Tiles that make a statement this summer

Your home is a place that reflects you true personality and makes you feel at ease.

When it comes to doors, knobs, floors, molding and such for the home, one typically focuses on the history of styles. But when it comes to tiles, the conversation is about what’s happening now and what’s the latest.

Aided by new technology, tiles today are more eco-friendly and more widely available in a vast range of finishes and textures. As a hard, watertight surface applied to floors and walls, ceramic, stone and porcelain have been commonly used for thousands of years. In some ways, not much has changed.

This season, the trend is about colours. These days, colours are not just available in paints, but tiles have also become extremely fashionable and innovative in their form, texture and design.

Colours have the ability to affect our mood, behaviour and also our status. Thus, colours have great importance in decor. Tiles are not all pale beige anymore. Today’s new colours are richer and somewhat deeper, and there are exciting patterns and styles when it comes to surface, texture and edge treatments. Tiles now appear in larger sizes too, so that it’s easier than ever to make a dramatic statement you’ll love.

Pastels are ideally suited for summer with their mellow and soft tones said to have a calming effect on one’s senses. The serenity of pastels makes them an apt colour for your bedroom or living area.

Even a formal-looking furniture piece can be transformed to get a casual look with pastel coloured tiles. Alternating polished stainless steel with buffed copper behind your kitchen sink will turn heads. And combining multiple colours into a single tiling project can transform a wall, floor, shower or bath from a boring, monotone into a burst of colour and renders a festive feeling.

Fashion and the changing seasons influence new trends in tiles and trends from around the world are transformed into classic styles that are perfect for updating your home. Some of these styles can transform your home!

Whiteness: The trend towards whiteness reflects the desire for the home to be a place of peace and serenity and helps keep the house cool during summers.  Instead of white being a neutral backdrop, it is becoming the popular accent colour.

Authenticity: With economic uncertainty looming, consumers are looking to objects with permanence and significance. Items with a history or that recall European romance are especially popular.

New Modern: This look resonates with individuals who are looking to move away from embellishment and towards the beauty found in daily life. Pairing with the recent mid-century modern revival, it is sleek and simple, with influences from nature.

Artisan: As an answer to a modern world that values mass production and impersonality, hand-crafted items are becoming more popular.

(The writer is the CEO of a leading flooring and interior aesthetics solutions provider.)