Tiles of the Unexpected: Unlikely Tile Trends That Gripped 2020

Well, to be absolutely honest, 2020 has been all-round-unexpected, hasn’t it? From Lockdown 1 up to and including Lockdown 2 and all it’s associated new rules and restrictions. It’s no wonder we’re all nesting and home-making like crazy, whether it’s to create calm and reassuring home spaces for our loved ones or to make the best of rooms that are looking sad and need an injection of colour, pattern and freshness.

But back to trends…we’ve enjoyed lots of colour this year, not just with tiles, but for kitchen and bathroom furniture too. Bold blocks of colour can lift an otherwise simple scheme, be a dramatic contrast to white kitchen cabinets or bathroom fittings and introduce a strong sense of individuality to an interior look. Patterned floors have had an impact too, and of course, that trend looks set to continue right through 2021 and beyond, judging by the amount of patterned tile samples we are sending out! We’re delighted to see how geometric as well as irregular patterns have caught on too – a prime example is the way our hexagonal tiles are used to create random edges for walls.

Black bathroom fittings are huge, along with rose-gold and copper colours, so although strictly speaking those trends haven’t been entirely unexpected, we’re very happy that our customers are still embracing those looks. Wood-effect tiles have also been a huge hit, and are chosen by many of our customers to create a user-friendly, low-maintenance and hard wearing floor for a kitchen…and of course many of our porcelain planks and outdoor slab tiles can be run through to the patio or terrace too. Just as well really, as it looks as if we’ll be continuing to spend a lot of time outdoors for entertaining purposes throughout this winter and the coming spring. As we may have discussed before, now would be a good time to get your outdoor space organised, along with outdoor heaters and some comfy weather-proof furniture.

Solid Colour

This is one of our favourite bathrooms ever – so simple, sleek and stylish! The tiles, naturally are our very own Metro Orange ceramic brick-shaped tiles with bevelled edges. This bold colour adds a very cheerful feel to a bathroom (or kitchen!) – exactly what’s needed after the entirely unexpected events of 2020!

Teal Traditions

We love the way lots of customers have been experimenting with different ways of installing tiles – here the use of our Village Teal tiles has been given an unexpected twist simply by installing them vertically rather than brick-style horizontally. Excellent work! (And they come in several other stunning shades too, including Royal Blue and Emerald Green).

Coming Up Roses

We are delighted about the continued popularity of all shades of rose gold and pink, at one point we thought it might gradually fade away, but no, it’s continued to be perfectly on-trend! Beautifully demonstrated here by our Village Rose Gold ceramic tiles, which are also available in a rectangular brick-shape format.

Star Bright

Geometrics, hexagons and stars stayed high up the popularity list, including these superb Metropolis Star Indigo wall and floor tiles. Perfect for adding that touch of star quality to a room, each 450mm tile is designed to look like four smaller square tiles (complete with faux grout lines!).

On The Edge

Our customers have definitely embraced the geometric trend, and have been exploring unusual ways of creating a dramatically different looks for their walls. Going for a random-edge look is definitely impressive and creates a personalised look. We think this kind of jagged-edge style would look fabulous as an upstand on a work surface too.

On The Dark Side

We have been delighted with the continued favouring of dark grey and black tiles for both walls and floors in a bathroom. It’s a bold move, which doesn’t have to make the room look small and dark! Choose great lighting and white ceramics to keep the proportions in check and the use of colour and contrast balanced.

Tip Top Timber

Well, we’re not really surprised at the success of our wood-effect porcelain tiles, as they are such a simple and clever idea. Many designers and DIY-ers want a wood look for their kitchens and outdoor spaces, but without the maintenance that’s involved when using real timber. These are our Mikeno Honey Wood Effect tiles, and we have a whole range of other wood effect tiles to choose from too!

Beach-Style Ready

Perhaps it’s because we’ve been stuck indoors for far longer than expected and our customers are longing for a real outdoor look in their homes … hence the popularity of our Roof Rustic White porcelain floor tiles. They’re suitable for walls too, if you want to go full-on beach house style!

Plains Plus Structured Textures

Create a seemingly-simple scheme with a mixture of our Talent ceramic tiles. There are plains, plus a companion décor tile which has a surface texture to add an unexpected element to an uncluttered, understated look. Top marks from us!

Check Mate

The success of The Queen’s Gambit mini-series was a delightful surprise, even amongst those of us who have zero chess knowledge. The clothes! The furnishings! And that’s a very loose link to us being able to include a pic of our fabulous Victoria Black & White Chequer Mosaics.

Floor-midable!

Ooh, so many surprises here we don’t know where to start! It’s a fabulous hallway belonging to one of our lovely customers @la_sidhu on Insta! Give her a follow, and the floor tiles are our stunning Victorian-style Dorset Feature Black Wall and Floor Tiles. We also think the mix of modern stair treads and period-style tiles is pretty innovative too.

It’s been an interesting year, both in terms of interior trends and life in general we think you’ll agree! We’re not done just yet though, so do keep checking back as we’ll be bringing you some tasty year end treats in the form of our annual Christmas Playlist (what will the theme be this year?), some Christmas decor focused articles and some useful tips on achieving a new look for your interiors for the new year!

You might also like these posts on the Tile Mountain blog…

2020 Tile Trends: The Experts Predict What’s Next

Tiles of the Unexpected: Unlikely Tile Trends that Gripped 2019

Tiles of the Unexpected: Unlikely Tile Trends that Gripped 2018