wall tiles for the bar counter space
Crackle glaze subway tiles for cafe bar counter
Besides conventional decorative Ceramic subway wall tiles, KHATRA now also supplies a line of subway tiles made from high-strength, durable Porcelain bodies to meet the needs of subway tile floor paving, bringing uniqueness and distinctiveness to the space.
Porcelain subway tiles for flooring
Porcelain subway tile 75×300 7534M06B
Green subway tiles for bathroom floor
In addition to the 2 popular types mentioned above, there are also other subway wall tile lines with novel, unique designs suitable for various tiling areas. This is one of the favorite building materials that satisfies your creativity.
Arrow Tiles: Arrow is an arrow-shaped tile collection that stands out in classic design. Refined styling, perfect for modern styles.
Arrow crackle glaze tile
Diamond Tiles: Diamond subway wall tiles with a rhombus structure (also called Rhomboid tiles) are ideal for Geometric accents.
Rhombus subway wall tiles
Bamboo Tiles: A subway tile line mimicking the look of bamboo stems with a creative and unique design. You can choose bamboo tiles for a Vertical style.
Bamboo tiles in the White Palace project
Feather Tiles: Featuring vivid colors and creative shapes inspired by the magnificent peacock feathers, bringing new and unique interior decoration ideas.
Multi-colored feather tiles 90300
Lantern Tiles: Lantern tiles feature variations in both color and pattern textures, delivering a striking, unique beauty for high-aesthetic spaces.
Decorative Lantern tiles
Ceramic Terracotta Tiles: Carrying the distinctive beauty of Indochine design style, contemporary terracotta tiles feature novel patterns that preserve inherent vintage charm while infusing a touch of modern flair.
Terracotta tile 150×150
Hologram Subway
Hologram 65×265 subway tiles include 3 main colors: Rose Quartz, Mint, and White. The surface features a color-shifting pearlescent luster that is truly unique and completely distinctive compared to previous decorative tile lines.
Hologram subway wall tile color pairing
Hologram subway tiles for bathroom walls
Besides loose piece models, Hologram tiles are now also available in mesh-mounted sheets for easier installation, especially around curved corners such as bar counters, arched walls, columns, etc.
Stripe TDR2201 hologram
KYC-F65020RG tile paired with stripe TDR2201 tiles for bathroom tiling
Stripe Tiles
In addition to the aforementioned models, the new Stripe sheet tile model is currently very popular. In fact, Stripe tiles can be categorized either as subway tiles or Mosaic tiles because they feature a bar shape while being mounted on the characteristic mesh backing of mosaics.
Decorative stripe tiles 284×295
Since Stripe tiles come in mesh sheet format, they flex easily, making them ideal for spaces with curved designs where previously large format tiles had to be cut and ground, causing headaches for designers.
Stripe subway tiles 92EBD77 for bathroom walls
Pairing 2 stripe tile colors White and Green for kitchen walls and bar counter with Terrazzo floor tiles in Bauhaus style
Terrazzo D6622 tile paired with mosaic stripe
Finger / Kit-Kat Tiles
The multi-colored stick/finger subway wall tile pattern is specialized for bar counter walls, column wrapping…
Finger subway tiles
3. Sizes of subway wall tiles
Common subway wall tile dimensions are: 75×150, 50×200, 60×200, 68×280, 75×300, 100×200, 100x300mm. Additionally, there are square subway tiles in 100×100, 150x150mm.
Illustration of tile dimensions
Close-up real photos of available subway wall tile models: 75×150, 50×200, 60×200, 68×280, 75×300,… Subway tile prices start from only 200,000 VND/m2.
4. Subway tile installation layouts
- There are 5 basic ways to lay decorative subway wall tiles: 1/2-1/2 running bond (staggered), 1-1 straight stack bond, 90-degree vertical/horizontal grid, 45-degree diagonal, and symmetrical mixed bond.
- Bathrooms with small wall surfaces often use the 1/2 – 1/2 staggered pattern.
- Decorative accent walls using crackle glaze subway tiles are often installed in a 90-degree stack.
In addition, there are more than 10 creative ways to lay subway tiles such as: Horizontal Herringbone, Staggered Square, Diamond, Double Block Herringbone,… bringing distinction to your space.
Set of ripple subway tile models 75×300
Granite tile T12619 for floor combined with M23 subway tiles for kitchen wall
Subway tiles are primarily applied for interior wall tiling needs, functioning either as unique decorative accent walls or as basic wall protection materials, depending on homeowners’ requirements and the interior design style.
Terrazzo KHA-12651 paired with white Stripe subway wall tiles
5. Where to install subway wall tiles?
5.1. Kitchen subway tiles
Kitchen backsplashes are areas regularly exposed to grease and oil during cooking; thus, they require materials with good stain resistance that can withstand standard detergents. Wall tile models are often chosen to replace traditional kitchen wall materials like wallpaper or glass.
Light Blue subway tiles for kitchen backsplash
Besides being “clean”, this area also needs to be “beautiful” to create inspiration while cooking. Metro tiles satisfy both quality and aesthetic demands at reasonable costs with diverse styles, allowing homeowners to freely create.
Grey subway wall tile 75×150 for kitchen backsplash
You can completely apply the tile layout styles from Section 4 to your walls to create distinctiveness; or if you love vibrant shades, multi-colored tile models will be an unmissable choice for your room.
Subway wall tile combination in White – Green – Light Blue
Ripple tile combination in White – Dark Grey – Light Grey
Actual kitchen photo using white subway wall tiles in a Vertical Herringbone pattern for a transitional design paired with patterned encaustic cement mix flooring
Kitchen using white subway wall tiles
5.2. Bathroom subway tiles
The most common application of subway tiles that you can encounter in any space from residential to commercial projects like cafes, restaurants, hotels… is for bathroom walls.
Amber 730WEP3 subway tiles for wall paired with Terrazzo floor in a bathroom
Metro tiles are compact, richly colored, suitable for all area sizes from small to large, with versatile installation patterns that let customers freely innovate relaxing spaces without boredom.
Navy Blue hexagon tiles paired with BT8 subway tiles for bathroom walls
With decorative tiles, try using contrasting colored grout instead of standard white-black-gray to create an accent—a small change that will amaze you with the delightful effect it brings to the overall space.
White subway wall tiles paired with Sandcastle floor tiles
Actual image of mint green accent subway wall tiles paired with F2118 encaustic floor tiles and D6621 Terrazzo bathroom wall tiles
Encaustic cement tile F2118 paired with Terrazzo D6621
5.3. Feature decorative subway wall tiles
Beyond key areas like kitchen backsplashes and bathrooms, subway wall tiles are also used in many other areas requiring creativity such as living rooms, bedrooms, bar counters, boutiques, cafes,…
Encaustic tile KHA-032 paired with white STA70300 subway tiles
Subway wall tiles are the perfect answer for every space, ranging from simple and subtle to vibrant and dynamic, thanks to their diverse surface finishes and color palette.
Granite tile FN6035A paired with LQ26500 subway wall tiles
Another characteristic that makes subway tiles widely popular and versatile for all spaces is their adaptability; these tiles can be effortlessly combined with any other tile type as long as it matches the overall design scheme.
White 75×150 subway wall tiles combined with tone-on-tone DC260 encaustic floor tiles for an apartment hallway
DC260 encaustic cement tiles for kitchen floor
In addition to the ceramic and porcelain subway tiles mentioned above, Khatra also offers a line of terracotta/clay subway tiles sized 75×300 that can be used for both floor and wall applications, matching various trending interior design styles: Rustic, Retro, Industrial, Vintage, Indochine…
Terracotta subway tiles 75×300
In addition to available tile stock, KHATRA also provides custom-ordered subway tiles, terracotta tiles, and antique-look encaustic tiles customized per project designs
Antique-look tile combo flatlay
Here are updated real installation photos and in-stock subway wall tile models directly imported and distributed by Khatra with standardized quality, great pricing, and free sample supply for designers, architects, contractors, and project managers…
