Have you hesitated to have tile work installed in high humidity areas of your home because you think it's boring? That's actually not an uncommon perception of tile flooring. It can come off as uninspiring if you just go with a monochrome tile work scheme. However, the good thing about tile is that you can mix, match and create imaginative designs. Tiles are even versatile enough for a variety of applications.
10 Tile Work Ideas
Use Tile As a Backlash
This is actually a pretty common application for tile work. Installing a tile backsplash behind your stove or in any other area on walls that might get a lot of splattering creates a surface that is easy to clean.
Use It To Create Interesting Designs On Your Walls
This goes beyond the backsplash because you can actually create large, complex designs with tile work. Many people who install tile work on their walls use it to create surprising images and art designs that can break up an otherwise monotonous color scheme without having to find something to hang on their walls.
Tile Work Makes A Great Border
It's pretty common to use tile as a border to transition between two types of flooring in an open concept home or as a way to emphasize an interesting decorative design on the wall.
Use Tile Work In The Shower
When done correctly, tile work doesn't need to be a major slip hazard in your shower. Using bold colors and creative designs in your shower's tile work is a popular way to offset an otherwise pale color scheme in your bathroom (or vice versa).
Get Attention With An Optical Illusion
One imaginative thing to do with tile work is to create an optical illusion. Tiles can be used to suggest a wormhole or a multi-layered design that isn't. A unique one will get the attention of people who have gotten a little too used to boring floor designs. Just don't trip on that illusory stepping stone in the dark.
Create Pathways To The Parts Of Your Home That You Use The Most
This is an especially good idea if your home can be a bit of a maze for first-time visitors. I've been in homes that had unique layouts or were converted duplexes. Your tile work can subtly guide visitors to the parts of your home where you do most of your entertaining.
Use Tile As An Accent
An otherwise boring floor or wall element can be broken up by adding uniquely designed tiles as accents. Sometimes you can even have your accent tiles customized with your own designs, although this is often a little pricier.
Use Tile Work As Part Of An Outside Element
If you're revamping your landscape or putting in outdoor structures like a new swimming pool, options like shale tile make excellent choices for paving walkways or adding decorative surfaces to the swimming pool area. Shale is a form of tile that is uniquely designed to handle the wear and tear of the outdoor environment.
Create A Three-Dimensional Image
With a little planning (okay, a lot of planning), you can actually use tile to create a realistic three-dimensional image on your floor. We've seen tile work made to look like swimming pools with fish or dolphins swimming in them that actually look like they just got frozen in a moment until you get up close.
Replace Carpeting In Places That You Might Have A Hard Time Cleaning
Tile work is becoming an increasingly popular application for parts of your house that might be hard to reach while cleaning or otherwise pose a special challenge, like staircases and the back corners of closets that can be difficult to get into. Tile makes it less likely that dirt you might miss while cleaning will actually fall down into crevices or the deep part of a carpet, where that dirt becomes even more difficult to get out until you call the professionals.
The important thing to remember is that tile work does not have to be boring. Some options might take some extra planning and work to install successfully, but tile is versatile enough to create outstanding results when the project is completed. We've seen some truly spectacular designs with tile that a lot of people don't think is even possible if they're used to boring tile floors with maybe the occasional interesting border. Whenever you want to add a unique element to your home décor or just want to liven things up a bit, consider the versatility of tile.