Style

When building your home, before you start, think about the overall style of your home. For example, a modern or a minimalist style would be very different that of a contemporary or traditional or rustic.  Hence it is very important to identify the overall style of the house. 

Once decided on the above, one needs to decide on the overall style of the area or the room they are selecting the tiles for.  With the help of digital print technology today, tiles can simulate the look and feel of natural materials such as wood, marble and other natural stones. 

Budget - The foremost consideration needs to be the budget. You need to calculate the exact quantity of tiles that will be needed for the area and factor in 10% extra in your budget for wastage. 

Tile Size - The thumb-rule when deciding the size per tile is to select smaller tiles for small residential areas such as kitchens, bathrooms and toilets.  This ensures minimum wastage.  Larger tiles should be selected for larger areas such as the living room, dining room, bedroom etc. Larger tiles lead to lesser joint lines and impart a feeling of spaciousness. 

Note - Using floor tiles on the walls may provide a better degree of cohesiveness but wall tiles cannot be used on the floor as they are not made to withstand traffic.

Colour - Depending on the area the colour scheme needs to be decided upon.  For example a kitchen might have a more vibrant feel whereas a bathroom might have a more serene one. 

Grout - It is important to choose the right colour grout.  A contrasting grout will emphasise the lines and design whereas a complementary colour as the tile will give a more subtle look. 

Natural Light - A gloss tile will suit a dark space as it will reflect more tile.  A lighter colour will also reflect more light. 

Finish – Glossy tiles have an attractive glaze to them and result in reflecting a lot of light.  However, they tend to be slippery when wet and hence should not be used in the bathroom or kitchen floors. Matte finish tiles can be used in such areas as they are slip resistant to an extent.  (Note: For safety choose tiles with a coefficient of friction value of more than 0.6).  Laptop finish or semi-matte tiles have a higher shine than matte finish tiles and are usually non slip in nature.