Tile layout planning: a guide for beginners

You want to tile a room, but where should you start and how many tiles should you buy? A tile layout plan is simply a drawing that shows where the tiles will go before you lay them.

It helps answer three questions: where to position the first tiles, what cuts you will need near the walls, and how much to order. It is better to spot an awkward narrow strip on a drawing than when you are fixing the final row.

Get a tape measure, a sketch of the room and the details of your tiles. You can follow this guide with the free tile layout planner open beside it. The tool does the calculations; you check that the result matches your room. This guide uses metric measurements.

1. Start with the question you need to answer

Just looking for an initial quantity? The tile area calculator gives an estimate from the room and tile dimensions. It is useful for comparing prices.

Need to know where the cuts will land? You need a layout plan. Area alone is not enough: two rooms covering the same number of square metres can have different shapes and need different cuts.

Planning the accessories? The tile spacer calculator helps complete the shopping list. Spacers are small pieces that help keep an even gap between tiles. Clips and wedges are parts of other systems that help with installation. Their quantities are calculated separately from the tiles.

Next, we will draw the room, try different arrangements and check the purchases.

2. Draw your room and write down the measurements

You do not need a beautiful drawing, just clear measurements. Mark the length of each wall. Add doorways, short sections of wall that turn a corner, and obstacles such as a column. Measure their positions from a corner you can easily find again.

Does a wall look crooked? Do not draw it straight just to simplify things. Measure from corner to corner too. These diagonal measurements help check the shape. Wall lengths alone do not always describe it fully.

For an L-shaped room, draw the whole L. You can split it into rectangles to calculate the area, but keep its actual shape when placing tiles on the plan.

Decide which areas will be tiled. Tiles under a cabinet still count if you intend to lay them there. An area you will not tile should be excluded. Remember door thresholds, skirting tiles and the small surfaces around openings.

Use measurements that will apply when you install the tiles. If you still need to add a layer to the walls, the room dimensions will change. Recheck them after that work before agreeing the final plan.

For an irregular room, the answer on L-shaped and out-of-square rooms explains what to look at.

3. Enter the tile size and the gaps between tiles

Keep the tile name or product reference, dimensions and number of tiles per box handy. If the design has a direction, such as a wood grain, note that too.

Check the actual size, not just the size in the product name. A tile sold as 600 × 600 mm does not necessarily measure exactly 600 mm along each side. Measure several tiles or ask the supplier for the confirmed dimensions. A small difference repeated across a row can shift the result.

A grout joint is the gap left between two tiles, which will be filled later. That gap takes up space on the plan. Check the units: 60 cm equals 600 mm, and a 3 mm joint is not 3 cm wide.

The gaps left against walls are not counted as grout joints between tiles. They have a different purpose. Ask the supplier or tiler which widths your project needs. Do not change them at random just to make the tiles fit neatly.

For a worked example, see how to account for grout joints and actual tile sizes.

4. Try different starting positions before choosing

Here, the starting position means where the tiles sit on the plan. It is not necessarily the place where you will begin fixing them.

Look into the room from the entrance. What draws your eye: the doorway, a large wall, a wide window? Use that feature as a reference. For example, imagine a line running from the middle of the doorway into the room.

Try placing the centre of a tile on that line. Then try placing a grout joint on it instead. In each version, look at the width of the pieces you would need to cut near the walls.

If a very narrow strip appears, move the whole arrangement on the plan and compare. Check every edge and the obstacles, not just the far wall. A good result on one side can create an awkward cut on the other.

A cut hidden under a cabinet may matter less than one in front of the doorway. Choose a result you like, with pieces that can be cut properly.

Outilo can suggest a starting position automatically. Treat it as an option to inspect, not a decision to accept without checking. The answer on where to start tiling to avoid small cuts helps you compare.

5. An example: avoid a narrow strip against the wall

Imagine a 3.20 m width to tile, after excluding the gaps needed against the walls. The tiles actually measure 60 cm across. For this example, the grout joints are 3 mm wide.

With five full tiles in the middle, you get a 9.1 cm strip on each side. Shift the starting position so there are four full tiles in the middle, and the two edge pieces become 39.25 cm wide.

Same room, same tiles, but much wider borders. That is why it helps to try the layout before installing it.

How the calculation works

Take the second option. The four full tiles occupy 240 cm. Including the two edge pieces, the row has six pieces with five joints between them. Those joints occupy 1.5 cm in total.

From the 320 cm available, that leaves 320 − 240 − 1.5 = 78.5 cm. Divide that width between the two sides: 78.5 ÷ 2 = 39.25 cm.

The tool does this calculation for you. The main point is that moving the starting position can avoid a narrow cut.

Wider borders do not guarantee fewer tiles to buy. Check the other rows and any pieces that could be reused. There is no ideal cut width for every project either. The 3 mm joint is part of this example, not a general instruction.

This calculation is for a straight row. With a diagonal pattern, crooked wall or obstacle, inspect the pieces on the actual plan rather than copying these figures.

6. Check the places where tiles need to line up

In an L-shaped room

Think of the tiles as one large grid continuing through both parts of the L. Do not start a new grid halfway into the return if you need the grout lines to stay aligned.

Check the narrow passage and the inside corner first. A starting position that works in the larger area can leave tiny cuts in the return.

Between two rooms

To continue grout lines from one room into another, you need a shared reference and the correct distances between the rooms. Centring each room separately is not enough.

Outilo can combine purchase quantities without the grout lines necessarily matching at the doorways. Those are separate checks. The answer on aligning grout lines between rooms explains this in more detail.

On bathroom walls

Draw each wall as seen from the front. To keep rows at the same height, use a shared horizontal level line across the walls.

A niche is a recess in the wall. Its opening removes tiles from the main wall face, but its back and sides may need tiles of their own. Remember these small surfaces and the cut pieces around the opening.

Check the corners between walls yourself: separate drawings do not align them automatically. The answer on wall tiles around a niche shows what to inspect.

7. Choose a pattern that suits your tiles

A straight pattern lines up the tiles and their joints. A staggered pattern starts successive rows at different positions. A diagonal pattern turns the whole arrangement relative to the walls.

Change one setting at a time. Try the direction of the tiles first, then the amount of stagger between rows. It will be easier to see which change improves the cuts.

Outilo offers 28 patterns and lets you create a group of tiles that repeats. However, a pattern available in the tool is not necessarily suitable for the product you bought.

For 600 × 1200 mm or wood-look tiles, follow the manufacturer's instructions before choosing a half- or one-third offset between rows. These are not rules for every large tile. See which layouts to try for these formats.

An opus pattern combines several tile sizes in a specific arrangement. Ask the supplier for that arrangement, then check that one complete group fits with the required joints before repeating it. The advice on multi-size opus layouts also explains how to order the right quantities.

Keep a separate count for each size and colour. Do the same for the small square inset tiles, sometimes called dots, placed between certain octagonal tiles. Some V-shaped patterns, such as chevrons, also use distinct left- and right-handed pieces that need separate counts.

8. Work out the boxes to buy, not just the pieces on the plan

One piece on the drawing does not always mean one tile to buy. A single tile can provide several small pieces. But two pieces can share a tile only when their shape, size and pattern direction allow it.

Outilo accounts for the outline and obstacles when counting the tiles needed for the plan. One tile providing several pieces is not counted several times.

Can you keep the leftovers from cutting?

These leftovers are called offcuts. Some can be used elsewhere. Others are too small, have the wrong shape or do not keep the design facing the right way.

A saw also removes a narrow strip of material with each cut. This is called the saw kerf. Two pieces that seem to fit perfectly within a tile on paper may no longer fit once you include that loss.

Outilo can estimate reuse, accounting for the cut and permitted rotations. It is not a guarantee. Check the pieces you need to make before reducing the order. The answer on which offcuts can really be reused gives an example.

Allow spare tiles, then round up to boxes

First, add the needs of rooms using exactly the same tile. Check with the supplier that the products can be used together, including their batches and dimensions. Keep other product references separate.

Your reserve is the extra tiles for breakage, adjustments or a later repair. It is not a way to count the cuts already allowed for on the plan a second time.

For example, the plan needs 57 tiles. You choose a 10% reserve here, adding 5.7 tiles. Round up to 63 tiles. With 8 tiles per box, buy 8 boxes, giving you 64 tiles.

The 10% figure is a choice for this example, not an automatic rule. The spare quantity depends on the job. The method for calculating tile boxes after planning the layout also explains why it helps to combine requirements before rounding up to boxes.

If the supplier sells a mixed-size pack, check its contents. Enough square metres does not necessarily mean enough pieces of each size.

Tile boxes are not the entire shopping list. Allow separately for adhesive, grout to fill the joints, accessories, skirting tiles and finishing trims.

9. Keep your plan and share the right version

Outilo offers two files with different jobs.

The PDF is for reading and showing the plan. It includes measurements, starting-point references and optional cutting sheets. Use it to discuss the layout with the supplier or tiler.

The project file lets you reopen and change the work. Its name ends in .outilo-calepinage.json. Download it too: you can import it into Outilo later to change measurements or try another pattern.

A draft is also saved in the browser you are using. That storage can be cleared, however. Keep a copy of the project file in your own folders, not just the PDF.

Before sharing, specify the tile product, chosen joints, laying direction and any decisions still to be confirmed. Add a date or version number so nobody orders from an old plan.

The answer on sharing a layout with your tiler explains what to send.

10. Make a final check before installing

Dry-laying means putting a few tiles in position without fixing them, to see the layout in real life. Tool manufacturer RUBI describes this in its tile layout guide, in French.

Look at the starting position, an exposed edge, a doorway and any difficult cuts. Check that your measurements and actual tiles match the drawing.

A plan cannot check everything. The floor or wall receiving the tiles must be suitable. Where relevant, waterproofing, slopes for drainage and joints that let materials move without damaging the tiles also need checking. Have a professional confirm these details and the products to use, following the requirements for your location.

If the dimensions change after building work, or the delivered tiles differ from those planned, update the drawing. Precise numbers on screen do not replace a check in the room.

Start with your own room

Draw its shape in the tile layout planner. Add your tiles, compare two starting positions and inspect the edges before checking the purchases.

The Plan a tiling project collection brings together the layout planner, area calculator and spacer calculator.

The described features match Outilo's product information checked on 3 October 2026. The examples are simplified to explain the method. Manufacturer instructions and on-site checks still apply.