Different Tile Patterns

Different Patterns for Tile Floors

Typically, a red and white floor can brighten a room. But there are several ways of adding personality in your room by using different tile patterns. Using combinations of plain and patterned tiles is common but has to be properly planned.

Let us understand that tiling your floor is a basically long-term commitment. This can stay in your floor for as long you want it until you decide to change your tiles. Strong tile patterns can virtually add personality to a room however they can also constrain placements of furniture in the area.

Before deciding to use a strong pattern for your floor, simply create a simulation of the pattern by painting it on a tarp or brown paper. Live with the pattern for a few days. Learn to like it and decide if you wish to have it on your room on a longer term.

The Different Patterns

1. The Chessboard Pattern

The chessboard pattern is describe as alternating dark and light color tile both horizontally and vertically on every other square. This type of pattern can make the room look smaller. One continuous color will actually make the room look larger. The black and white combination is a popular choice for the Fifties-style rooms. The red and white tiles on the other hand match an Italian style kitchen theme. But don’t be restricted to red, black and white. Other color combinations might just fit your personal palette like a dark blue and mint green combination. Consider future color themes in making your color choices. Remember, your tiles are there to stay on a longer term.

2. Diagonal Patterns

A diagonal pattern on the other hand will help hide flaws in the shape of the room. Older homes are often imperfect squares which mean walls drift from a 90-degree angle. These are common results of unusual designs, buildings settling, or construction errors that cause these off-angle walls. Diagonal flooring patterns requires more tiles to use. You can sometimes use the cuts from one edge to fill in at another place. However, this requires more time meaning an added cost to labor unless you are tiling the floor yourself.

Same as all other floor tiling procedures, the diagonal-pattern flooring work should begin in the middle of the floor. The tiling work direction is outward to the edges.

3. Central Design

For a large open area or room, consider placing central design like concentric squares, rectangles or even an octagon in contrasting tile colors. One can use as few as three tile colors to create a central shape, with a border around that central shape. Then install one continuous color on the rest of the floor but revert back to an outline color around the edges of the room.

You can also break a large room into several smaller seating areas. Simply repeat the central pattern on every seating area in a smaller format and elsewhere in the room to create another smaller space. This is great for ballrooms and function rooms.

4. Herringbone

Use rectangular tiles to create the herringbone pattern. These tiles can be in similar colors or all of the same color with a little bit of variation to accentuate the pattern.

You can shape the herringbone pattern by snapping your guideline down the long length of the room. Then align the corner of your bricks down that line. The herringbone pattern starts from two bricks. Lay one tile at a 45-degree angle off the central line keeping one corner on the line. Then orient the second tile 90 degrees from the first tile by adjoining the short end up to the long side of the first brick. The outside edges will form a V. Follow this pattern until you have tiled the entire room. Some prefer to accentuate their rooms using this pattern rather than the different tile patterns discussed above.