I’ve been tile-obsessed as of late. I’m looking for tile for several clients, and until recently, my own kitchen renovation was looming large. (It’s been temporarily shelved due to construction burnout, but I’ll let you know when we’re back on track.)
Here are the top five tile trends for 2013.
1. Large tile
Relatively large, as in 4 x 8″ subway/brick tile instead of the ubiquitous 3 x 6″. (I loved 3 x 6″ white subway tile – until I started seeing it everywhere.) And 6 x 6″ and 8 x 8″ tiles instead of 4 x 4″.
And then just plain old large: “plank” shapes are in, much larger squares for the floor (think 20″ square, like FLOR carpet squares), and larger rectangles, like 12 x 24″. You might have to go to commercial tile companies to find them, but they’re out there, and they’re awesome. One of my favorites is these 18″ hexagon tiles by Mirage, part of their Heritage line:
2. Large-scale patterns on tile
This was the tile I fell in love with for my own kitchen:
How gorgeous is THAT? The drama of the large-scale pattern can’t be beaten. This tile being Walker Zanger, though (from their Studio Moderne line), it’s pretty darn expensive. But I just love it.
3. Textured and dimensional tile
This isn’t news, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include it. Textures, like grasscloth and animal skin, are becoming more popular, as are dramatically dimensional tiles. I LOVE these 24″ square reptilian tile by Rex Matouche:
And as for dimensional tile, check out Ann Sacks’ Abyssinian line:
and Heath Ceramics:
4. Wood grain
Faux bois is invading every other aspect of our lives; why not tile, too? This is by Atlas Concorde:
5. Laser graphics
These is the tile that really gets me. It’s so modern! Here’s one that MBTG (that’s Mary Beth, Tile Goddess, our fabulous rep. from Mosaic Tile) showed the Bossettes not too long ago. I need to ask her to remind me who makes it, but I literally had a dream about it:
This is from the Fabrics collection by Mirage:
And I just found this one on Flickr:
Ok. Anyone who installs 4 x 4″ ceramic tiles in a grid is just not paying attention.
Quoted in publications from The New York Times to The Washington Post to Real Simple magazine, Annie Elliott is considered an expert in color, residential space planning, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible. Her interior design firm, bossy color, has been serving residents in the greater Washington, D.C. area since 2004.
