A jewel-toned red and blue shower room and a pink bathroom in a hotel designed for musician Pharrell Williams feature in this lookbook, which roundsup bathrooms lined with metro and subway tiles.

Dating back to the early 1900s when they were used in New York's first subway station, the rectangular subway tile has become an interior design staple across residential and commercial settings.

Traditionally measuring three-by-six inches, the tile has evolved into different size variations that still draw to mind its early twentieth-century station origins.

As they have grown in popularity as an affordable way to decorate interiors, people have become creative with different ways of laying the rectangular tiles, breaking away from the typical brick layout and orienting them vertically or stacked horizontally.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring interiors with chequerboard flooring, brightly coloured showers and autumnal bedrooms.

Minimal Fantasy, Spain, by Patricia Bustos Studio

Spanish interior design firm Praticia Bustos Studio overhauled the interior of the Minimal Fantasy rental apartment in Madrid with 12 shades of pink.

Vertically laid pink subway tiles provide the backdrop to the main bathroom, which was finished with pink sanitaryware, an arched mirror and a pink holographic shower curtain.

Find out more about Minimal Fantasy ›

The Hoxton Southwark, UK, by Ennismore

Hotelier Ennismore was informed by the industrial history of Southwark when designing the interiors of its hotel in the London borough.

The bathrooms feature green subway tiles laid in a brick format on the walls, complemented by brass accents in the lighting and tapware that add to the industrial feel.

Find out more about The Hoxton Southward ›

Pink House, Ireland, by Courtney McDonnell Studio

While this home is named Pink House for its light, rosy-hued rear extension, the shower room has a darker, moodier interior achieved by jewel-toned shades of red and blue.

Architect Luis Barragán split the shower room into two halves, creating a curved navy-tiled shower alcove on one side and a nook on the other side covered in elongated ruby-red subway tiles.

Find out more about Pink House ›

Apartment A, Belgium, by Atelier Dialect

White subway tiles were boarded by a row of black tiles running along the base of the walls in this bathroom, which is located in the open-plan bedroom of an Antwerp apartment.

Designed by Belgian studio Atelier Dialect, the tiled walls provide a graphic backdrop for a mirrored-steel, rectangular bathtub and sanded stainless steel basin.

Find out more about Apartment A ›

Edinburgh townhouse, UK, by Luke and Joanne McClelland

For their own apartment in Edinburgh, architects Luke and Joanne McClelland refreshed two adjoining Georgian townhouses with light-filled living spaces and updated bathrooms.

Dark green subway tiles were added to the side of the bathtub and wall splashback, complemented by a restored 1960s dark wood sideboard by Danish designer Ib Kofod Larsen used as the sink vanity.

Find out more about the Edinburgh townhouse ›

Santa Monica Proper, USA, by Kelly Wearstler

For this hotel in Santa Monica, interior designer Kelly Wearstler applied her signature laid-back Californian style with a choice of materials and colours that reference the nearby beach.

Sandy-coloured metro tiles laid in a brick pattern complement the warm-toned wood flooring in the bathroom, which was intended to bring to mind beach decking.

Find out more about Santa Monica Proper ›

Apartment in Born, Spain, by Colombo and Serboli Architecture

Local studio Colombo and Serboli Architecture made space for this pink bathroom when renovating Apartment in Born, which is set within a 13th-century building in Barcelona.

Square-shaped light pink tiles with pink grout cover the floor, while vertical subway tiles in a slightly darker shade cover the walls and shower area.

Find out more about Apartment in Born ›

Goodtime Hotel, USA, by Ken Fulk

Another pink-toned interior, this bathroom at the Goodtime Hotel in Miami Beach was created by American designer Ken Fulk for musician Williams.

Differentiation in tile shape and orientation creates subtle visual variation in the pastel-hued bathroom. White square tiles were applied to the floor, while vertical pink subway tiles along the top and bottom of the walls border tiles laid in a brick pattern.

Find out more about Goodtime Hotel ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring interiors with chequerboard flooring, brightly coloured showers and autumnal bedrooms.