It’s one thing to follow trends and obey their rules, but it’s another when your favourites never seem to stay in fashion. For Tile Addicts there are a few tile trends we see come and go, designs we love and features we fantasise about, but all too often they don’t stick around long enough for us to enjoy them. So here are Tile Addict’s top tile trends we hope will stay!
1. Grout lines as decor
We’ve been waiting for this to become popular for years, with a little hope found in Bardelli’s Zip collection covered in our Virtual Coverings. Be it coloured grouts or decorative grout lines that come into their own once laid, we think grout is massively underappreciated and has so much potential to take centre stage in design. One notable set of designs sparking our imagination is Cava and Cava Mosaic designed by LucidiPevere for Living Ceramics who have fully embraced the grout.
2. Tin tiles
Metallics of all kinds have been big in the last few years, but what we’d really love to see stay are tin tiles, or their close cousins – ceramic and porcelain imitations of tin tiles. Popular in North America 200 years ago, tin ceiling tiles were introduced as a lightweight decorative alternative to ornamental plasterwork but have since fallen out of fashion (you can find more about the history and use of tin tiles here). But the Tile Addicts haven’t forgotten and would love to see a full-force resurgence!
3. Shou Sugi Ban wood-effect tiles
We love a wood-effect tile and we’ve made no attempt to hide that. Although all the realistic planks with texture and vein variation are an incredibly welcome addition to the tile world, we’ve only found a few examples of Japanese burnt wood (Yakisugi) imitations and would love to see a lot more. So many levels can be explored with this style, from the almost metallic looking shallow depths of charring to the crackled and burnt textures in the darkest of blacks.
4. Tiles as art
Although a tiled backsplash, bathroom, entrance hall, etc, are all practical and delightful in their own right, there is something about tile as art that gets us going. Large unique decors, small clusters of colourful and patterned ceramics, or small painted scenes, tile is the perfect canvas for art to be displayed indoors and out.
5. Cobogó creations
This is more for the European market as there are cobogós a-plenty in places like Brazil, and the Islamic alternative mashrabiyas found further East, but where we are from they are a little few and far between. These perforated brick walls can be as decorative or as simple as you like and are perfect to create shade and protection from winds when used outdoors. They can also separate rooms and spaces indoors, allowing light and sound to pass through whilst creating a distinct and ornamental barrier.
A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, August 2020.