Herringbone, Metro and Subway Tile Patterns Explained

Beyond a standard grid or brick-bond layout, decorative tile patterns like herringbone, metro (offset brick), and subway styling can transform how a fairly ordinary tile looks once it's on the wall or floor — but they also come with real cost and complexity differences worth understanding before you choose one.

Herringbone pattern

A herringbone layout arranges rectangular tiles at 90-degree angles to each other in a repeating zigzag, most commonly seen with elongated plank tiles or traditional brick-shaped tiles, giving a distinctive, textured, visually dynamic finish popular in both floors and feature walls. Herringbone requires significantly more cutting than a standard grid — every tile along the edges of the room needs an angled cut to maintain the pattern, which increases both labour time and tile wastage (often planning for notably more wastage allowance than a standard layout).

Metro (offset) pattern

Metro pattern is essentially a brick-bond layout using classic elongated rectangular metro tiles, with each row offset by roughly half a tile length from the row above — a familiar, versatile look that suits both traditional and contemporary kitchens and bathrooms. It's considerably simpler and cheaper to install than herringbone since it needs far less angled cutting, mostly just straight cuts at the row ends.

Subway tile styling

Subway tile technically refers to the classic rectangular ceramic tile shape (originally used in early 20th-century subway/underground stations) rather than a specific pattern — subway tiles are most commonly laid in a metro/offset pattern, but can also be laid in a straight grid or vertical stack for a different look. The tile shape and the pattern are two separate choices that get bundled together in common usage.

Cost comparison

A standard grid layout is the cheapest and quickest to install. Metro/offset pattern adds only a modest amount to labour cost over a standard grid, since the extra cutting involved is minimal. Herringbone is the most labour-intensive of the three, often adding a meaningfully higher percentage to labour cost compared with a standard layout, purely because of the volume of precise angled cuts required and the extra time needed to keep the pattern aligned and consistent across a whole floor or wall.

Practical considerations

• Tile wastage. Herringbone in particular needs a higher wastage allowance (often notably more than the standard ~10% rule of thumb) to account for angled cuts — factor this into your material budget.
• Grout lines. Herringbone and metro patterns create far more grout lines running in different directions than a straight grid of the same tile size, which affects both the visual busyness of the finish and ongoing cleaning.
• Small spaces. Herringbone can work particularly well in a small bathroom, since the diagonal lines and visual movement can make a compact space feel larger and more interesting than a plain grid.

Combining patterns with tile choice

These patterns work with almost any rectangular tile shape, so the pattern and the material/finish are independent decisions — a herringbone layout in an affordable ceramic plank tile can look nearly as striking as the same pattern in a premium material, since much of the visual effect comes from the pattern itself. See our guide to tile spacing and layout for the planning principles that apply to any pattern, and check large vs small tile trade-offs if you're considering an elongated large-format plank tile for herringbone.

DIY or professional?

Metro/offset pattern is achievable for a confident DIYer following our step-by-step tiling guide, since the extra skill required over a standard grid is modest. Herringbone genuinely benefits from professional installation — keeping the angled pattern precisely aligned across a whole room is significantly harder than it looks, and mistakes are highly visible in a pattern this distinctive.

Choosing tile colour and finish for a pattern

A pattern like herringbone or metro is often most visually effective in a single, consistent tile colour, since the pattern itself provides the visual interest — mixing colours within a busy pattern can look chaotic rather than deliberate unless carefully planned by an experienced designer. A matte or subtly textured tile finish tends to show off a pattern's shadow lines more clearly than a highly reflective gloss finish, which can visually flatten the pattern under certain lighting.

Where these patterns suit a whole-house look

Metro pattern in particular has become a versatile, widely-used choice that works across kitchens, bathrooms, and utility spaces without feeling tied to one specific style trend, making it a reasonably safe long-term choice if you're renovating with resale value in mind. Herringbone tends to make more of a specific style statement and is worth considering in the context of your home's overall character rather than in isolation.