Like most modern homeowners, you’ve probably thought of other types of flooring before turning your attention to tile. After all, isn’t tile something from your great-grandmother's era? But are you aware that one of today’s hottest shifts in interior design involves tile flooring trends?
Quickly get up to date on how you can use tile to make floor upgrades throughout your home while remaining completely modern. Your home will look nothing like your great-grandmother's place—unless, of course, that’s your style.
Tile Trends
Concrete Tile
The rather humble concrete flooring has made a significant resurgence among interior designers who are reaching back to the mid-twentieth century for inspiration. The no-fuss reputation of concrete makes it a great choice for the modern family that can think of other ways of spending its time than slathering layers of floor polish onto something as demanding as delicate real wood floors.
However, unless most of us are fortunate enough to purchase a house that already has concrete flooring, it’s doubtful that we’ll be able to afford to rip up our current floor and replace it with concrete. Therein lies the practicality of tile that has the look of concrete.
Concrete tile delivers that mid-century aesthetic but also works especially well for homeowners who want an industrial or contemporary feel to their homes. It’s showing up in kitchens, living areas, and, of course, bathrooms, where you’ll find it on both the floor and the walls.
Decorative Tile
Some designers plus enthusiastic non-professionals with followings on social media are embracing embellishment as a reaction against the prevalence of startling white rooms that have received the lion’s share of attention over the past few years. One way of breaking through the fog of whiteness is with the use of decorative flooring.
You can now find tile that borrows motifs from centuries of art found around the world. There’s no reason that you can’t give your ranch house a touch of the Mediterranean. And your suburban split-level bathroom flooring can look as if it was situated in Morocco.
To upgrade your kitchen flooring with ancient hand-painted tiles from those parts of the world would cost a king’s ransom, but modern affordable decorative tiles give you the chance to show the world your love for color and details without taking out a loan.
Marble Tile
Who hasn’t enviously gazed at grand Venetian palaces? But when it comes to marble, most of us have to settle for a small marble-topped side table or accent piece. The idea of having a marble floor is simply out of reach. That’s still true unless you consider marble-looking tile.
Perhaps the marble fever began with kitchen designers opting for marble countertops. However it started, the urge for the marble look has led to an increase in installations of marble for both kitchen and bathroom floors.
The more adventurous homeowners extend the look to their living areas and sleeping areas as well as the walls of their baths. If you want the same luxurious appeal without the price tag, consider marble tile.
Wood-look Tile
Not everyone desires genuine wood flooring. They don’t want the maintenance and the worry.
Of course, there’s always laminate, which copies the look of wood, but now there’s also wood-look tile. It’s less expensive than the alternatives plus, it’s easy to apply. You’ll also reduce your maintenance and your concern over any damage.
Tile that looks like wood gives you the option to lay the tiles in imaginative ways to create patterns using the wood grain. This is a good option if you want to lay several rooms with wood tile but don’t want them to look identical.
Terracotta Tile
Terracotta is back. It was once quite popular in American homes, where it was used mostly for indoor spaces that had an outdoor feel, such as sunrooms. The earthy, brownish-red tile was also common in mudrooms and entryways.
Now designers are bringing the outdoors and indoors together in new ways by using terracotta throughout the home. There doesn’t appear to be a wrong way to use this versatile tile.
Think about terracotta if you have a passion for the outdoors or if you get emotional over European, especially Italian, country homes.
Terrazzo Tile
Terrazzo was extremely popular in the mid-twentieth century. It represented all that was modern with its bold colors and irregular pattern.
Terrazzo is a composite of concrete and marble chips along with recycled bits of reflective material like colored glass or quartz. The result is a sparkling, colorful, but highly sturdy material. The terrazzo look became so popular that it was copied for fabrics, rugs, and bedding.
Today’s designers are using terrazzo to bring a bit of fun and lightness to modern homes that lean toward the somber side of things. You can do the same with terrazzo-looking tile.
Terrazzo tile lightens bathrooms, infuses kitchens with playfulness, and adds interest to otherwise lackluster areas of the home.
Various Shapes of Tile Beyond the Square
When you ask the average person to think of tile, they conjure up the image of a square. But your tile doesn’t have to conform to that shape.
Today, homeowners are redoing their rooms with tiles that are rectangular (think of subway tile), hexagonal, and even round. Using unconventional shapes will give your room an additional layer of interest. You might choose one shape for your kitchen floor and another for the backsplash.
Do You Have Additional Questions About Tile Flooring Trends?
This year will be an exciting one for tile as more and more homeowners realize that there are tile flooring trends to suit every interior design style. Have you already decided which tile will work best for your home?
If you still have questions and you’d like to discuss your tiling options with a professional, feel free to contact us online or