Home decor in tiles

Give tiles a chance to style up your home and see the difference!A Varsha Rao tells you how.

Tiles are an integral part of every home. Apart from giving a neat finish to the entire house, they also act as a shield from the elements of nature.

So, what’s the right choice for your home? Read on to find out.

Tiles are basically artificially-produced, from materials as varied as stone, ceramic, and even mud.

They are mostly found in square and rectangular shapes, but recent trends show that they are available in other interesting shapes also.

Age-old existence

Since ages, they have been used by people to shelter them from the heat and the chill, and to also beautify their homes.

The Greeks are known for their love of architecture and their iconic buildings.

They used terracotta tiles for their roofs majorly.

The famous Forbidden City in Beijing is a classic example of the beauty of coloured tiles.

Their yellow coloured tiles over red walls are eye catching.

From the base

First and foremost is the flooring. Bring your floor into focus with interesting tiles.

Ceramic ones are a big hit among homemakers as their are easy to maintain.

Porcelain tiles are an expensive version of ceramic, but they have more tensile strength, and hence can be used for the flooring, especially in the more populated areas of the house.

And since we are talking about porcelain, how can we leave out the painted variety of the same?

You could always spruce up your home with hand-painted porcelain tiles.

Floral prints, Chinese patterns and single motif ones are good options. But make sure you use these patterned ones only on side walls and not on floors.

We all love marbled floors.

The sheen and finesse of this stone is unmatched.

Large marbled floors make any space look bigger and also make it easy to maintain.

Get the ones with large yet decent prints for your living rooms and veined marble floors for your bathrooms.

Forget artefacts and add-ons.

You can make marbled floors the centre of attention in certain areas of your home.

Hallways, spaces before stairs, and all those neglected spaces can feel luxurious with patterned marble floors.

Head to the kitchen

Tiles are extremely diverse. So exploit this characteristic of theirs and use them on the walls of your kitchen, specifically behind the stove and sink.

Since tiles are water-resistant, they are the perfect protection for all your cooking and washing splashes.

Make sure the tiles you choose are complementary to the kitchen interiors. Contrasting effect doesn’t work here.

Satish, regional manager, Nitco Tiles, says, “Digital tiles suit well for kitchens.

Certain tiles that are in reality 2x1 tiles, but give the illusion of 4x4 tiles, work best.

The idea of putting pictures of vegetables on the walls of kitchens are outdated.

The current trend is tiles in larger formats — 800x600, 1200x600 and 1200x800 are some of the sizes that are in rage right now.

And digital tiles have caught the eyes of every homemaker today.”

Fashionable pieces of stone

Mosaic tiles are the trendier version of tiles. Initially only used in bathrooms, mosaic has now conquered all the areas of the home. Composed of tiny tiles, it renders a unique appearance.

Mosaic comes in ceramic, stone and glass versions. You can even opt for glazed or unglazed versions.

In bathrooms, choose mosaic tiles in bright and sunny colours if you want to have a great start to your morning.

Turquoise blue, sunny yellow and earthy green are some of the colours that will brighten up an area.

Kitchen is another area that can be exploited fully for mosaic tiles.

Go in for glazed ones here as it will add a bit of sheen and texture. Bright colours also work but darker colours complement wooden wardrobes.

If it is too much at one go, just use mosaic tiles on the walls below the wardrobes and behind the sink and stove.

The same goes for the bathrooms. You can just tile specific areas like the shower area or the wash-basin one.

A new rage in the market is natural stone, that resembles stones found in nature.

It is very rustic and lends a very earthy touch to the place. You can go in for large or small tiles here.

Natural stone also works beautifully in utility areas.

Since you use this area for just washing and cleaning activities, you can add a fresh perspective by going in for natural stone.

But do remember that it takes a little more effort on your part to keep this stone clean.

It’s a digital world

In a world where everything is digital, why should tiles be left behind? Say hello to digital tiles.

Yes, you heard it right. If you love a particular picture of yours, you could have it on tiles by getting the image digitally scanned and printed on tiles.

Patterns, photographs and murals can all be etched on tiles.

This lends a very sophisticated and modern look.

What more, your favourite memory will be right in front of your eyes all the time.
 
Sanjeev Ranjan, Senior GM-Marketing, Somany Ceramics says, “While buying tiles, one should take into account the degree of sheen, abrasion resistance, slip and scratch resistance from the floor or walls. While ceramic tiles are the best alternatives for bathrooms and kitchens, vitrified tiles are the best choice for stairs, bedroom and the living room. With respect to finish, the trend is towards more gloss in living room floors than in bedroom or kitchen floors. And wooden texture is increasingly being preferred for bedroom floors.”

So, get going and let tiles enhance the look of your home.