Key Takeaways
Due to its minimal maintenance requirements, lack of grout, and antimicrobial nature, quartz is the perfect choice for a humid bathroom.
Quartz is ideal for homeowners that are looking to balance a luxurious aesthetic with easy upkeep in their bathrooms.
Cambria’s 1cm thickness option is the perfect lighter-weight option for vertical bathroom applications such as showers or wall cladding.
Stepping into your primary bathroom should feel like entering a serene, spa-like oasis designed to wash away the stress of the day. Contrast that vision with the reality of regular maintenance and your dream space may not seem so dreamy. Time is the true luxury that goes beyond aesthetics to include less upkeep. This is why quartz wall cladding, particularly in bathrooms, redefines a premium lifestyle not just by how great it looks, but by how effortlessly it allows you to live.
Lighter-Weight Elegance for Walls and Showers
At the center of this conversation are Cambria’s ultra-thin, 1cm quartz slabs. These thinner, lighter slabs deliver timeless maintenance-free beauty and durability in high-moisture environments. Cambria’s 1cm quartz slabs also provide the innovative, American-made design versatility the company is known for.
To explore how Cambria natural quartz surfaces deliver maintenance-free beauty beyond vanity countertops to bathroom wall cladding, we asked interior designer Christopher Kennedy about his use of Cambria on the bathroom walls of his La Mirada project recently featured in Cambria Style magazine.
Homeowners want beautiful bathrooms, but they don’t want high-maintenance upkeep. How do quartz surfaces bridge the gap between luxury style and easy, everyday cleaning?
I can attest that many of my clients generally want to avoid grout. No matter how well it is installed, over time it just doesn’t look fresh. Clients do not want the maintenance and many dislike the visual busyness of grout lines. Large-format quartz is so easy to maintain, and isn’t that a luxury in itself? Today, time and ease are the ultimate luxury in many ways. And the beautiful [Cambria quartz] designs speak for themselves.
How does using a lighter-weight 1cm quartz slab on walls change what you can achieve visually and structurally in a luxury shower or bathroom?
Lightweight 1cm quartz is a total game-changer! Cambria has so many beautiful quartz colors and the 1cm material allows us to think beyond the countertop. It allows us to beautifully complement the countertop material while creating a timeless look using a modern material. From an installation standpoint, what is rarely discussed is how quickly and cleanly the installation happens! After the fabricator takes their detailed measurements using lasers, which is so cool to watch, the cutting happens off-site. You don’t have a tile guy with a wet saw creating noise and dust on-site for days on end. That’s a big deal.
Bathroom design by Christopher Kennedy. Photo by Public 311. Cambria design shown: Gladstone
Say Goodbye to Grout
Traditional tile grout is a notorious pain point for homeowners who hate to clean. It’s inherently porous, stains easily, and attracts grime and mold growth. Large-format 1cm quartz slabs eliminate shower tile grout lines altogether—creating a sleek look that’s much easier to clean.
From a practical perspective, quartz wall cladding eliminates a primary breeding ground for bacteria. Just as subway tile once revolutionized bathroom hygiene a century ago, large-format quartz is the next modern evolution—taking cleanliness a step further by eliminating grout lines entirely. Water, soap scum, and humidity simply have nowhere to hide. And harsh chemical cleaners are unnecessary with all Cambria quartz surfaces. All you need to clean your quartz surfaces is warm water, a soft cotton cloth, and mild soap, if desired.
In high-moisture spaces like showers, how important is using a nonporous material like quartz to prevent things like mold and mildew?
Very! I have been on my share of renovation projects where, upon removing the old tile, we discover mold. That’s no fun and certainly causes a costly delay to the project. The scary part is that the homeowners didn’t know that it was there. A nonporous material like quartz affords peace of mind.
From a purely aesthetic standpoint, how does eliminating grout lines with large-format quartz impact the perception of scale and luxury in a bathroom, especially in smaller layouts?
In our La Mirada project, the shower and bath space are quite generous. Using bookmatched quartz panels really emphasizes the grand scale of the space, without feeling overwhelming. It is luxe yet welcoming and feels wonderfully fresh. In smaller spaces, like the more modest guest bathrooms in our La Mirada project, the same materials allow for a [continuous] flow that visually extends a limited footprint.
Designer Christopher Kennedy
Looking back at a project where you used quartz wall cladding in a bathroom, what was the client’s reaction after living with it for a while? Is there a specific design detail from that space that you were most proud of?
They tend to appreciate it more and more over time. As beautiful as it looks during our big reveal, they love how elegant and “clean” it feels after living with it for a while. At our La Mirada project, I am really proud of how the Cambria Gladstone unifies the primary bathroom space.
Do you have any final pro tips on this topic?
When selecting a more white-hued quartz design, such as Gladstone, add textured wallpaper or deeply hued paint to the adjoining walls [or rooms]. Each surface enhances the other beautifully!
